Challenges to the Russian academic profession

The article analyzes Post-Soviet academic profession, focusing on the challenges it has to meet. It starts with the historical overview of the higher education and professoriate in Russia and Soviet Union, then gives a general description of the academic profession in Post-Soviet Russia. The issues of special interests are the system of academic appointments and promotion, remuneration, motivation, evaluation of the faculty, academic freedom. In the context of economic crisis, massification and internationalization of education, Russian higher education and its academic staff face the challenges of adaptation to financial constraints, improving appointment and evaluation procedures, formation of younger generation of faculty and many others that are discussed in the article.