Peculiarities of professional autonomy depending on the levels of creativity of university teachers

The article highlights the problem of professional autonomy as the ability of higher education teachers to act as subjects of their own professional activity, generate new ideas, make decisions independently and responsibly in the current crisis conditions. The results of an empirical study of the peculiarities of professional autonomy depending on the levels of creativity of university teachers are presented. The distribution of teachers of higher education institutions depending on the level of their professional autonomy and the level of their creative potential is determined. The conducted empirical research has made it possible to state that most university teachers are characterized by an average level of development of professional autonomy, which indicates problems in the manifestation of independence, confidence in the ability to make decisions in today's crisis conditions and take responsibility for their consequences. According to the results of the analysis of variance, the peculiarities of the professional autonomy of university teachers depending on gender, age, position, teaching experience, place of residence, etc. were revealed. Quite high rates of professional autonomy were found in men compared to their female colleagues (p < 0.01). At the same time, a higher level of professional autonomy was recorded for male teachers of higher education institutions under the age of 30; male teachers living in rural areas showed higher indicators compared to urban teachers, and vice versa. It has been shown that for teachers of higher education institutions for both sexes there is an inverse correlation between the level of creative potential and the ability to professional autonomy (p < 0.01). The expediency of developing and testing a program for the development of professional autonomy of higher education teachers has been stated, which will help to improve both professional knowledge and skills and the ability to generate their professional activities, develop their creative potential and enable successful self-realization throughout their life. Prospects for further research in the context of creating a model of professional autonomy of higher education teachers capable of developing creative potential and realizing it in professional activities in higher education institutions in the languages of today are outlined