Doctoral supervision is considered one of the key factors in doctoral education performance. High-quality supervision does not merely predict the success of dissertation completion, but also plays a major role in academic community integration and identity development of doctoral students. Publications exploring problems of supervision tend to be based on surveys into mentors’ functions and advisory styles. Currently, research that aims at evaluating supervision efficiency is scarce. In the present article, we derive quantification of advisors’ activity and performance from non-reactive data on academic staff appointed to supervise doctoral students at two research-intensive multidisciplinary universities. The empirical base for the study comprises the data on research supervisors (N=515) and their doctoral students (N=1597). The paper addresses two main questions: (1) how does the number of doctoral students assigned influence a supervisor’s performance; (2) is there a correlation between a level of performance of guided students and their supervisor’s position, academic degree, academic rank and citation metrics and publication productivity. The findings imply that there is a great disparity in distribution of supervisors by number of students and by performance level (number of dissertation defenses), which is found to conform to Pareto – Zipf law. The highest performers prove to be those staff members who supervise from two to five students. That share of staff members scores higher on citation metrics and demonstrates better publication activity. A large portion of this group consists of staff holding academic positions and lecturers who do not attain a Doctor of sciences degree or academic rank. Performance indicators proposed in the article along methods of data collection, processing and analysis could have practical implications for monitoring supervisors’ activity in universities. The results obtained form basis for a number of managerial propositions to enhance supervision performance level.

Based on the theoretical framework of Max Weber and the neo-Weberians, the authors consider the profession of a University teacher in the dichotomy of “work with filling” (value-rational strategies) and performing routine professional functions (goal-rational strategies). Based on the data of the study “Professional strategies of teachers of higher education in modern Russia” indicators (mobility level, employment rate, career paths) are selected and justified, which allow teachers to attribute their professional strategies to the goal-rational or value-rational.

The study showed that most teachers adhere to a goal-rational strategy, limiting themselves to fulfilling the minimum requirements of a professional contract. Value-rational strategies are characteristic for teachers with a high level of competences. Most young teachers under 39 follow goal-rational strategy. Value-rational strategy is characteristic of pre-retirement teachers. This increases the risk of a decrease in the quality of higher education due to the ageing of teaching staff.

The authors conclude that “social closure” of the teaching profession is legalized, while maintaining the status quo and agreeing with the rigid regulatory framework in the neo-Weberian tradition.

The article presents the model and practices of human potential development. Human potential is considered in three contexts: the context of development, emerging markets (innovation and creative industries, entrepreneurship, etc.); the context of human “mightiness”, his or her ability to act in conditions of uncertainty, to create something new and unexpected; and the context of searching for the human in human potential, emphasizing the value-semantic aspects of human potential and cultural practices of its development. By human potential is meant the subject’s capabilities in cooperation with Significant Others to open prospects for self-development and self-realization in the described contexts. The developed model is based on the concept of “productive action”, supplemented by reflective practices of constructing opportunities and one’s own path, developing the ability to be a cultural, social, and economic subject. The development of human potential is proposed to be carried out along three vectors: “working with the ideal” (searching for one’s own meanings and developing reflection), “self-positioning in society” (social positions, connections, communities, reputation, career position, occupation, and types of activity), and “mightiness” (building the ability to “overcome one’s inability”, i.e., the ability to act on the frontier). The model allows researching, describing, and constructing practices of human potential development. The proposed model of practice and the structure of its description are presented, as well as examples of significant practices for the purposes of the study from the field of higher, secondary, and additional education.

At the present work using data from the longitudinal study of the National Research University Higher School of Economics “Trajectories in Education and Careers”, authors studied the relationship between the trajectories of university graduates and their chances for social mobility. Authors assessed, which characteristics of the path taken in education and the labor market by the age of 25 are associated with upward mobility. Using Blau and Duncan’s status attainment model, the movement from prescribed family status to attained status was analyzed. Two measures were used to assess status: subjective social status and financial status.

Graduates by age 25 were most likely to have reproduced parental status, with the majority reproducing middle status, as measured by both subjective social status and financial status. The chances of upward mobility were significantly higher for university graduates who had had time to accumulate the most work experience by age 25. At the same time, the completion of a Master’s degree and prolonged studies, which do not allow for full-time employment, proved to be a risk factor for maintaining the prescribed status. Socio-economic and gender inequalities were also observed: male graduates and those from more educated families had significantly higher chances of upward social mobility. As a result, it was factors unrelated to education (work and socio-demographic factors), that proved to be significant for the success of graduates.

