UDC 316.4+332.1-042.3:378
DOI 10.20339/AM.06-26.062
Anna V. Lapina, Cand. Sci. (Sociology), Associate Professor, Department of Social Philosophy and Sociology, Institute of Social Sciences, Irkutsk State University, e-mail: tolstikova_av@list.ru
Roman V. Kravtsov, Cand. Sci. (Law), Docent, Director of the College at Irkutsk State University; Head of the Criminal Law Department, Institute of Law, Irkutsk State University, e-mail: college-isu@yandex.ru
Sergey P. Kakaulin, Cand. Sci. (Economics), Docent, Associate Professor, Department of Social Philosophy and Sociology, Institute of Social Sciences, Irkutsk State University, e-mail: kspmail@mail.ru
This article examines the human resource sovereignty of a resource-industrial region as a competitiveness factor, using the Irkutsk Region as an example. It is shown that industrial growth, an energy advantage, and high investment concentration in extraction, processing, and logistics are generating an accelerating demand for engineering, technological, and digital competencies that outpaces supply. At the same time, education and healthcare remain stable and significant employers, making the ‘social contour’ (teachers and medical professionals) critical to population retention and quality of life.
Special attention is paid to R&D as a constraint on human resource sovereignty: while domestic research expenditures are increasing, the number of implementing organizations is declining, and funding is concentrated outside the university sector, weakening the role of universities in the innovation chain and reducing the conversion of research into innovative products. The need for a cluster-based human resources strategy for higher education through 2035 is substantiated: rapid reorientation of admissions and programs to priority sectors, strengthening practice-oriented approaches and the study-internship-employment link, developing inter-university cooperation and corporate training mechanisms, and leveraging migration and international educational influx to offset demographic decline. It is concluded that the region's resilience by 2035 will be determined by the ability of universities to not only graduate specialists but also retain them, update their competencies, and maintain their scientific and educational base within the context of industrial and social development.
Keywords: personnel sovereignty, Irkutsk region, resource-industrial region, higher education, labor market, demography, R&D, cluster personnel policy, graduate employment
1. Ministry of science and higher education of the Russian Federation. Form no. VPO-1 “Information on the organization carrying out educational activities in higher education programs — bachelor’s, specialist’s, and master's degree programs.” information for 2025. URL: https://minobrnauki.gov.ru/action/stat/highed/ (accessed on: 20.12.2025).
2. Ministry of education of the Russian Federation. Information according to federal statistical observation form no. OO-1 “Information on the organization carrying out educational activities in primary, basic, and secondary general education programs” as of the beginning of the 2024/25 academic year. URL: https://docs.edu.gov.ru/document/3e5e3968a8a887a5db3cf231de19ac64/ (accessed on: 18.12.2025).
3. Ministry of education of the Russian Federation. Consolidated reports on federal statistical observation form no. SPO-1 “Information on the educational organization implementing educational activities under secondary vocational education programs” at the beginning of the 2024/25 academic year. URL: https://docs.edu.gov.ru/document/2488e3f241e60f3324d5d170f732deb3/ (accessed on: 10.12.2025).
4. Territorial body of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Statistical diary “Irkutsk oblast. 2024”. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/иркутская%20область%20ежегодник.pdf (accessed on: 20.11.2025).
5. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Gross regional product. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/139646 (accessed on: 16.11.2025).
6. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Demography. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/167937 (accessed on: 06.11.2025).
7. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Labor force, employment, and unemployment. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/173488 (accessed on: 06.11.2025).
8. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Number of organizations conducting scientific research and development, by type of organization in Irkutsk oblast. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/190095 (accessed on: 12.11.2025).
9. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Domestic expenditures on scientific research and development by type of economic activity in Irkutsk oblast. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/190095 (accessed on: 09.11.2025).
10. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for Irkutsk oblast. Internal expenditure on scientific research and development for socio-economic purposes in the Irkutsk region. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/190095 (accessed on: 09.11.2025).
11. Territorial office of the federal state statistics service for the Irkutsk region. Volume of innovative goods, works, and services in the Irkutsk region. URL: https://38.rosstat.gov.ru/folder/190095 (accessed on: 16.11.2025).
12. Federal state budgetary educational institution of higher education “Irkutsk state university”. Graduate employment and job placement center. Graduate employment reporting, 2024/2025 academic year. URL: https://isu.ru/ru/university/structure/administration/placement/ (accessed on: 16.11.2025).
13. Federal state budgetary educational institution of higher education “Irkutsk national research technical university”. Information on graduate employment (full-time education, 2024/2025 academic year). URL: https://www.istu.edu/sveden/education/trudoustroystvo (accessed on: 17.11.2025).
.png)
