This article is the first in a series of papers dedicated to the career and educational trajectories of recent Master’s graduates in Russia. The research focuses on the specifics of educational transitions from Bachelor’s to Master’s degrees and is based on administrative data for Russia (Monitoring of Graduate Employment), which covers all university graduates in the country. The data show that 66% of Master’s graduates are recent Bachelor’s graduates who have continued their studies within five years of their previous education. 36% of full-time bachelor’s graduates enter a master’s programme in the first few years after graduation, and 93% of them do not take a break from their studies. About a quarter of continuing Bachelor’s graduates change their field of study at Master’s level. Changing university or region is much less common, although part-time bachelor graduates and those who took a break between bachelor and master are more likely to do so. A series of probit regressions were used to identify characteristics associated with continuing on to a Master’s degree, as well as changing field of study, university or region of study when moving from undergraduate to postgraduate study. The results show that graduates in technical and scientific fields, who studied full-time at more selective universities and who have high levels of academic achievement, are more likely to continue their studies at Master’s level. The more time elapses after a Bachelor’s degree, the more likely Master’s students are to change their educational trajectory, including their field of study, university, and region of study. Honours graduates from selective Bachelor programmes are less likely than others to change their educational trajectory. The specificity of educational transitions allows us to identify several segments of Master’s education (the same educational pathway as Bachelor’s and ‘basic education’), which may lead to different labour market outcomes of graduates    

Many researchers note the existence of systemic problems in the training of highly qualified scientific personnel, in particular candidates of science. Statistical data indicate a decrease in the effectiveness of training, a reduction in the number of candidate dissertation defenses. The study used data from the annual reports of dissertation councils for 2012–2023. One of the problematic aspects of the postgraduate training system is the period of preparation of a candidate dissertation from admission to postgraduate school to the defense of the dissertation, which has increased to 6-7 years in recent years. Almost three quarters of annual defenses are defenses delayed after the completion of postgraduate school by a year or more. An increase in the time for dissertation preparation entails a decrease in the number of young candidates and doctors of science. Foreign postgraduate students, compared to Russian ones, try to defend their dissertations earlier. The study considered the hypothesis that the reason for delays in defending a dissertation may be the need to meet the requirement for the number of publications. The hypothesis was not confirmed. Most applicants for the degree of candidate of sciences begin their defense with the number of publications exceeding the minimum regulatory requirements. The authors suggest that the delay in preparing the dissertation is due to the lack of financial security for scientific research and suggest paying attention to the introduction of industrial postgraduate studies. On the other hand, in order to provide a postgraduate student with a longer period for preparing a dissertation, it is possible to start the dissertation research not from the moment of admission to postgraduate studies, but earlier – in themaster’s program. This requires advance (2-3 years earlier) planning of the target figures for admission to postgraduate studies.

The article is devoted to the identification of promising scientific subject areas of   the region on the basis of structural analysis of statistical information at the regional, national and worldwide levels. Such an approach will help to determine the trends formed in the national science   and in the world scientific community. The study is based on scientometric analysis in the context of subject areas, including the assessment of the dynamics and quality of publications. The article uses data from international and national databases to carry out scientometric analysis of scientific subject areas of the Republic of Tatarstan using the tools of cluster analysis, matrix modeling, dynamic and structural analysis of statistical information. The peculiarity of the approach is the collection   and processing of information at the level of individual subjects of the Russian Federation on the basis of systematization of statistics on particular scientific and educational institutions represented in statistical databases, as well as comparison of subject areas of international and domestic classifiers (All-Russian Classifier of Specialties in Higher Education and eLibrary subject rubricator, detailed by the State Rubricator of Scientific and Technical Information). The analysis allowed to identify   the scientific directions growing in the global arena and localized in the republic, which can form a pool of promising demanded scientific directions, among them: biotechnology (neurotechnology); immunology and microbiology; agriculture and forestry and biology; other sectors of the economy (interdisciplinary directions); literature, literary studies, oral folk art; religion, atheism; economic directions development of which depends on a number of factors (formed scientific policy, support programs of the region). In addition, the importance of attention to the scientific areas that are declining in activity on the regional level but growing in the country and the world (physics; electrical engineering (engineering technologies); materials science, etc.) is outlined.

