IB_9(26). Personnel for the digital transformation of higher education: employees of ICT departments

Galina Volkova (), Anna Demyanova () and Natalia Shmatko ()
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Galina Volkova: National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation)
Anna Demyanova: National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation)
Natalia Shmatko: National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation)

Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations (MEMO), 2022, issue 10, 1-36

Abstract: To successfully implement the digital transformation, Russian institutions of higher education (HEI) urgently need the qualified personnel in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). HEIs are challenged with the task of attracting the necessary number of ICT specialists facing highly competitive companies and research institutions hunting such personnel. This publication is devoted to the assessment of human resources capacity of the ICT units, that are responsible for the digitalization of education and the development of the digital environment in HEIs. The study considers the current state of staffing and working conditions in the ICT units of higher education institutions, as well as information on current staffing problems and ways to cope with them. The data of the Project “Monitoring of education markets and organizations (MEMO)” for the academic year 2020-2021 is used as the main data source. There are significant regional disparities in the staffing of ICT units, as well as differences based on the status of higher education institutions. At the same time, heads of most ICT units at Russian universities, regardless of their status and region, note that their units are not competitive in terms of the level of specialists' remuneration. In this connection, the problem of an outflow of qualified personnel to other organizations is acute. The staff shortage is observed especially in cases to specialists of the highest level of qualification. The current shortage of personnel cans only increase in the future. Most heads of ICT units take a wide range of actions to solve staffing problems; the most common solution is to improve the qualifications of employees. It is also common practice to organize internships for students and to hire specialists without work experience. In a situation when most HEIs cannot compete with other organizations in terms of the level of salaries, the solution may be to increase the attractiveness of universities' ICT units by offering non-material factors. More active use of the advantages of HEIs as organizations with unique atmosphere and high social status, as well as offering more flexible employment conditions for ICT specialists, could allow the institutions of higher education to successfully attract and retain the personnel they need for the digital transformation.

Keywords: education institutions; preschool education; education market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hig:moneco:v::y:2022:i:10:p:1-36

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