In the educational process, a teacher of any specialization deals with texts in oral and written form and carries out all types of speech activities. The article is devoted to the problem of studying the intertextual thesaurus of a student at a pedagogical university. An analysis of scientific publications showed the absence in the modern scientific paradigm of studies in which a quotation would be considered as a tool for transmitting a cultural code transmitted from teacher to student. A new aspect of the study of the influencing functions of quotation and the use of literary quotation as a means of studying the intertextual thesaurus of a linguistic personality determines the relevance of our research.

The authors set a goal to identify and describe the intertextual thesaurus of a modern student of a pedagogical university in the context of professional training based on knowledge and mastery of literary quotations from the works of the school curriculum. 1008 students of a pedagogical university studying at different faculties took part in the experiment. The methodological foundations of the study were the theory of problem-based learning, the doctrine of linguistic personality, the system of literary development and the theory of the development of the reader’s interpretive activity, a description of precedent phenomena. When conducting the research at different stages, the method of pedagogical observation, contextual analysis of dictionaries, analysis of scientific works, a comprehensive survey, and the method of introspection were used.

As a result of the experiment, it was revealed that more than 50% of university respondents were unable to identify quotes from works of art in the school curriculum. Based on the analysis of works, “negative” strategies for interpreting a literary quotation (primitivization, lowering the stylistic register of the text, transferring content to the everyday level) and positive ones (strategy of searching for value meanings, strategy of logical explanation; strategy of concretizing the content) were identified.

In the course of analyzing the problem, the authors turn to the situation of school literary education and the problem of the cultural attitudes of the future teacher.

The article is devoted to the study of significance, role and potential risks of the gameization of educational processes in higher education institutions in the context of digital transformation of society and the emergence of new requests to educational organizations. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of students’ and teachers’ perception of the existing practice of gameization of educational processes. The article presents the results of online questionnaire survey of students of the Volgograd Institute of Management and a series of expert interviews with representatives of the teaching staff. The results of the study indicate a high prevalence of the practice of gamification and its positive perception by the most participants in the educational process. The key effects of integrating game elements include increasing educational motivation and the quality of professional training, ensuring that the educational process meets the requirements of relevance. Among the main limitations in the implementation of gameization, teachers indicate the need to maintain a balance of classes in game and traditional forms, as well as the presence of specific disciplines and thematic blocks that are available for presentation exclusively in the classical format. At the same time, the main risk of introducing gameization, in particular competitive elements, is associated with the development of negative socio-psychological phenomens at the level of students and student groups in general. This conclusion is consistent with the results of student questionnaire survey. The disordered nature of the gameization of educational process revealed by the results of the study reflects the general trends of educational organizations and conditioned by the low level of motivational, cognitive, organizational and methodological readiness of teachers to carry out such innovative activities. The limiting organizational and managerial factor is the lack of consolidation of game forms of classes in the work programs of disciplines. The authors’ recommendations on expanding the practice of gameization of educational process are related to methodological support and professional development of teachers in the context of modern gaming and digital educational technologies and resources, stimulating activities for the development and implementation of game-based courses, and the consolidation of game forms of classes in discipline programs.

The integration of project-based learning into higher education is a topic of significant interest to scholars and practitioners from different countries. As part of the X International Scientific and Practical Conference ‘Strategies for the Development of Social Communities, Institutions and Territories’ on 18 April 2024, the Ural Federal University hosted a round table ‘Project Based Learning: Interdisciplinary and Organisational Context, Partnership Opportunities’. Researchers and managers representing 12 Russian universities took part in the scientific discussion. The round-table discussion highlighted a number of pertinent research questions that require critical evaluation by researchers of higher education and the academic community responsible for the transformation of the academic environment, the educational process, and educational activities. The relevant research was analyzed, and it was found that there were two main areas of focus: 1) the integration of project learning into the educational process and extracurricular activities in higher education; 2) the partnership of Russian universities with external project customers and the formation of a culture of interaction in the implementation of project learning.

Using examples of the introduction of the Unified State Exam and participation in the Bologna process, the article analyzes changes in the regulatory framework for budgetary financing of education as a reaction to external circumstances. The role of the family and educational institutions in fostering a sense of responsibility for decisions and the results of their implementation is also discussed.