Student Workload Research Articles

Assessing the student academic workload in the learning process of a technical university

The article deals with an assessment of the students' workload influence on the academic progress in a technical university. This study was carried out at Tyumen Industrial University, the Branch of IUT in Surgut. The research participants were the first-year students of full-time and part-time departments of the "Oil and Gas Business" direction. The research was done in 2017-2018. Much attention is given to some of the consequences that first-year students have: neuropsychic stress, declining academic progress, and the quality of education. There are reasons for such a state: lack of time, a large amount of information, many classroom hours, irregular distribution of the students' workload intensity of academic disciplines in the first semester, etc. The research gives valuable information on the necessity to improve the system of students' organizational and educational activities, depending on the specific features of a technical university. This study contributes to the existing research on the impact of academic workload on the students' emotional, mental state in higher education. Specifically, it studies the volume of the freshmen's academic workload in accordance with the curriculum, which is one of the main negative factors affecting the level of mental students' performance.

Comparison of Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum of Universities in China and Ethiopia

In this paper, a comparative evaluation of the undergraduate program of Chemical Engineering curriculums of Chinese and Ethiopian universities was performed. The study employed systematic qualitative methods to synthesize the current qualitative researches into an explanatory process. To comprehend the Chemical Engineering curriculum structure in two countries, a survey of courses from each country institution is presented. Since both countries use harmonized chemical engineering curriculum with their respective institution, top university from each country was taken as a representative sample, Tsinghua University (THU) from China and Addis Ababa University (AAU) from Ethiopia. The major aspects in the comparison were the lengths of the programs, measurement of student workload, practical curriculum, and the ratio of general, core, compulsory and non-compulsory courses. At the THU, the minimum length for the undergraduate program is 4 years, whereas at AAU a minimum of 5 years is expected. While general education courses occupy 70% of the total credit in the THU curriculum showing more emphasis on general courses, the AAU curriculum gives more focus to core courses by allocating 70% of its total credit. The THU curriculum proves to be more flexible, offering more elective courses at different stages of the program; the AAU curriculum has provided the chance for a range of specialty streams offering elective courses in the final year of the program. Thus, it is highly appreciable for both countries’ universities to optimistically add more courses to their present curriculum based on their socio-economic trait, cultural backgrounds, national demands, and resource availabilities.

A CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT METHOD OF THE PLANNING AND MONITORING OF THE WORKLOAD IN THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The article formulates the aims of HEI's activities, as well as approaches to managing all actions that ensure the achievement of the stated aims. The process approach is defined as the main one in the university management system. It is shown that the main directions of improving the activities of the university are the transition to the application of the process approach to the management of HEI and its informatization. On this basis, it is necessary to develop new, more modern university management systems that meet the contemporary requirements for the governance of multifunctional facilities and implement them in the form of process systems. We propose a conceptual model of the implementation of the functions to plan the educational process. The effects on planning functions are presented and the interrelation of these functions in the traditional form of planning is described. The tasks are formulated that need to be solved for modeling and optimizing business processes of planning and monitoring the academic workload to create an effective information technology for automating the functions of information processing. We propose a structural model for the implementation of information and procedural components of IT for planning and monitoring the educational environment. The implementation of this model in software provides the calculation of the optimal planned workload of students and teachers, considering the conditions in which the educational process is implemented.

Student work: a re-conceptualization based on prior research on student workload and Newtonian concepts around physical work

ABSTRACT In this article, we propose a new model of student workload. We conducted an extensive literature review of student workload, its impact on students’ lives, factors influencing student workload, objective and subjective measurements. The previous conceptualizations of student workload conflate student work and course workload, two related but distinct concepts. By synthesizing prior research and concepts from Newtonian physics such as work, force, and distance, we have discovered a model that better explains and differentiates the nature of and the various factors contributing to student work and load. We re-define student work as the product of student academic effort and their achievement in the course. In this model, student academic effort is generated to meet course demands in four domains (cognitive, physical, social, and psychological) with specific challenges and resources associated with each one. This new model will help us to better understand the student experience of academic work, effort, and the challenges students face so that we can make changes to enhance learning.

Adolescents and Distance Learning during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: What Impact on Students’ Well-Being and Learning Processes and What Future Prospects?

