Sources of intergenerational conflicts of university educational communities (based on empirical study)
https://doi.org/10.31660/1993-1824-2025-4-121-133
EDN: SQSRPE
Abstract
Solving issues of higher education requires cohesion and solidarity among different generational groups. In recent years, however, universities have increasingly encountered a crisis and imbalance of the system in intergenerational relations. The aim of this paper is to analyze the sources of intergenerational conflicts within university educational communities. To achieve this aim, the author conducted a survey involving scientific and pedagogical workers and administrative and management personnel in universities of the Ural Federal District. The survey focused on the issues surrounding intergenerational interaction within the university community (May — July 2025, n = 41). The study reveals that intergenerational conflicts in universities are latent. The key subjects in these conflicts are the older and the younger generations. The author`s study identified two groups of sources of these latent intergenerational conflicts: socio-psychological and social. The paper highlights the significance of social sources, because they are due to the value and institutional contexts of intergenerational interaction. Scientific novelty consists in identifying the sources of intergenerational conflicts among university workers for the development of a comprehensive and differentiated age policy.
Keywords
generation,
generational communities,
intergenerational interaction,
social conflict,
intergenerational conflict,
sources of conflict
Supporting agencies: The study was carried out at the expense of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation № 25-18-00206, https://rscf.ru/project/25-18-00206/
About the Author
N. V. Shabrova
Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nina V. Shabrova, Doctor of Sociological Sciences; Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology and Technologies of Public Administration
Yekaterinburg
References
1. Zborovsky, G. E. (2025). Knowledge and education in sociology: contact, conflict, consensus. Proceedings of the Ural Federal University, Series 1, Problems of Education, Science and Culture, 31(1), рр. 200-215. (In Russian).
2. Rastorguev, S. V. (2021). Strategy of overcoming intergenerational gaps in modern Russia. Power, 29(6), рр. 146-150. (In Russian).
3. Fedorov, A. A., Ilaltdinova, E. Yu. & Frolova, S. V. (2018). "Generation Convention" in the new world of education. Higher education in Russia, 27(7), pp. 28-38. (In Russian).
4. Brovkin, A.V. (2018). Problems of the modern Russian higher education system and ways to solve them in the interests of all participants in the educational process: part 1. Modern education, (1), pp. 1-10. (In Russian).
5. Romanov, D. V. (2013). Generational behavioral attitudes influencing the occurrence of conflicts in interpersonal communication. Proceedings of the Samara State Agricultural Academy, (2), pp. 127-131. (In Russian).
6. Berk, R. A. (2013). Multigenerational diversity in the academic workplace: implications for practice. Journal of Higher Education Management, 28(1), pp. 10-23. (In English).
7. Van Rossem, A. H. D. (2019). Generations as social categories: An exploratory cognitive study of generational identity and generational stereotypes in a multigenerational workforce. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(4), pp. 434-455. (In English).
8. Durakova, I. B. & Mayer, E. V. (2021). The success of older workers as a challenge to higher education. Higher education in Russia, 30(6), pp. 144-155. (In Russian).
9. Pugach, V. F. (2023). Once again about the age of teachers in Russian universities: old problems and new trends. Higher education in Russia, 32(3), pp. 118-133. (In Russian).
10. Durkheim, E. (1996). On the division of social labor. Moscow, Canon Publ., 432 p. (In Russian).
11. Kozer, L. (2000). The functions of social conflict. Moscow, Idea Press Publ., 205 p. (In Russian).
12. Zborovsky, G. E. & Ambarova, P. A. (2025). The functions of generations of educational communities in higher education institutions. Higher education in Russia, 34(7), pp. 9-26. (In Russian).
13. La «Jeunesse» n'Est qu'un mot Pierre Bourdieu. Entretien avec Anne-Marie Métailié, paru dans Les jeunes et le premier employ. (1978). Paris, Association des Ages, pp. 520-530. (In French). Available at: http://www.homme-moderne.org/societe/socio/bourdieu/questions/jeuness.html (accessed 19.08.2025).
Review
For citations:
Shabrova N.V. Sources of intergenerational conflicts of university educational communities (based on empirical study). Proceedings of Higher Educational Institutions. Sociology. Economics. Politics. 2025;18(4):121-133. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31660/1993-1824-2025-4-121-133. EDN: SQSRPE
Views:
13
Email this article 