Irina G. Bakanova

The relevance of the research is due to the fact that most of the university courses today are aimed at developing hard skills of prospective specialists without taking in consideration soft skills formation in training. Even if there are some courses to improve students’ soft skills, they are planned, as a rule, without taking into account the current employers’ demands. It is worth noting that soft skills development today is very important in the professional field in general, and in the IT area in particular. The purpose of the study is to identify an optimal combination of soft skills that are required of the candidates for IT positions and make the applicants competitive in the labor market. The paper is based on a theoretical review and analysis of national and foreign scientific works on the subject of research. A questionnaire was chosen as an empirical research method. The scientific novelty of the results, in contrast to the results of foreign and domestic researches on the issue, is the following: 1) technical knowledge does not always contribute to professional success in the IT area because it largely depends on how well a specialist is able to work, listen and interact with others to promote a project or solve a problem in a team, 2) soft skills are additional values of IT specialists but only on condition that they realize what kinds of specific soft skills will be required and will be able to develop them, 3) university can become a suitable area for developing a currently important set of graduates’ soft skills. The theoretical significance of the research lies in advancing knowledge on the students’ soft skills development in higher educational institutions in order to improve their professional ways. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the authors identified and described an up-to-date combination of soft skills based on the results of interviews in Russian IT companies: curiosity and willingness to learn, interpersonal communication, customer-oriented mentality, collaboration, problem-solving ability, adaptability, prioritization and mentoring. The reliability and validity of the results were ensured by a comprehensive analysis of national and foreign academic literature on the research issue taking into account the fundamental methodological principles and the use of methods appropriate to the study.

The modern development of the economy and industry in Russia shows a great interest of employers in mid-level specialists. Today, there is interest on the part of the state in improving the quality of secondary vocational education (SVE), and "Professionalitet" is being actively introduced, suggesting more shortened temporary forms of training. At the same time, an employer would like to have a ready-made specialist with well-formed professional competences and personal characteristics. The purpose of this article is to consider possible options for improving the quality of education in the vocational education system, taking into account the trends in the development of modern society. This work is based on a theoretical review, analysis and generalization of domestic and foreign literature on the problem of the research. Thus, the development of the society under the circumstances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 is of great interest and dictates some requirements regarding the quality of education, the formation of competences, thinking. It was concluded that the presence of hard skills is not enough for a modern specialist, it is a great demand for creativity, the ability to spontaneity and improvisation, entrepreneurial thinking, courage, initiative. According to the studied literature, graduates of the vocational school have an insufficiently formed level of systemic thinking as the ability to analyze and make adequate decisions due to the predominance of clip thinking. Clip thinking, despite the speed of material analysis, is characterized by fragmentation and superficial assessment, which can negatively affect the successful functioning of a person in society. It is concluded that with the development of technology and clip thinking, the education system can no longer fully rely on traditional teaching methods, it must look for more effective and modern ways of interacting with students. One of these methods is virtual reality (VR technology). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the authors identified the need to develop systems thinking among students of secondary vocational education institutions and the possibility of its development through the use of VR technologies, described ways of using virtual reality, which helps improve professional skills, as well as imagination, memory, cognitive abilities , and make non-standard decisions.

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that there is no standard format and structure for teaching entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation today. Entrepreneurship currently has immeasurable importance to achieve economic growth and economic development of the country. The State is making efforts to facilitate startups, while university entrepreneurial education is still left behind. Business and management education focuses only on teaching students how to become good employees paying attention to the fact that it is their only career option. Most students do not acquire many of the skills that entrepreneurs need, including thinking outside the box, knowing how to acquire and use resources, ability to create organizations, and effective teamwork. Teachers do not always realize the importance of entrepreneurial learning model transformation. It is entrepreneurship training at the university that should contribute to the creation of new jobs, not only to the provision of prospective employees on the labor market. Therefore, studying at the university should include business practices that can help students feel and overcome the difficulties that will arise in new company development. The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of the university as a determinant of the act of entrepreneurship. The problem of the study is to answer the question: what factors should be taken into account in education in order to consider university education as a chance to set up a business? The theoretical basis of the study was the analysis of Russian and foreign scientific literature on entrepreneurship development in higher educational institutions. The theoretical significance of the research is due to the analysis of approaches to popularize the concept of entrepreneurship and its implementation among students in order to make graduates potential entrepreneurs. The authors identified and described indicators that stimulate entrepreneurship in general. The practical significance of the study is due to the description of the factors that should be taken into account while training in order to make university education a platform for students’ startups.

