The Main Features of the Sociocultural Status of a Young Scientist

Abstract

The results of analysis of the status position of a young scientist as a multidimensional sociocultural phenomenon and not only as an instrumental category of scientific policy are presented. The socio-historical context of the formation of the category of youth is considered, the constitutive characteristics of this social group are identified, and the transformations that it undergoes under the dominance of the innovative strategy of economic and social development are revealed. Comparing Russian and foreign (primarily European) practice, the author points out that Russian functionaries lack an understanding of what the status of a young scientist is. It is substantiated that this status is determined according not so much to the age criterion as to the criterion of career advancement. In the leading countries in the field of science, a junior scientist goes through certain stages of career growth, some of which, primarily postdoctoral studies, have no equivalent in Russia. A comparative analysis of the postgraduate and postdoctoral stages makes it possible to draw certain conclusions about the importance of postdoctoral studies as an instrument of scientific policy under, on the one hand, an increased supply of scientific labor and, on the other, the need to transfer knowledge and skills within the framework of the model of interaction between science, the state, and the private sector, known as the triple helix pattern. Finally, the conclusion is substantiated that the position of a junior scientist, characterized by a marginal position in the scientific hierarchy and the risk of leaving the profession, is of great sociocultural importance since it is during “scientific youth” when unique human capital, cognitive and social, is formed. The totality of acquired individual competencies determines the further development of science, as well as related areas involved in the application and dissemination of scientific knowledge.