Background: This study aimed to analyze the experiences related to distance learning in a large sample of students in upper secondary school during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and to explore the potentialities of distance learning for students’ well-being. Methods: Between 22 April and 1 May 2020, 1017 students completed an online survey about the characteristics of online didactic, the availability of devices for distance learning, and the psychological experiences related to e-learning. Results: All Italian schools have adopted distance learning, even if each teacher employs different approaches to e-learning. Students are aware of the importance of distance learning for the containment of the pandemic and of the need to continue with online teaching to avoid the resumption of the infections. However, distance learning is associated with a significant increase in student workload and a consequent psychological distress related to homework. Specifically, students are more distracted in studying, have difficulty organizing study and are concerned that their school career may be adversely affected by the lockdown. Furthermore, a significant percentage does not perceive adequate support from teachers. Conclusions: Future studies will have to explore the impact of distance learning even in the subsequent waves of contagion, taking into account the persistence of the stress from the pandemic.

Pengaruh Penggunaan E-Learning pada Mahasiswa

E-learning has been widely used in educational settings especially in developing countries such as Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to investigate e-learning readiness among students and compare students' perceptions of student workloads including mental, physical, temporal, performance, effort, and frustration conditions. in the settings of e-learning and regular lectures.Quantitative methods were used in this study. Using survey techniques with data instruments in the form of questionnaires from 51 data samples. The survey was conducted with students of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Hamzanwadi University. Data analysis techniques using NASA-TLX applications. The results showed that students have a high level of e-learning readiness. Mental workloads are significantly higher in e-learning than in face-to-face learning. The correlation between e-learning readiness and mental workload is insignificant. The conclusion of this research is the high readiness of e-learning students because most already have technical skills while the lowest readiness in learning behavior when using e-learning. Student workloads including mental, physical, temporal, performance, effort, and frustration are higher at the time of e-learning use than regular lectures.
 Keywords: e-learning; workload; Performance

Analysis of the correlation between occupational stress and mental health of primary and secondary school teachers.

With the rapid advancement of the educational reform, the requirements for primary and secondary school teachers are increasing, which makes the work pressure of teachers become greater, which can lead to a variety of mental health problems. It is the primary task to promote the psychological health of primary and secondary school teachers by analyzing the stress of teachers and putting forward reasonable countermeasures. The study aimed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of occupational stress on the mental health level of primary and secondary school teachers. 317 teachers from 6 rural primary and secondary schools in Zhejiang province were selected as research subjects. A questionnaire was designed to collect information of occupational stress, mental health, and social support scores. The teachers were compared for differences in gender, marriage status, class teacher, occupational stress, and mental health. The correlation among occupational stress, mental health, and social support was analyzed by structural equation model. The occupational stress of male teachers was higher than that of female teachers in self-development, work load, and career expectation, and the mental health was lower than that of female teachers in work (P < 0.05). The occupational stress of married teachers was significantly higher than that of unmarried teachers, and their mental health was significantly higher than that of unmarried teachers (P < 0.05). The occupational stress of teachers with senior professional titles was lower than that of teachers with primary and intermediate titles in the dimensions of self-development, work load, and career expectation (P < 0.05). The occupational stress of class teachers was higher than that of non-class teachers in terms of student factors, work load, and career expectation (P < 0.05). The direct path coefficient between occupational stress and mental health was -0.421, and the indirect path coefficient between occupational stress and mental health was -0.172. The occupational stress of male, married, class teacher, and teacher with the primary and intermediate titles was significantly greater than that of female, unmarried, non-class teacher, and senior title teacher. In conclusion, the occupational stress of primary and secondary school teachers can not only directly predict the mental health level, but also indirectly affect the mental health level through social support.

A LAB TASK GROUP FOR REVIEW AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THIRD AND FOURTH-YEAR LABORATORY COURSES

Since the mid-1980’s, the mechanical engineering program at the University of Saskatchewan has included three core third and fourth-year lab courses, each of which consists of 9-10 individual labs. In 2015 a task group was set up to review these courses, including deliverables, scheduling and links to material in corecourses. Since this time, the task group has taken on the major responsibility for continuous improvement of the lab program, including reviewing student evaluations, making changes to labs, and recommending equipment purchases. The task group has also been responsible for a major redesign of the lab program, which will improve delivery and scheduling of labs, alignment with core courses, workload of students, and experience gained by graduate teaching assistants. Smaller apparatus have been designed and built in-house to allow students to gain additional hands-on experience. Labs have been designed to build on one another in order to systematically improve students’ general laboratory skills, including the use of data acquisition systems and experimental design. This new approach was used for the first time in ME 328 in 2019-20. This paper will focus primarily on the role of the task group in continuous improvement, and the lab program redesign. The new ME 328 course is described, along with lessons learned from the first offering. The task group’s role in moving to remote labs during COVID-19 is also discussed.