The modern world focuses on improving the welfare of Russian citizens, which is impossible without a contribution to the development of human resources. It should be noted that the system of secondary vocational education (SVE) plays a significant role in the economic growth of the country. Therefore, it is important to create the right conditions for the functioning of this system and the training of highly qualified specialists who have a sufficient number of competences and skills to be competitive in the labor market. The purpose of our research was a historical analysis of secondary vocational education, the prerequisites for its emergence, development depending on the demands of the time, starting from the time of Kievan Rus and up to nowadays. It is the complete historical picture that makes it possible to compare tasks and their solutions, positive experience at different time intervals that allow us to select the best practices today. The realities of the modern world require taking into account high turbulence in all spheres of activity, the presence of hard and soft skills for the formation of preadaptive behavior among students in order to be successful in personal and professional spheres. Accordingly, the introduction of various professional skill competitions and championships, which was common in the Soviet Union, and active participation in them allows students to develop, evaluate their achievements, strive for the best. In addition, the system of dual training used in Soviet times is becoming more and more relevant today. Professionality in modern conditions makes it possible to shorten the period of training due to focus on practical work, as it was in the war and post-war time on the example of vocational schools and industrial factory schools. The analysis of the article is based on such methods as a theoretical review and examination of domestic and foreign literature on the problem of research and generalization of the experience of the SVE system functioning. Review of historical, socio-economic and pedagogical literature allowed us to assess how the demands of time had influenced on the development of the SVE system. It is concluded that a broad view on the historical situation makes it possible to use successful experience taking into account modern paradigms. As the results of the study, promising directions of the development of vocational education today are given: participation in the national program "Education", "Professionalism", the introduction of a dual training system, a demonstration exam and various professional skills competitions and championships.

An increasing number of scientists and experts claim that humanity will face a radical change in the economic and social structure in the near future, a new type of specialists will be needed for the new economy. The article examines the paradigms of modern society, namely the situation of uncertainty, digitalization, automation, sustainable development and crises threatening society, including climate catastrophe and the risk of mankind extinction. These modern realities contribute to the formation of the VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), which, in turn, require the development of certain competences. Effective work in a situation of uncertainty presupposes preadaptive development – the ability to forecast future crises and the ability to prepare for them. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered changes in many areas of life and work. Thus, the skills of remote work and digital communications have become the most popular. Today, the most priority competences are technical and digital ones. The fourth industrial revolution is changing the landscape of many professions and blurring the lines between the digital, physical and biological worlds. Digital society and computerization are not possible without sustainable development, which implies studying the Earth's ecosystem and understanding the role of Humankind in it. Regenerative approaches that seek to reduce the damage from human activity are becoming the most significant. Remaining a part of nature, the regenerative economy actualizes the competences necessary for successful functioning in modern conditions. The article focuses on the formation of not only technical, but also "soft" competences, namely the understanding of innovation, environmental literacy, critical thinking, analytical skills, teamwork skills, ability to negotiate and exert influence, emotional intelligence, communication, leadership. Undoubtedly, modern realities pose challenges to the education system and dictate the need to introduce new methods and approaches to teaching and training of teaching staff. The new role of the teacher requires the development of innovative approaches to educational activities for the greatest effectiveness. The teacher is increasingly acting as a good conductor of the educational process. Consequently, it is necessary to develop modern competences and "correct" thinking – a set of views, worldviews and habits in order to form the desired professional behavior among teachers.