Diagnosing the thesis scandal in academic community

Abstract

Events that occurred in 2013 as a result of illegal assignment of academic degrees, acquired the nature of scandal. According to the author, thesis scandal has provided a deeper understanding of the essence of processes both in the scientific and educational community and in the whole socio-humanitarian sphere of Russian society. The scandal, which affected many deputies of the State Duma, governors of some Russian regions and senior government officials, has attracted attention of Russian political leaders and the general public. It uncovered many shortcomings of existing approaches to the determination of qualification level of the research and education community's members, the viability of the universities; revealed the real challenges to the successful development of science and higher education. Thesis scandal showed values which define the state of social and humanitarian spheres of Russian society, the relations within the scientific and educational community and the results of reforms in it. Analyzing the situation in domestic science, the problems specific to the Russian scientific and educational community, the author is not limited to the conclusion that this scandal has deep socio-cultural reasons. The author has to declare, that forced borrowings of alien norms and principles for domestic science, promising to come to the fore in the future, today turn into the traditional desire to take the lead on the "top-down" indicators.