Problems and prospects of post-Bologna reform of the higher education system in Russia: A theoretical review

The relevance of this study is determined by the need to understand new trends in the development of higher education in Russia after the country’s exit from the Bologna system in May 2022. The author’s goal is a critical analysis and systematic review of scientific sources on pedagogy and social and humanitarian sciences (sociology and philosophy of education, political science, law, economic disciplines), which highlight the problems, contradictions and ways of reforming higher education in Russia in the context of abandoning the two-tier “Bachelor’s – Master’s degree” system and creating a national model of higher education based on traditional priorities and meeting the needs and demands of the national economy. The opinions of domestic scientists on the prospects for modernizing Russian higher education in the post-Bologna period, possible risks and scenarios for the development of domestic education in the context of the introduction of a pilot project implemented on the basis of six Russian universities from 2023 to 2026 are analyzed and compared. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that by means of content analysis of scientific texts four circles of problems are identified that should be solved in the course of current reforms, including economic, social, legal and pedagogical issues. Positive and negative results of the implementation of the Bologna reforms in Russia are described, the attitude of researchers to traditions, innovations and retro-innovations accompanying the process of reforming higher education is revealed. The circle of the most controversial issues that worry the academic community in the context of the transition to a new model of higher education, which is based on the updated format of the Russian specialist degree, is determined.