Value and Semantic Grounds for Obtaining Education in the Postgraduate Course of the National Research University

Dianov Sergei Aleksandrovich Doctor of History Professor, Department of Public Administration and History, Perm National Research Polytechnic University; Professor, Department of Private Law, Perm Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia 614990, Russia, Perm Krai, Perm, Komsomolsky Prospekt str., 29 sadianov@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Dianova Yuliya Viktorovna PhD in Cultural Studies Assistant Professor, Department of Design, Graphics and Engineering Geometry, Perm National Research Polytechnic University 614990, Russia, Perm Krai, Perm, Komsomolsky Prospekt str., 29 julok1@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The system of postgraduate education in the first quarter of the XXI century has undergone significant changes. Already in the early 2000s, Russian universities faced the problem of reducing the number of graduates who expressed a desire to continue their studies in graduate school. Sociologists have recorded the outflow of a significant part of creative youth from the scientific and educational space to other areas of professional employment and personal positioning - business and finance, public administration, service, the hospitality industry ^[1]. At the same time, the tradition of recommending the best graduate students to graduate school, who showed a high level of motivation to study and research, was preserved. At the humanities faculties of Russian universities, activities were regularly carried out to identify the most capable and motivated junior researchers from among the students. This practice gave positive results. For example, at the historical faculties of Perm Pedagogical University, D.I. Mendeleev Tobolsk Pedagogical Institute and Nizhny Tagil Socio-Pedagogical Academy, students of 3-4 courses prepared for admission to graduate school through active participation in archaeological and ethnographic expeditions as mentors of first-year students, participation in the presentation of the results of their field research at scientific forums and scientific andpractical conferences ^{[2; 3]}. Taking personal part as a student and then a graduate student in these events, we state that most of the participants have a strong desire not just to enter graduate school and defend their dissertation, but also an understanding of the exceptional importance of preserving the scientific traditions of humanitarian education that took shape in the XX century. It should be noted that almost all participants of the Tobolsk scientific conference "Dialogue of Cultures and Civilizations" (2002 – 2009) successfully defended their PhD theses.

In the 2010s, reforms in the education sector of the Russian Federation initiated the process of transformation of the system of postgraduate vocational education. We support the opinion of a number of researchers that the adoption in 2012 of the federal law "On Education in In the Russian Federation" significantly changed the status of postgraduate studies and led to an update of the content of postgraduate training ^{[4, p. 41]}. Postgraduate studies became the third level of higher education, research training programs were now subject to the state accreditation procedure. This turn was not supported by all participants of educational relations in the country's universities. A number of prominent representatives of the scientific community made critical statements, emphasizing the unreasonableness of the transition to the educational model of postgraduate studies ^{[5; 6]}. At the same time, postgraduate studies as a level of higher education have been included in the strategic development programs of federal and national research universities.

In 2015, Perm National Research Polytechnic University (PNRPU) hosted the first enrollment for the postgraduate program "Political Institutions, Processes and Technologies". Within the framework of this article, an attempt is made to summarize the results of the author's study of the features of the motivational and value sphere of graduate students-political scientists. First of all, it should be borne in mind that by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. 900 dated July 30, 2014, the federal state educational standard in the field of training "41.06.01 ? Political Sciences and Regional studies" was approved. It was this document that guided the heads of the working groups on the opening of political science programs in the capital and regional universities.

Having acted in 2015 as the initiator and head of the postgraduate program at PNRPU, we had the opportunity to determine the components of the socio-psychological portrait of the candidate for postgraduate studies. At the beginning of the program, it seemed that the candidate should have an internal motivation to study in graduate school. For this type, as experts note, "the highest level of individual autonomy is characteristic, when the locus of control is internal and is associated with interest and/ or pleasure from learning and related activities" ^{[4, p. 49]}. Internal motivation allows a thinking individual to be in a permanent state of searching for effective methods to achieve the goals postulated in scientific work. Further, it was quite logical to expect admission to the postgraduate program of people who had relatively recently completed their master's degree or at the specialist level. Moreover, in order to master the curriculum of the program "Political institutions, processes and technologies", serious training in the field of social sciences and humanities was required (areas of training – "State and municipal Administration", "Jurisprudence", "Political Science", "Sociology", etc.). Finally, the curriculum of the program and the schedule of training sessions were arranged in such a way that the graduate student had the opportunity to simultaneously carry out professional work in organizations of the state and public sectors. Of course, great hopes were pinned on state civil and municipal employees, to whom this program was addressed in the first place.

The postgraduate program provided that the postgraduate student throughout the entire period of study (3 years – full–time, 4 years - in absentia) gets acquainted with all traditional and innovative teaching methods: lectures, practical classes, scientific seminars, research activities, pedagogical and research practices. The training was completed by the GIA procedure: passing the state exam and submitting a scientific report on the main results of the prepared dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Sciences.

The practice of admission to the postgraduate program "Political institutions, processes and technologies" in 2015-2021 yielded the following results. Firstly, the educational program proved to be in demand among graduates of Perm Humanitarian Pedagogical University and teachers-historians of educational organizations of general and vocational education. Secondly, several representatives of political parties of the Russian Federation, who expressed a desire to study and start work on a dissertation, decided to expel another 1 year of study. Thirdly, by conducting interviews with applicants, it was possible to get acquainted with the value-semantic grounds of their choice, namely:

? motivation for professional growth (the desire of history teachers ? the average age of 33 years ? to update their knowledge base, improve their qualifications and apply for leadership positions at school);

? motivation of scientific growth (the desire to skillfully express their ideas, opinions in the form of scientific papers: publications, monographs, dissertations);

? motivation for career growth (to leave the education system in the system of state and municipal administration, while having a PhD in political science).

