Targeted studying in higher educational institutions is a system of training highly qualified personnel at the expense of the budget, with compulsory work at state enterprises, civil service, etc. Within its framework, a targeted (specially quota-based) enrollment of applicants studying at the state expense is carried out. The scientific and applied problem of this study is the insufficient efficiency of the state’s use of the instrument of targeted education in higher education.

The goal is to form a set of scientifically grounded proposals to improve the efficiency of using the targeted education system in Russia based on the systematic analysis of the practice of targeted enrollment system functioning at the present stage.

The empirical base of the study included the results of the admission campaign in 2021 of the TOP-100 of the leading universities in Russia (according to Forbes magazine). The objects of observation were individual IT and medical areas of training.

Results and scientific novelty: on the basis of a systemic analysis, the current state of the targeted education system in domestic universities is comprehensively described, on the basis of which the key problems of its functioning at the present stage are formulated: 1) in most cases, a significantly lower level of educational potential of target students in comparison with ordinary “budget” students; 2) the lack of opportunity for universities to influence the quality of applicants within the target quota; 3) proactive nature of the formation of directions for targeted training; 4) the absence in the public domain of formal criteria that are being used for selecting target areas (in most cases); 5) non-objective criteria for selecting potential target students; 6) constraining the choice of an educational institution by target students; 7) insufficient interest of employing enterprises to the implementation of the selection program of potential target groups; 8) lack of means of control and influence on the learning outcomes on the part of future employers; 9) the lack of data-centricity in organizing the targeted training system functioning in Russia. To overcome them, the article provides recommendations grouped into 4 blocks: 1) increasing the transparency of the system for selecting potential candidates for targeted training; 2) increasing the attractiveness of the target recruitment, entailing an increase in the educational potential of target applicants; 3) improving the quality of training target students; 4) control and strategic development of the targeted enrollment system in Russia.

The implementation of the 5-100 Project in Russian universities, aimed at improving their competitiveness through adaptation to world standards and inclusion in the international educational environment has produced some quantitative and qualitative results. Despite the undoubted achievements of the universities participating in the Project, the mechanisms of its implementation have revealed some problematic areas that in the end can primarily affect the young generations of scholars. Therefore, assessing the perception of the 5-100 Project by scholars of different ages is important. The purpose of this article is to analyze, through the lens of a generational approach, the risks associated with the two aspects of universities’ activities. First, the principles of funding under the 5-100 Project and second, the approaches applied for assessment of academic performance. The analysis is based on the results of semi-structured interviews with scientific and pedagogical staff at five universities that participated in the 5-100 Project (108 respondents). We analyzed the answers of respondents in three age groups: young scientists, middle-aged and older scholars. The study showed that there are areas where representatives of all generations are unanimous and areas where the young academics have perceptions different from other generations. There is unanimity in the attitudes to principles of financing practiced in the universities. The younger generation turned to be the most sensitive to insufficient spending on research equipment. In terms of performance evaluation indicators, the younger generation demonstrated the greatest adaptability to the system of formal quantitative assessment, while noting its dysfunctional effects. They have also revealed that it is easier for them to change jobs than for other generations of scholars.

The article offers a critical analysis of the impact of digital technologies on higher education. The authors discuss digitalization of higher education in relation to broader sociocultural and political and economic challenges: globalization, commercialization, socio-economic inequality, and ethical issues of technology application. Using this approach, the authors demonstrate that first of all, the rapid digitalization of higher education during the pandemic has activated some of the existing tension points and problematic trends: ‘McDonaldization’ of education, managerialism in higher education governance, the consumerist attitude to learning, the development of the elite education model, etc. Secondly, digitalization has introduced new risks related to the growing influence of global technology companies, online modes of the commodification of learning, the digital divide as a factor of educational inequality, and new ethical challenges. If these risks are not timely addressed, it may jeopardize the creative self-organization of educators and students, hinder the development of diverse and ethically responsible practices of technology use, and further make the higher education system unbalanced and more dependent on commercial technology companies. To mitigate the risks, the authors recommend that the academic community scrutinize the educational principles and ideas that are currently guiding the development of educational digital technologies. Furthermore, the academic community should take a proactive stance on how these technologies should work, and which pedagogical and ethical principles should inform their design. It is likewise essential to support the development of alternative models of digital technologies for education to be designed in partnership with all stakeholders in higher education.