Recent changes in the state demographic policy, which have widely included the student community in their orbit, pose new challenges for universities. In the state program “Family” within the framework of the federal program “Family Support”, students are identified as a target   group. The indicators that measure the activity of universities in this area are included. Regional programs aimed at increasing the birth rate have also recently introduced measures aimed at supporting the family-parent trajectory of students – student (family) capital, compensation for housing costs, etc. The aim of the study was to identify new opportunities for universities to be included in the demographic agenda through a mechanism for informing students about the involvement of business in mitigating the demographic problems of an industrial region. We surveyed   students of the last two full-time courses of higher education in the Chelyabinsk region, a region where student (family) capital for the birth of a child was introduced in 2024, where a number of industrial enterprises have long been implementing measures to support workers’ families, where the lowest regional birth rate in the Ural Federal District is observed. A series of studies (questionnaire, essay) was conducted in October–November 2024 at two major universities in the region. The results showed that students’ awareness of corporate support measures for family workers is a significant factor correlating with their productive orientations: the more aware students are of support measures, the more children they plan to have. This opens up a new tool for involving universities in the demographic agenda of the country and regions. Recommendations have been developed aimed at building the systematic work of employers, universities and authorities to integrate information on corporate demographic measures into the mental and practical context of youth.

The development and implementation of educational programmes that meet the demands of the labour market, state and international standards require the attention of university leaders and researchers. Higher education institutions and programme managers may have a need to   determine the current state of the programme, redesign it, identify the target audience, etc., however they may lack tools. This study presents a model for the expertise of higher education programmes and the results of its aprobation based on master’s degree programmes. In addition, the analysis of various approaches to determining the quality of education and existing approaches to the expert evaluation of educational programmes is carried out. The findings revealed the key characteristics and features of the studied programmes, including the uniqueness of educational outcomes, the emphasis on an evidence-based approach, and the commitment to updating the content and teaching methods. The study also identified challenges, such as the discrepancy between the names of the programmes and the actual educational practices expected by students. The considerable value and potential of the proposed model for the exert evaluation and enhancement of educational programmes has been demonstrated by the conducted expertise, rendering it useful in the context of managerial decisions related to the educational process modernisation. The development of simplified version of the model for wider implementation is a prospect of the research.

Teamwork is an essential part of professional life and cooperation skills are necessary for students for successful employment. The main task of higher education is to increase the competitiveness of graduates in the job market by creating educational programs aimed at teamwork skills development. A reliable measurement method is needed to observe progress of these skills. That is why assessment tools for students’ teamwork development play an important role in higher education. The review reveals key issues and contradictions in the assessment of group and team work in higher education. By analyzing traditional methods (expert assessment, peer assessment, normalized approaches) the study demonstrates their possible vulnerability to subjectivity, cognitive biases and social factors. Meanwhile automated algorithms, digital trace analysis and multimodal learning analytics have high potential to capture students’ real contributions and the dynamics of their interactions. However, these technologies are still poorly understood and represented in the scientific literature on group and teamwork and their perception by students remains ambiguous. One of the key findings of the study is that most existing approaches evaluate only the final result, ignoring the process of developing team skills and the changing roles of participants over time, and this limitation leads to unfair distribution of grades and decreased student motivation. The paperwork emphasizes the need to move to hybrid assessment models that combine quantitative digital data with high-quality pedagogical expertise. The presented findings are based on an analysis of 43 empirical studies and show that the future of team assessment lies in the integration of digital technologies that can keep a close watch on student interactions in real time, identify patterns of collaboration and ensure fair grade distribution.

This article examines the experience of implementing project-based learning in engineering education at the Center of Mechanical Engineering of Togliatti State University. The motivation of the study lies in the analysis of a model centered around a continuously operating student engineering team participating in international Formula Student competitions. The aim of the research is to identify problematic areas, their causes, and pathways for further development of this project-based learning model. A literature review revealed several types of project-based learning models used in Russian universities: models aimed at educational outcomes, such as the development of professional competencies; models focused on achieving project outcomes; product-oriented models centered on delivering tangible products for external clients; hybrid models that combine various objectives. The Togliatti State University case represents a hybrid approach, emphasizing both competency development and project outcomes. To address research questions, surveys were conducted among students, focus group discussions were held with student leaders, and interviews were carried out with project advisors and employers. Key findings include positive evaluations from all participants regarding educational and project outcomes. At the same time the authors identified a number of challenges: predominance of external motivation among half of the students; shortage of supervisors and allocated instructional hours for projects, leading to limited individual engagement with teams; inability to diversify the model’s scope and content solely through existing resources. The study suggests solutions such as further individualization and diversification of project   based learning by involving more student leaders, expanding case studies, and engaging consultants from industry partners.