University Psychological Service: Social Expectations and Institutional Challenges on the Path to Sustainable Development

This study describes findings concerning social expectations held by university leaders and psychology service professionals regarding the need and efficacy of psychological support in higher education. It highlights both alignments and discrepancies in perceptions related to the impact of psychological services on achieving university objectives, demand for such aid, and psychologists’ professional skills. The alignment of the positions of “agents of influence and demand” (“supervising” and “non-supervising” vice-rectors) and “support forces” (university psychologists) was considered a necessary condition for the successful institutionalization of the psychological service as an integral part of the university structure. The sociological survey involved 241 respondents – vice-rectors supervising and not supervising the organization of psychological service, as well as heads or specialists of the psychological service – from 170 universities, which represents 38% of the target population. According to the data obtained, absolute unanimity was recorded among all respondent categories regarding the demand for psychological assistance within the higher education system. At the same time, vice-rectors express significant negative assessments of the industry competence of some psychologists and their predominant orientation toward their own professional interests. The main institutional challenges limiting the establishment of the university psychological service were identified and named as industry indifference, mismatch between competencies and tasks, absence of industry context, professional egoism and industry negativism. A conclusion is made about the critical importance of alignment between the positions of vice-rectors and psychologists for the successful institutionalization of psychological assistance within the higher education system.

1. Basyuk, V.S., Malykh, S.B., Tikhomirova, T.N. (2022). Federal Network of Psychological Services in Higher Education Organizations: Concept, Priorities and Development Resources. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education. Vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 4-18, doi: 10.17759/pse.2022270601 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

2. Metelkova, E.I. (2024). Institutionalization of Psychological Assistance in the Higher Education System of the Russian Federation. Vestnik prakticheskoj psihologii obrazovaniya = Bulletin of Practical Psychology of Education. Vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 34-49, doi: 10.17759/bppe.2024210104 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

3. Tikhomirova, T.N., Basyuk, V.S., Ismatullina, V.I., Zinchenko, E.V., Matyash, N.V. et al. (2024). Well-Being and Educational Outcomes Among Student with Different University Admission Strategies. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education. Vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 35-53, doi: 10.17759/pse.2024290603 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

4. Tikhomirova, T.N., Basyuk, V.S., Alkaeva, Yu.V., Zinchenko, E.V., Konstantinov, V.V. et al. (2025). Mental Toughness of First-year Students: Interrelations with University Admission Strategies and Educational Outcomes. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education. Vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 26-43, doi: 10.17759/pse.2025300402 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

5. Baeva, I.A., Laktionova, E.B., Kondakova, I.V., Savenko, Yu.S. (2024). Personal Resources of Psychological Safety of Students Studying in the New Territories of the Russian Federation. Integraciya obrazovaniya [Integration of Education]. Vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 366-383, doi: 10.15507/1991-9468.116.028.202403.366-383 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

6. Makhnach, A.V., Laktionova, A.I., Postylyakova, Yu.V. (2022). Viability of Russian Student Youth in Conditions of Uncertainty. Obrazovanie i nauka = Education and Science Journal. Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 90-121, doi: 10.17853/1994-5639-2022-5-90-121 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

7. Ulyanina, O.A., Aleksandrova, L.A., Dmitrieva, S.O. (2024). Features of the Current State of Students in a Region with a High Degree of Involvement in the Consequences of Military Operations. Social’naya psihologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society. Vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 171-189, doi: 10.17759/sps.2024000001 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

8. St Clair-Thompson, H., Devine, L. (2023). Mental Toughness in Higher Education: Exploring the Roles of Flow and Feedback. Educational Psychology. Vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 326-343, doi: 10.1080/01443410.2023.2205622

9. Baeva, I.A. (2024). Psychological Safety of the Educational Environment: Formation of the Direction And Development Prospects. Ekstremal’naya psihologiya i bezopasnost’ lichnosti = Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety. Vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 5-19, doi: 10.17759/epps.2024010301 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

10. Baeva, I.A., Laktionova, E.B., Kondakova, I.V., Pezhemskaya, Yu.S., Sokolova, M.E.L.S., Stepanova, Yu.S. (2024). Resources of Psychological Safety of Students in a Tense Socio-Cultural Environment: A Review of Theoretical and Empirical Studies. Psihologo-pedagogicheskie issledovaniya = Psychological-Educational Studies. Vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 3-29, doi: 10.17759/psyedu.2024160201 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

11. Buzina, T.S., Oleynikov, S., Makarova, I.V. (2023). Determination of Strategically Important Directions in the Work of the Psychological Service of a Medical University. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Psihologiya. Sociologiya = Bulletin of Perm University. Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology. No. 1, pp. 120-130, doi: 10.17072/2078-7898/2023-1-120-130 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

12. Khalak, M.E., Mazanova, A.E., Balykova, M.V. (2022). Mental Health of Students as a Strategic Goal of Educational Development: Experience of Comprehensive Support for Students in the USA and Russia. Koncept [Concept]. No. 10, pp. 168-185, doi: 10.24412/2304-120X-2022-11075 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

13. Gorbunova, E.V., Krylova, I.V. (2023). Psychological Services in Russian Universities: What Do We Have and Where We Are Going? Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 32, no. 11, pp. 95-115, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2023-32-11-95-115 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

14. Kuzminov, Ya.I., Radaev, V.V., Yakovlev, A.A., Yasin, E.G. (2005). [Institutions: From Borrowing to Cultivation: The Experience of Russian Reforms and the Possibilities of Cultivating Institutional Changes]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. No. 5, pp. 5-27, doi: 10.32609/0042-8736-2005-5-5-27 (In Russ.).

15. Ukhtomskiy, A.A. (2002). [The Dominant as the Factor of Behavior]. In: Dominanta [Dominant]. Saint Petersburg: Piter. Pp. 113-150. ISBN: 5-318-00067-3. (In Russ.).

16. Ukhtomskiy, A.A. (1960). Dominanta kak rabochiy printsip nervnykh tsentrov.Sobranie sochineniy. [Dominance as a Working Principle of Nerve Centers. Collected Works]. Leningrad. Vol. 1, pp. 163-173. (In Russ.).

17. Merton, R. (1994). [Explicit and Latent Thoughts]. In: Amerikanskaya sociologicheskaya mysl’. Teksty. [American Sociological Thought. Texts]. Moscow: Moscow State University Publishing House. Pp. 379-448. ISBN: 5-211-03099-0. (In Russ.).

18. Merton, R. (2000). Science and Social Order. Lichnost’. Kul’tura. Obshchestvo [Personality. Culture. Society]. Vol. 2, no. 2 (3), pp. 151-168. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_9158206_49963815.pdf (accessed 20.07.2025). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).