The article reflects the input of the first and second waves of the pandemic on the higher education system in Russia and Belarus. The purpose of the article is to identify the level of adaptation to the widespread use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in a pandemic on the basis of comparison of Belarus and Russia. Two research cases of adaptation are compared. Russian research materials covered two stages of functioning the higher education system: during the full transition to distance learning (DL) in Spring 2020, and in the end of 2020 when the institutions of higher education (HEIs) used DL selectively. In Belarus, DL was used partially. Belarusian case is presented by the data of the representative republican online survey conducted in Spring 2021. Survey materials at the Belarusian State University (December 2020 and February 2021) were also used to compare the opinions of students and employees. The Russian and Belarusian research data were compared by issues related to adaptation to DL and its future perspective. It was found that the level of adaptation of the Russian higher education system steadily increased, although differentiations between the HEIs remained. In Belarus, students’ assessment of the quality of DL was generally positive, and adaptation strategies were successful. The results demonstrate an increase in the level of adaptation to the challenges of the pandemic. They revealed the educational potential of DL and confirmed the possibility of successful digitalization of higher education systems. This approach will help maintain competitiveness, the quality of higher education, increase the level of digital literacy and competence of students and teachers.

The fundamental transition from the concept of maintaining employment to personnel mobility and employability, as well as the transformation of the working environment make the case for addressing the development of students’ employability skills. Job seekers are intended to be effective communicators and drive own productivity. It is important to understand how students perceive the employability skills, which are formed during the university period. The article aims to reveal strategies for employability skills development, implemented by master’s and doctoral students. These students have a long learning experience and acquire a higher level of qualifications. They are better prepared for employment, but still can face obstacles.The empirical base of the study consists of 50 interviews with students of Tyumen universities (32 master’s degree students and 18 doctoral students). The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. The authors focused on 4 employability skills: communication, teamwork, self-management, and self-control. Three strategies of employability skills development are revealed. Active strategy: students identify employability skills as a resource, give average and higher self-assessments of their development, provide detailed examples of their use, analyze mistakes, and see opportunities for future development. Intermediate strategy: students also recognize the importance of employability skills, but there is an imbalance in the development of individual and interpersonal skills. In general, they give average self-assessments of skill development and provide insufficiently detailed descriptions of their use in practice. Their plans for developing employability skills are not precise. Passive strategy: students do not identify employability skills as a resource, and are not proactive in their improvement, limiting themselves to an abstract description of intention. The conclusion is substantiated that only a small part of students of regional universities identify individual and interpersonal skills as a resource and build long-term plans for their improvement.

The article is based on the materials of a field study conducted in the framework of the research project “Admission to a university in 2020: factors of choice, trends and prospects of the admission campaign (on the example of the Volgograd region).” The purpose of the article is to determine the trends in the professional plans of school graduates in the Volgograd region. The article discusses the results of a questionnaire survey of school graduates of the regional center and municipal districts of the Volgograd region. The study showed that school graduates in the Volgograd region are focused on getting education in Volgograd, and graduates of Volgograd schools – at the universities in major cities. Educational migration is carried out in stages: first from rural areas and small towns to large cities, and then from large cities to major cities and capital cities. The region’s school graduates are characterized by the first stage of migration, and the Volgograd school graduates – the second. The choice of the city of study depends on the area of residence. However, the geographical factor is not dominant. Information technology is one of the most attractive fields of professional occupation for school graduates in Volgograd whilst school graduates in the Volgograd region are much less focused on choosing IT educational programs. The main internal parameters that influence the choice of an educational institution by applicants in Volgograd and Volgograd region, are equal. They are the number of budget places, USE passing score and the quality of education at university. At the same time, regional applicants pay relatively more attention to the cost of education, which is associated with a lower level of material prosperity among families in municipal districts, in comparison with families in the regional center.

The article discusses the specificity of constructing pedagogical research within the tradition of Russian Neo-Kantianism. The emphasis is placed on two aspects: 1) philosophy and pedagogy complement each other within the framework of practical philosophy in determining the teleological reason for learning and upbringing, and 2) spiritual and moral foundations determine the efficiency of the process of forming a free and creative individual. The specific features of S.I. Hessen’s concept of moral education in relation to Natorp’s theory of social pedagogy are identified. A comparative analysis of methodological approaches of A.I. Vvedensky and A.V. Veideman to the identification of the purpose of education and upbringing is conducted. The novelty of the study is presented through the actualization of insufficiently studied scientific works of Russian Neo-Kantians, who shared the same field of philosophical discourse with Western European philosophical questions. The relevance of the study is determined by the significance of spiritual and moral values in the context of institutional education. Based on the complex examination as well as the historical and philosophical reconstruction, the general trend of pedagogical research of Russian Neo-Kantians toward the formation of distinct awareness of freedom and its limits is outlined. In the conclusion of the article the authors formulate the statements that have potential for historical and philosophical research, as well as for identification of effective models of correlation of scientific knowledge and spiritual and moral values.

