Training of Applicants for Education in the Specialty 061 Journalism in Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine: Between Universalism and Specialization

Abstract

Introduction. Both in the professional and academic environment, there is an opinion about the crisis state of journalism education and the need for its reform. In the course of the discussion of the further development of journalism education, the issue of universalism and specialization is also raised. Relevance and purpose of the study. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to improve the quality of journalism education in Ukrainian universities on the basis of healthy competition of educational programs (EPs) that contain elements of uniqueness, one of which can be specialization. The purpose of the study is to find out the real state of the relationship between universalism and specialization in the approaches to the training of higher education seekers at the first (bachelor) and second (master) levels of higher education in the universities of Ukraine in the specialty 061 Journalism. Methodology. Typological and statistical analysis of data from the Single State Electronic Database on Education (SSEDE) for 2023 and its visualization in diagrams, as well as analysis of selected EPs regarding the representation of their uniqueness, the ratio of universal and specialized educational components. The methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization are used to interpret the research results. The results. The analysis of educational offers by level of education and their quantitative ratio by individual areas of activity (journalism, advertising and public relations, publishing and editing, etc.) revealed a paradoxical situation: with a small number of branch specializations, the majority of educational offers at the bachelor’s level and a significant number at the master’s level (36%) is offered by branch universities. A substantive analysis of EPs, which were called “Journalism” and were offered by branch-based universities, showed the absence of branch specialization in the vast majority of educational offers. The analysis of EP names showed that, for the most part, they do not show uniqueness at the level of names. Conclusions. The predominant trend in the training of specialists in the specialty 061 Journalism is universalism, which was revealed both at the level of titles of EPs and at the level of their content. This situation i snot healthy, because it is EPs that must compete on the market of educational services, which is possible under the condition of their uniqueness, both at the level of titles and at the level of the proposed content.