A multivariate analysis of undergraduate business schools’ curricula in Turkey

In this study, the curricula of undergraduate business schools in Turkey have been examined in terms of course groups, total course numbers and total workload of students. On the examination of the dendogram which is created by using Ward’s Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering Method, it is seen that five clusters emerged at a distance of five units in which all business schools (n = 147) have been linked to a cluster. MANOVA—Pillai’s Trace test results reveal that there are significant differences between the clusters in terms of the curricula of course groups. Finally, by applying Post hoc tests, significant differences between the clusters have been analyzed in terms of total course numbers and the student’s workload for each course group.

How Do We Do This? Distance Learning in Physical Education — Part 2

Distance learning is something many physical educators never thought they would have to do, given the practical and philosophical contradictions inherent in teaching and learning movement-based content through a computer. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced most physical education teachers to transition to distance learning modalities. Questions abound regarding the maintenance of quality physical education within the generally unfamiliar online teaching and learning environment. Therefore, the purpose of this three-part series of articles is to address common questions from teachers and students about providing engaging, meaningful online physical education during the pandemic and beyond. The first article focuses on questions related to meeting the needs of low-income students, strategies for at-home equipment, teaching online elementary physical education, engaging parents, and online relationship building. This article answers questions about determining student workload, developing content beyond personal fitness, designing engaging synchronous and asynchronous lessons, assessing meaningfully online, and accommodating learning for all students. Finally, the third article provides discussion about the broader impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning in physical education and offers strategies for transitioning back to face-to-face learning. The ideas and strategies provided throughout this series are meant to be general guidelines for physical education teachers to consider and adjust to fit their own unique community contexts.

Understanding Faculty Perspectives About Student Workload When Developing Undergraduate Medical Curriculum: An Interview Study

Despite the exponential growth in biomedical knowledge over the past century, the undergraduate medical curriculum has not increased in length. Faculty face a considerable challenge in developing curriculum that is up to date yet does not overwhelm learners with its sheer volume. The practice of continually adding content to an already extensive curriculum has been scrutinized by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and has been linked as negatively contributing to medical student burnout, mental health, and physical wellbeing. The goal of this interview study was to: 1) gain a deeper understanding of how faculty develop curriculum in terms of selecting content and pedagogy, 2) describe the faculty's expectations of students inside and outside the classroom, and 3) describe the faculty's conceptual understanding of workload placed on medical students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen faculty members having major roles in delivering the M.D. curriculum. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic content analysis revealing several major interconnected themes. Overall, the faculty viewed student engagement with them and the learning materials as the key mediators of student success. Faculty described ideal learners as curious, self-regulated students who regularly used self-assessment of their learning. Faculty identified the need for students to read more outside of class in preparation for the active learning sessions provided. While faculty broadly acknowledged that overwhelming workload is a detriment to student engagement, they either did not have, or did not wish to have, access to tools that would allow them to better assess student workload. Some faculty perceived misalignment between student goals and curriculum objectives, which may foster an informal curriculum and contribute to an overload in total student effort. To maximize student engagement with the formal curriculum, we propose that faculty receive more information on the importance of considering workload when developing curriculum and receive tools to properly assess student workload.

MONITORING OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN THE CONDITIONS OF DISTANCE LEARNING

The article investigates the efficiency of the educational process in the conditions of distance learning in Cherkasy region during the second wave of pandemic. In order to check the efficiency of distance learning, the most urgent issues were identified and a questionnaire of teachers was conducted (November-December 2020). The questionnaire was organized due to the assistance of the Uman City Council. In the questionnaire, 150 teachers of Uman schools took part. The analysis of the study conducted by us reveals a number of difficulties and problems of the psychological nature associated with the organization of distance learning (lack of skills to study independently; low motivation to study; enormous workload of students and teachers; lack of communication with teachers and peers; rejection of a distance learning; emotional burnout (for a teacher)).The analysis of modern studies allowed developing a series of methodical advice for teachers about overcoming such problems as the importance of constant communication with students (visual contact); conducting the material in an optimistic tone; providing constant feedback; taking into account the age of children; psychological support and assistance to students.In the course of the study, another problem was discovered. It was connected with the peculiarities of educational activity (working with people, stressful situations, etc.) and innovative constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is characterized by psychoemotional exhaustion, emotional burnout of teachers. In order to prevent the development of this type of teacher professional deformation, the following rules should be observed. Teachers should distribute effectively working hours; critically evaluate own professional, emotional and physical conditions and have access to the necessary professional assistance; create conditions for the formation and restoration of personal resource; follow the rules of psychological safety in the process of professional activity.Teachers, psychologists, methodologists and other participants of the educational process can use developed methodological recommendations.&#x0D; Keywords: educational process, distance learning, pandemic, quarantine, teacher questionnaire, psychological problems, psychological support, methodical advice to teachers, age features.

