UNIVERSITY TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT IN THE CONDITIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN ACADEMIA

In the conditions of institutional changes, not only the management model in the higher education system is changing, but also professional values and roles in the teaching community are transforming, especially among young teachers. This article presents a study of university teachers' professional commitment in the context of academic environment transformation, as exemplified by Ural Federal University. The study was conducted in 2 stages - a questionnaire survey of university teachers (N = 284), and expert interviews with the most successful teacher-administrators (N = 17). A comparative analysis was carried out of teachers' values and professional goals in different age groups and fields. Significant distinctions were revealed in the attitudes to profession between the groups under consideration, which leads to the conclusion about weakened professional commitment resulting from strengthened formal requirements for educational process organization and restricted academic freedom.