Professional trajectories of the university teachers in Russia: request for individualization

The article examines the peculiarities of professional strategies of the faculty and researchers in Russian universities, as well as the established approaches to their professional development and motivation. The components of the professional strategy of higher education teachers are considered, including mobility, institutional conditions for career trajectory choices, and the desired and actual balance between methodological/teaching, research, and administrative work. It is argued that Russian teachers and researchers are oriented towards working in their own university and region, with mobility being predominantly horizontal. Significant motives for relocation to work in a university include career advancement (promotion/occupying an administrative position) and a doubling of salary. There is a demand for increasing the share of research work in certain types of universities. The need to consider individual faculty requests for new competencies and professional development tracks by university management is emphasized. The article discusses the necessity of identifying tracks corresponding to the main types of activities - research, teaching, and practical/ administrative work. Conclusions are drawn regarding the need to establish a system to support the development of professional strategies for faculty at the national level and to implement such a system, taking into account the specific characteristics and resources of each university. The material was prepared as a result of the research project “Professional Strategies of Higher Education Teachers in Modern Russia” within the framework of the “Mirror Laboratories of HSE University”.