Paradoxes of the higher education modernization: Results of the 20-year monitoring in the Sverdlovsk Region

The article considers modernization of the Russian higher education based on the data of the regional monitoring (1995-2016). The methodology of the research consists of the multidimensional approach (combination of systemic, institutional, resource and other approaches) and interpretations of modernization of the higher education as an integral part of modernization of the social-economic system of Russia. Modernization of the higher education is defined as a continuous process of transformational changes focused on improving the quality and competitiveness of all subsystems of the higher education. The article aims at explaining how modernization affects the resource potential of students, at showing to what extent students see its results and can use the opportunities provided by it. The authors focus on the question whether modernization is implemented for students, with or without students: how the quality of education changes due to modernization, how it affects the students’ satisfaction with the quality of education and professional training. The article reveals the paradoxes of modernization in terms of achieving its main goal - training of highly qualified professionals satisfying the needs of the economy in personnel; and points to the strengthening of material, technical and financial educational inequality of Russian regions and sectors of economy. The quality of the higher education is considered a way of social self-regulation. Its indicators include students’ satisfaction with different aspects of education important for the development of professional knowledge. The article presents the students’ estimates of the accessibility of the higher education in the Sverdlovsk Region by such basic indicators of modernization as academic mobility, informatization, relationship of education, science and production. Based on the results of the monitoring the authors prove the low impact of modernization changes on the students’ satisfaction with the quality of education and professional training.