Investigation of the influence of the intensity of the work of the teaching staff on the development of the higher education system: the experience of universities in the Republic of Tatarstan

The proposed research is dedicated to analysis of university professors’ activities in relevance to types of activity, carried out for the period between 2012 and 2024 to identify the gaps allowing quality enhancement. Costs (measuring as time needed to perform certain types of activity) were modelled based on the analysis of median norms per activity as they were applied by the universities in 2012 and 2024. The interval for total work intensity per person was applied as 100 hours (under annual restriction of 900 hours maximum). Those medians were acquired from the intensity norms for universities, based in Kazan, and allowed to identify the average time required for each activity type which has to be performed by the university associate professor. The research allowed to confirm that work intensity throughout the analyzed period increased times more than average salaries, and this disproportion appeared in efficient contract and led to decrease in quality of university associate professors’ performance (on average). Recommendations for balancing work intensity in the tertiary educational institutions were formed, and limits for digital transformation efficiency in the context of balancing activities were identified.