Development of demographic education in higher education institutions of Russia

The article assesses the availability of demographic education in Russian universities based on the analysis of information posted on the websites of educational programs of higher education institutions included in the rating of top 100 ranking best universities in the Russian Federation, compiled by the research company RAEX-Analytics LLC in 2019. Universities are grouped according to their profile, specialization and geographical location. Monitoring of educational programs is presented in terms of educational levels and directions. The study revealed that 75% of Russian universities, included in the sample, have demographic disciplines in their educational programs. Demographic education is most developed in multidisciplinary universities. Demographic disciplines are included in almost all educational programs for training in the area of "Sociology". It is concluded that there is an inequality in the availability of demographic education, since it is more concentrated in the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg as well as in the cities of the Volga Federal District. In addition, there were found out such distortions in the development of demographic education as lack of instrumental disciplines and weak inclusion of demographic disciplines in economic programs. As a result of the research, there are given recommendations aimed at expanding the range of students studying demography, forming of continuity in educational programs for bachelor's and master's degrees, and including demographic disciplines of an instrumental nature in them. The authors believe that the expansion of interaction between universities and local authorities in training specialists will contribute to development of demographic education.