Abstract:

The article examines trust as a major component of higher education, which manifests itself in various forms, such as trust in the educational system in the state, trust in the educational institution itself as an organization, trust in tutors, etc. It helps to build strong connections and relationships, provides integration, the opportunity for cooperation between the participants in the educational process and has a positive impact on the image of the educational institution – hence, on the quality of higher education.

Trust is mostly related to the formation of a type of relations between its basic structures, educational communities, educational organizations and the management of higher education at its various levels. It is characterized as an intangible asset of universities.

Trust, in the context of higher education, must be viewed through the prism of interaction between users and providers of educational services, which focuses on achieving mutually expected results in all areas of their collaboration. In addition, trust is this connection that is based on strong expectations from higher education as a whole, from its structures, organizations, norms, values and ideology.

The main purpose of the article is to outline the importance of the formation of trust in a university institution as a key factor in ensuring competitive advantage and generating leadership positions. The goal puts the need to study the theoretical problems of confidence in higher education both in Bulgaria and internationally, to create methods for its research and to identify the successful practices of trust building at the university institution.

The research methodology combines the following research methods: comparative analysis, content analysis. A number of publications on this topic are analyzed (monographs, articles, scientific reports, textbooks, manuals, studies, etc.). This article presents data from an empirical study which is conducted between September and December 2018 through an online questionnaire form among students from the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Sofia, Bulgaria.

The conclusions of the article reveal strong correlation between long-term trust, leadership and quality of educational products and services which should meet the needs of modern society.

Keywords:

Trust, image, leadership, universities, education.