The development of new professions: managerial aspects of university training

The article falls under research category. The authors identify challenges arising in the process of organizing university training in the field of new professions (management, marketing, PR, advertising). On the example of PR training authors analyze existing gap between professional and university understanding of the list and specifics of competencies necessary for graduates as well as challenges related to the status of this specialization in the structure of existing professional training at the university. The authors conducted comparative analysis of differences in PR training at Russian and American universities depending on existing practices of management and regulation in the field of higher education. Comparative analysis is made on the basis of theoretical an empirical data both open and collected by the authors. Research methodology is based on system and structural principles of analyzing educational sphere form the point of view of managerial approach. Data was collected with the use of several methods: academic literature analysis, internet sources content analysis, interviews with PR specialists form Ekaterinburg, expert interviews with lecturers and administrators from several American universities. During the research it was found that differences in PR specialists training at Russian and American universities are largely related to management system and existing educational standards. Besides that there is a set of latent factors influencing the variety of educational programs in Russia. In both countries educational programs are influenced by labor market requirements which define the content of PR specialist training according to specific features of each country. Further research and accurate comparative analysis require interviews with American PR specialists using the same method as in the Russian research. Authors believe there is a set of latent factors influencing specialist training in the USA that can be revealed during additional research. The authors conclude that while designing educational programs in new specializations one must analyze latent factors influencing program content and their implementation process. These factors should be considered in management decision making on organizing PR specialist training in the set university structure.