“Third mission” of the university in the context of interaction between the academic community and the NPO-sector

UDC 378+061.2

DOI 10.20339/AM.12-23.071

Elena G. Kharitonova, PhD in History, Head of Research Department at Branch of the Russian State Professional and Pedagogical University in Nizhny Tagil (NTSPI), e-mail: onir_ntgspi@mail.ru

The article actualizes the problem of the “third mission” of universities. Referring to the relevant foreign and domestic scientific works, the author considers the definition of the “third mission” and proposes to dwell on the peculiarities of the realization of the “third mission” by Russian universities — the social orientation of domestic universities and the interaction with the NPO-sector, the refusal of commercial understanding of the “third mission”.

As part of the development of the scientific concept of the “third mission” of universities, an attempt is made to justify the need to include in its third element (“social component / social involvement of the university”) an additional criterion — the development and introduction in the curricula of modern Russian universities of courses/subjects aimed at studying various forms of social activity of citizens (whether it is volunteer activity or participation in the work of public organizations). In the author’s opinion, it is the presence of this indicator in the work of modern universities that will allow to consider the concept of the “third mission” more complete, comprehensive, and accomplished.

The theoretical material of the article is diluted by practice: using sociological methods of research, the author conducted a survey of full-time and part-time university students who studied the course “Sociology of NPO”. The results of the study are characterized by relevance and scientific novelty, implemented in university courses to promote harmonious interaction between the academic and NPO-community, and, consequently, the successful implementation of the ‘third mission’ of universities.

Keywords: higher education, “third mission” of the university, NPO-sector, academic community.

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