Corruption stereotypes in higher education

Introduction. Corruption is a negative phenomenon which affects the whole system of higher education and is determined by such factors as teacher's insufficient salary, students' lack of interest in obtaining knowledge, etc. The aim of the research is to reveal the main corruption stereotypes in teacher's mind causing crime commission, and suggest the measures to overcome them. Materials and Methods. The authors analyzed the legislation of the Russian Federation, scientific and methodical publications, studied analytical reviews, methodical guidelines, reference books concerning the subject-matter under consideration. To obtain empirical data a special questionnaire was designed and applied. That questionnaire enabled the authors to examine 365 archive criminal cases pertaining to bribery in higher education which were investigated in the Omsk, Tyumen and Novosibirsk regions from 2008 to 2019. 127 practical workers were interviewed who investigated and considered the criminal cases of the mentioned category. Results and Discussion. A thorough analysis of corruption stereotypes related to higher education in teacher's mind is carried out and the general measures to overcome them are suggested. The paper contains the authors' scientific concept of “corruption stereotypes”, reveals their types and describes their detailed characteristics. The focus is made on the usage of such measures of counteracting corruption in higher education as improved anti-corruption education in educational organizations and elimination of legal uncertainty in the current legislation. Conclusions. There are corruption stereotypes in teacher' thinking which cause crime commission: the received illegal reward is not a bribe, it is a present; the teacher is not the subject of bribe-taking. Uncertainty found in the norms of criminal legislation can lead to abuse by supervising subjects (unreasonable bringing to criminal justice) and by the supervised persons (skillful evasion of legal responsibility). It is important to note that the legislator has failed to create the distinct legal basis for counteracting corruption in higher education.