The results of entrance exams in a special discipline ("Political Science") showed that candidates for graduate students did not always demonstrate a good level of theoretical knowledge. Thus, graduates of the Faculty of History of the PGGPU found it difficult to formulate answers to questions from the subject area of public administration and regionalism. Taking into account this circumstance, elective courses such as "Regional Political Elite in Russia" and "Regional political processes in modern Russia" were included in the graduate student's curriculum. Graduate students, as a rule, passed the candidate's exam in the specialty in the third year. Admission to the candidate's minimum became a mandatory requirement for the availability of scientific publications and participation in research work in the areas of work of the department.

In the course of their studies, political science graduate students demonstrated different value orientations and behavioral reactions when typical problems arise. Let's list the most characteristic value orientations.

1) Focus on achieving learning goals and self-realization.

In this case, it can be stated that the graduate student has a work plan of consistent actions, the use of standard and creative methods to achieve research objectives, the manifestation of tolerance and correctness in overcoming problematic phenomena. When working with a graduate student, the supervisor does not have to be reminded regularly about the timeliness of submitting a report on the implementation of an individual work plan, about upcoming scientific and practical conferences, about increasing the pace of publication activity. The scientific mentor can only unobtrusively adjust the trajectory of the postgraduate student's research activity, "proofread" the texts of the scientific qualification work and make the necessary edits.  

2) Orientation towards maintaining relations with "people of science".

It is established that some diligent graduate students have serious difficulties with writing the text of a scientific qualification work (dissertation). Credits in academic disciplines are given to them easily, they demonstrate a high level of purposefulness in the implementation of tasks in pedagogical practice. However, despite regular contact work with the supervisor and leading teachers of the program, the deadlines for submitting texts on the dissertation are constantly being disrupted. Some researchers pointing to this contradiction come to the conclusion that it is important for such "graduate students to exchange ideas, experience, meetings with scientists at conferences, the opportunity to learn their opinion about their research" ^{[7, p. 70]}. Thus, the main motivating factor here is the desire not so much to engage in scientific work itself, as to have the opportunity to regularly communicate with "people of science" ? reputable scientists, researchers, heads of scientific innovation centers and laboratories.

3) Orientation to the status positions of a graduate student – "the image of a teacher-researcher".

Among the graduate students of political science, persons were identified who demonstrate a friendly style of behavior, willingness to respond to the request of classmates and support any initiative of the supervisor (for example, to participate in the organization of a thematic section at a scientific conference). At the same time, such a graduate student approaches the implementation of an individual work plan without an obvious desire. Serious failures often occur in the theoretical preparation for a scientific seminar. The graduate student refuses to participate in significant scientific events of the faculty and department. It quickly becomes clear to the supervisor that this graduate student is not motivated to fulfill the research work plan. It is preferable for him to complete his studies and receive a diploma of a "teacher-researcher" as a reward. N.G. Bagdasaryan calls such a phenomenon "external motivation" in his publications ^[8].    

4) Focus on demonstrating creative "excellence".

The value-semantic basis in this case is the energetic activity of the graduate student to prove his right to creativity. The graduate student thinks of himself outside the framework of the training program, shows a strong desire to dominate others – colleagues, teachers, researchers. It is obvious that the status of a graduate student gives him a kind of "springboard" to create conditions for rapid career growth. At the same time, this type of behavior of graduate students is accompanied by a high risk of failure. By entering into a confrontation, consciously modeling winning situations exclusively for himself, a graduate student becomes vulnerable to assessments and counteractions to a challenge from a close-knit scientific team of like-minded people.

Concluding the review, it is impossible not to highlight another recent trend. Today, the influx into graduate school, especially for full–time study, is observed in people who have reached a solid age (40 - 45 years) and have a long work experience, according to the profile of a science far from the world. So, privately, we received several appeals from people who stated their desire to study in graduate school, and without any research project ideas. Moreover, they were not aware of what awaits a candidate for graduate students at the entrance exams. Naturally, for our part, we tried to explain to these persons in the correct form that postgraduate studies are not a place for free pastime. In the event that they do submit an application and a package of documents, the entrance examination procedure will be conducted in strict accordance with the spirit and letter of the normative legal acts regulating admission to postgraduate programs. As a result, none of them ever applied for admission to graduate school. Experienced scientific supervisors are also well aware of such facts when unscrupulous people attempt to evade conscription by choosing a seemingly "easy" path to an advanced university – to graduate school.

 Currently, postgraduate studies have again ceased to be the third stage of higher education ^{[9; 10]}. Despite this, we express confidence that postgraduate studies will not be reduced to only one result – the defense of a PhD thesis ^[11]. Not so many years have passed since, upon completion of full-time postgraduate studies, universities issued only a certificate of education. Of course, teaching such academic disciplines as "Pedagogy of higher education", "Psychology of higher education", "History and Philosophy of Science" form the personal and professional business qualities of a future teacher-methodologist, researcher-innovator. We see promising areas for the development of political science education at the postgraduate level, firstly, in attracting state and municipal employees to training in order to expand their scientific horizons and instill research competencies; secondly, in continuing the practice of enrolling school teachers in the ranks of competent researchers, which corresponds to the priorities of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation ^[12]. In addition, it is necessary to support the point of view of N.G. Bagdasaryan about the importance of carrying out comprehensive work aimed at correcting "wrong" motives in the process of postgraduate studies ^{[8, p. 388]}.