The authors propose to consider university as a significant cultural topos. The significance of the topos is provided by the narrative integrated in it. It reflects the values and inscribes the university into the current cultural situation. The authors give several historical examples to support their thesis that this narrative is a response to external cultural challenges. The current situation is rife with such challenges, and therefore, the creation of a legitimizing narrative for the university turns out to be quite problematic. The authors study the influence of such factors as massification of education, media communication, social, demographic changes, etc. Examples of modern Russian and foreign universities demonstrate self-legitimization process of the university and show its visual part. The universities represent their own position, history and current values by creating their own visual code. The authors adduce as examples modern universities’ websites with the visual images that are presented on their title pages. Based on this material, the authors draw a conclusion about the main modern strategies of self-legitimation of the university as positioning on the scales: tradition and innovation, loyalty to the government and independence from it, history and community.

The role of genetics in modern society is growing, which makes new demands on the quality of training specialists in this field. The article considers the results of the student survey carried out at universities universities of the Republic of Bashkortostan in November 2021 (N=209). The aim of the survey was an analysis of the correspondence of the quality of genetic education to the needs of students. It was found that despite the satisfaction of the majority of the surveyed students with the quality of genetic education, there are problems in understanding modern sections of genetics, such as molecular genetics, toxicological genetics, genomics. The students are not sufficiently involved in scientific research, most of them prefer the traditional forms of teaching and learning, only few of them are aware of modern online resources and MOOCs. The part of students is interested in the development of practical skills in the field of genetic research. The data obtained lead to the conclusion that it is necessary to revise the existing methods of teaching genetics in universities and search for new effective approaches to improve the quality of mastering genetic disciplines.

The article addresses the educational project activities implementation at universities as part of the student-centered learning and a means to raise the effectiveness of students’ professional training. The article provides a critical comparison of the basic elements and features of project activities and SCL. The author proposes a three-tier system of teacher – student – teacher and a methodology for project activities implementation, taking into account the basic principles of SCL. In accordance with the developed system, at the first stage, the teacher organizes the student’s activities on the project including his/her discussing the topic, problem, goal, determining their own requirements for the implementation of the project and individual tasks. At the second stage, the methodology determines the organization of students’ self-governing work on the project, taking into account their personal qualities and experience. An active management of self-governing work enables to build an individual educational trajectory of a student, guide his/her personal development. At the third stage, the methodology determines the teacher’s activities to foster mastering the competencies by the students. These activities are necessarily based on partnership interaction and exchange of views between the teacher and students, the student’s personal critical assessment of the project results and its comparison with the work of other students. The author suggests to positively evaluate incomplete or erroneous results in case the way and method to achieve the assigned tasks were correct and use transparent, objective and understandable for students criteria in assessing the results of his work.

In response to the demands of globalization, many countries have focused their efforts on pursuing a policy to create international and regional educational centers, transform their higher education systems, enhance their international activities, and expand joint programs of universities as tools to increase their competitiveness. The purpose of this article is to study the factors affecting competitiveness in the formation of an educational hub, basing on the world experience in educational hubs creation in the context of of higher education institutions globalization and to identify the priority measures to stimulate the integration of international educational programs and expand the universities’ international activities in Uzbekistan. As an empirical base, we used the results of the studies of foreign countries that successfully achieved their goals of forming regional educational hubs, as well as open data on the leading universities in the Central Asia and Uzbekistan’s positions in international rankings on the attractiveness for foreign students. The methodological basis of the research is comparative and systematic analysis, case method, content analysis of websites of leading universities in Central Asia, expert assessment. The theoretical and methodological foundations and factors affecting the competitiveness of the educational activities of the university in the context of globalization and modernization of higher education are considered. Based on the comparative analysis of a significant array of academic and analytical materials to determine the factors of supply and demand (push-pull factors), implemented strategies for the transformation of universities in a group of dynamically developing countries, the authors provide an assessment factors affecting the competitiveness while creating international and regional educational centers of higher education in Uzbekistan, as well as give recommendations on organizational, economic, institutional mechanisms for transforming the higher education system of the republic into a hub for the implementation of international educational programs in the Central Asia.