SOCIAL POTENTIAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHERS OF THE THIRD AGE: PROBLEMS AND NEW CHALLENGES

Elena Shuklina¹, Mariya Pevnaya^2
1Elena Shuklina, (Prof. Dr.) The School of public administration and entrepreneurship Institute of Economics and management, Ural Federal University, RUSSIA, e.a.shuklina@urfu.ru
²Maria Pevnaya, (Dr.) head of Chair of sociology and public administration technology, Ural Federal University, RUSSIA, m.v.pevnaya@urfu.ru

Abstract

Introduction
Russian teachers of the third age are a social group that is currently in a difficult and ambiguous situation. On the one hand, raising the retirement age in Russia sets them the task of further professional development. On the other hand, the level of professional requirements associated with increasing the competitiveness of Russian higher education in the global educational space is sharply increasing. The purpose of the article is to answer the question - how the accumulated social potential of the third age's teachers allows them to adapt to new conditions, to increase the level of competitiveness, to act as a factor in the development of the University teaching community and higher education in general.

Materials and methods   
The article is based on the materials of research team in the Ural Federal University (2017-2019). The article uses quantitative data of the mass survey of teachers in the Ural Federal district, implemented by the method of questioning. The population is 51 University of the Ural Federal district. Quota sampling was implemented in the study. The volume of the teachers' sample is 810 people. Social community of the third age's teachers was 38.5% of the total sample.

The results of research
The social potential of University teachers was considered in the context of the following structural elements: professional qualification, innovation, cultural, civil. Teachers of the third age have higher professional and qualification potential (qualification and status characteristics) than other age groups. The innovative potential realized in research activity and educational process is also high. This applies to innovation activity implemented in research projects and scientific communication. Their cultural practices are quite diverse, and the activity of cultural consumption is even higher than that of colleagues of other age groups. Civic activity of the third age's teachers is manifested in various forms of public participation, implemented through interaction with authorities of different levels and public organizations. The specificity of their civic activity is the implementation of expert functions that require high qualification, which has this group of teachers. 

At the same time, the teaching community of the third age notes the lack of sufficient institutional conditions for effective development, manifested primarily in the low level of social protection in the professional sphere.

General conclusions
University teachers of the third age have sufficient adaptive potential in the new challenges of the social environment. At the same time, the basic problem of their development is the creation of institutional conditions for professional activities and the effective realization of their social potential.

Keywords: Educational reforms, university teachers, teaching community, public participation, higher education, third age