Liubov V. Kapustina

The relevance of the research is due to the fact that today university teachers face a number of updated requirements, such as mastering the representative technologies skills in order to create and develop their personal brands. While considering the personal brand of teachers as an image developed on their professional activities, personal qualities, values and skills, as well as a combination of professional image and personal characteristics that make them unique and recognizable in the educational environment, then social networks are an effective tool for self-branding. The purpose of this research is to develop a methodology in order to build an interactive personal brand of a university teacher. The survey was conducted at Samara State University of Economics. The research resulted in technology for building an interactive personal brand of a university teacher. It includes 10 stages: defining the idea of a personal brand and targeting a specific audience; developing the concept of a teacher’s personal brand; creation of the unique image in the professional field; development of requirements for the corporate identity of the teacher’s personal brand; creation of corporate identity and attributes; identification of online platforms for promotion; analysis of the content perception by consumers; analysis of competitors; identification and analysis of educational forms and methods of work that are used by domestic and foreign specialists; checking the performance of the indicators that teachers wanted to achieve by developing and promoting their personal brands. The theoretical significance of the work lies in deepening knowledge on the problem of forming a personal brand of a teacher, taking into account the modern interactive educational environment. The practical significance of the study is due to the fact that the authors have identified and described the technology to build the interactive personal brand of a university teacher which consists of 10 stages. The reliability and validity of the results were ensured by a comprehensive analysis of national and foreign scientific research on the problem mentioned, taking into consideration the fundamental methodological principles and the use of methods appropriate to the study. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the methodology developed by the authors makes it possible to form and improve the self-branding of university teachers for the purpose of their adequate, positive and effective assessment by the employers, students and colleagues.

The relevance of this study is due to the public demand for cooperation between universities and businesses, which leads to significant changes in the higher education system in the light of recent geopolitical, social and economic conditions. However, at the same time, it is necessary to preserve the continuity of the key elements of higher education, which are assessed by the academic community as paramount in the formation of a sustainable interest of students. The aim of this study is to explore the potential of effective use of micro-credentials (micro-qualifications) in the system of traditional higher education. In this regard, the task list includes: description of possible ways of cooperation between universities and business; study of micro-credentials as one of the promising points of contact between university and business; identification of the main prerequisites that affect the existing paradigm of higher education. In the course of our research, theoretical methods were used (comparative analysis, literature analysis, causal analysis, forecasting), as well as empirical methods (questionnaires, data processing) on the basis of the Volga State Transport University and Samara State Technical University. The signs identified in the course of the study indicate the ongoing gradual evolution of vocational training. Namely, this is reflected in the portfolio of students, in the configuration of the higher education system and in pedagogical methodologies. In this regard, adaptability and personalization of education is realized through micro-credentials, which are implemented taking into account the unique needs and preferences of students, which allows them to accumulate experience in several areas of training and develop a more flexible combination of competences based on the needs of the labor market. Such an activity-oriented approach makes it possible to strategically select micro-credentials that complement each other. The theoretical significance of the research lies in the deepening of knowledge on the problem of finding common ground between the traditional teaching system in universities and the actualization of innovations that define the conceptual transformations of higher education. The practical significance of the research lies in the field of using the obtained data in the working programs of universities, as one of their main components of the educational program, which determines the general structure of the discipline, adapting them to the real needs of business. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the results obtained allow us to conclude that it is possible to expand the format of teaching in universities by introducing micro-credentials, while maintaining the necessary academicism and fundamentality.

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.

It is well-known that studying at a university is the first step in the professional identity development. Unfortunately, not all applicants enter higher education institutions guided by their own beliefs, desires and hopes at the moment. Students are often guided by their parents’ advice or wishes in choosing a university and a future profession. As a result, we can see that students begin to experience difficulties with professional self-determination. They cannot independently work out their career plans and do not see prospects for the successful development of their future professional career. As a result, this situation can lead to voluntary expulsion of a student from a higher educational institution. The authors of the study tried to find out how to help students at a higher educational institution create a career path based on portfolio for their future work and give them an active role in this project. The authors of the paper developed a scenario for a professional portfolio and implemented it into practice in order to increase the future graduates’ chances for their successful professional career. We consider the portfolio as a process, product and tool that promotes reflexivity, personal assessment and self-presentation. It has the properties of self-assessment, self-focus and self-preparation, which are very useful within the curriculum. The portfolio contributes to building the professional identity during the studies and allows students to implement mechanisms that will operate later when graduates integrate into the labor market. The theoretical significance of the research is in consideration of the student's portfolio as a reflexive analysis of future professional activity. In practice, this study ensures career guidance, as reflexivity is involved in building professional identity. The scenario of the professional portfolio was developed and applied in practice in Samara State University of Economics in 2022-2023.