Abstract:

Teaching staff is the main factor in educational processes. In the modern system of the Russian education, there are many problematic points, including the teaching staff. Among them there can be the teaching staff aging, underdevelopment of the advanced training and retraining of teaching staff’s system, extremely low level of remuneration, as well as decline in the prestige of the teaching profession.

Higher education in Russia, as well as the entire educational system, is going through a difficult stage of reforms. One of the transformations’ consequences in the higher educational system was reduction in employees’ number, carrying out teaching activities in higher educational programs, including the teaching staff.

The service sector is the main sphere of female employment. During 2000-2020 years the share of women in the total number of the teaching staff averaged 57%. In recent years the proportion of the teaching staff carrying out educational activities in higher education programs, having an academic degree and an academic title, has been steadily growing: more than 15% of higher teachers have an academic degree of Doctor of Science, more than 57% of higher teachers have an academic degree of Ph.D. (Candidate of Science).

There is a steady tendency of the higher teaching staff aging in Russia. During 2010-2018 the share of the teaching staff under the age of 25 decreased from 2.3% to 0.7%, while the share of the teachers over 65 increased from 14.8% to 18.6%. Old age acts out as one of the factors limiting the possibilities of teachers in the rapidly changing information society.

The aging of the teaching staff may ultimately lead to the closure of scientific schools and entire areas of training. Success of the transformations carried out in the educational system will be determined by how much the teaching staff can change, how many requirements, which the modern educational standards impose on them, they can meet.