Additional professional education in the regions of Russia

The social and economic changes in our country, the transformation of the economy, the rapid development of technology have made researchers, politicians, employers pay attention to the potential of additional professional education (hereinafter referred to as APE) system in terms of developing and improving the employees of enterprises and organizations’ knowledge and skills. Due to a shorter training cycle (compared to higher and secondary vocational education programs), more flexible conditions and opportunities for the implementation of educational programs, the APE system could respond quickly enough to the needs for improving and developing market participants’ professional competencies according to the technological transformation of the Russian economy. This makes it necessary to consider the main trends and strategies for the APE development. The results presented in the article are based on the analysis of official statistical information, as well as on the results of a 2023 sociological study of the APE system transformation in three regions of Russia. We examine both the key characteristics of the system of additional professional education in this country, their dynamics over the past five years, and the regional specific features of the APE systems state. The presented results can be used when forming management decisions in the APE sphere; corresponding examples are proposed by the authors.