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ISSUES AND PRIORITIES
FOR BUILDING THE HUMAN CAPITAL
OF THE RESEARCH
AND INNOVATION INDUSTRIES
S. A. Ivanov
This article presents the research results of problems of the scientific and innovative sphere's staffing and development of human capital. Data on the economic activities of the population in north-west Russia and the structure of professional training of specialists in higher education institutions of St. Petersburg are provided, as well as the assessment results of the human capital quality. Recommendations regarding the priorities and approaches of the professional education system's modernization are presented.
Key words: innovative economy, scientific and innovative sphere, higher education, graduates, human capital, economic activities of the population, labor market, skills, competences, dual system of professional training.
One of issues of the economy and especially in the research and innovation sector is a lack of qualified specialists, especially young scientists. There are a lot of reasons for this, but let us list the key ones. Firstly - negative demographic trends. Secondly - the lack of human resources is partly due to the low economic activities of the population, especially young people. It is evident that there are many factors which contribute to a decrease in economic activities: on one hand, people feel desperate to find a proper job, if there is a lack of any work in their places of residence; on the other hand, they can live at the expense of their families or on other incomes without having a job. However, the reduction in economic activities is also urged by the persistently reproduced imbalance between demand and supply on the labor market. The system of vocational education also contributes to the continuation of this imbalance, which can be easily seen by the example of St. Petersburg. For example, almost half (47%) of the graduates from St. Petersburg universities in 2013 consisted of specialists in two fields: “Economics and Management” (33.2%) and “Human Sciences” (16.5%). At the same time, the share of high school graduates in many professions which are in demand, is actually very low - for example the share of graduates in 2013 was 1.7% for “Automatics and Control”, 1.5% for “Chemical and Biological Technologies”, 0.9% for “Instrument Engineering and Optic technologies”, and
0.6% for “Information Security”, of the total amount of graduates from St. Petersburg Universities. Thirdly, and this may be the main reason for the deficit in human resources for research and innovation activities, is the low level of education, which does not meet the requirements of employers. It also applies to graduates from universities.
The study performed in 2011 by the Institute of Issues of Regional Economy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the form of an expert poll, has shown that one of main areas lacking in modern employees is the development of innovative qualities, rather than a lack of professional knowledge (see Figure). For example, many people choose the position: “I would prefer to be just an ordinary executor, than to propose and defend by own ideas” [4, 103]. Three quarters of experts admitted that employees are not ready to show initiative or participate in innovative
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activities, even if they have the required abilities and professional knowledge (76.3%).
%
O 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
many people do not struggle to create something new
for many people it is easier to be just ordinary executors than to offer and defend new ideas
the education system does not build needs in being an innovator
many employees can't plan their activities
even young people not always have skills in searching for information
people often don't have skills of transferring experience
many people do not have abilities to work in a team, collaborate with other people
many people do not have skills of mastering new equipment
many people do not have abilities to create or build something new
the education system does not develop the ability for innovations
even able employees often are not ready for innovations
the struggle for innovation is not supported by the bosses
innovation activities requires an gumption -many people do not have this property
Figure. Experts' opinions of the main faults of the human capital, and obstacles to a higher level of initiative and creativity (the sum of those who “agree” or “rather agree” with a statement)
Another important fault of modern human capital is the lack of desire to search for something new, or to create a new quality (74.2 %).
Another reason for the deficit in human resources in the research and innovation sector is poor working conditions offered by the sector itself. For
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example, the research and innovation sector can hardly boast of high compensations for their employees as compared with the fields of management, finance and advertizing. Also, many graduates regard professional and career development as an important factor. But as many studies show, a lot of graduates consider the prospects and opportunities for career advancement in the research and innovation sector as vague.
These factors are also supplemented by others, first of all associated with the image of the research and innovation sector, and working conditions.
We believe that in order to increase interest in innovation activities and readiness to work in this sector after graduation, we must change the structure of the education process. The vector of change is the development of practical work, and work on the implementation of real innovation projects (better at companies themselves) as well as at small innovative enterprises.
One of the models of educational processes, especially for senior students, can be the establishment of a dual system of training, such as the one that exists in Germany, or in technical universities in the USSR. In any case, it must be an educational process combined with the development of practical skills, abilities and knowledge, which develop more easily in real working teams.
As a whole, we can say that on one hand the system of higher vocational education needs to function as a continuation of the modernization process, and on the other hand the research and innovation sector needs to develop more attractive conditions for young specialists, and change the image of research and innovation organizations, moving away from the image of low salaries, which is important for graduates.
Bibliography
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http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/b14_30/Main.htm.
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Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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