A Participatory Evaluation of Transforming First Year LLB Into Block Mode

This paper adopts a participatory evaluation approach to identify successes and challenges experienced by a group of academics in redesigning and delivering the first year of the Law degree (LLB) in block mode in an Australian university. This transformation into an intensive four-week block necessitated an overhaul of curricula, assessment regimes, teaching practices and delivery processes. The evaluation of the academics staff experience focused on five themes: (1) course design and development, (2) satisfying learning outcomes and accreditation standards, (3) implementing student engagement strategies, (4) embedding block mode principles, and (5) establishing effective assessment regimes. For each theme, participants identified the successes, challenges, and lessons learned. The study highlighted the value of early design-specialist involvement and collaboration in course design including the importance of being aware of the legal accreditation body requirements. The criticality of focused active learning and the need to balance lecture-style delivery with knowledge-consolidating practical legal analysis exercises was emphasised. Also stressed was wellbeing, including sensitivity to individual student circumstances and strategies that successfully manage staff and student workloads alongside academic integrity. Unintended benefits such as professional learning through the collaboration, refining personal thinking related to pedagogy in the block were consequences of this evaluative approach.

Academic Guidance for Undergraduate Students in a South African Medical School: Can we guide them all?

Higher education institutions, including medical schools, still grapple with the challenge of poor academic performance of students. Some studies report the positive results of providing academic guidance for common challenges such as poor and/or ineffective time management, study methods,test- and exam-taking techniques and management, and the high academic workload of undergraduate medical students. However, limited detailed insights and understanding of medical students who experience more complex challenges are available. This study was conducted at a medical school in South Africa to determine undergraduate medical students’ perceptions of factors affecting their academic performance. A total of 89 semi-structured interviews were held with undergraduate medical students who were identified as having academic problems between 2012 and 2015. According to the results, more blacks, males and first- and secondyear students experienced poor academic performance. Prominent findings included the harsh realities and implications of lack of accommodation for black students; how poor academic performance can lead to an array of other social and psychological problems, such as withdrawal of bursaries and negative achievement emotions that some students experience. Compared to the usual objective measures of individual ability, the rich qualitative data of cases presented in this study reveal critical, real insights and understanding of students’ challenges from their own perspective.

Disparities in Remote Learning Faced by First-Generation and Underrepresented Minority Students during COVID-19: Insights and Opportunities from a Remote Research Experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented shift to remote instruction across higher education, reducing access to critically important undergraduate research experience and potentially magnifying inequities faced by first-generation and underrepresented minority (URM) students in higher education. Through a novel course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) at UCLA, delivered completely online, results of a unique, student-generated survey showed that the transition to remote learning was challenging for all students, increasing student workload, decreasing ability to focus on school, and limiting their ability to succeed. However, results showed significant disparities in remote learning that disproportionately impacted URM and first-generation students. These students had significantly greater expectations to help siblings with remote learning,; URM and first-generation students also suffered greater economic and food insecurity related to COVID-19. At the same time, this study demonstrates how student voices in survey development provide novel and actionable insights. While access to CUREs is often limited by laboratory space, by focusing on the research process, rather than specific laboratory skills, this study provides a scalable pedagogical model for remote undergraduate research experiences. Importantly, this model fostered student engagement and increased interest in further undergraduate research, including topics not directly related to the subject of this study, suggesting that online CUREs can be effective and impactful.

Communicative competencies anchored longitudinally - the curriculum "personal and professional development" in the model study programme in undergraduate medical education at the University of Witten/Herdecke.

Background: In October 2018, the University of Witten/Herdecke (UW/H) launched the new reformed medical education programme called Medicine 2018+. A major innovation compared to the existing model programme was the introduction of thematic focuses. A longitudinal communication skills curriculum was integrated into the new thematic focus “professional and personal development – inner work” (IAP). With the start of the new programme, the IAP curriculum has been built step-by-step over time, i.e. the first four semesters have already been implemented, the following semesters are being planned.Project description: IAP aims to provide students with patient-centred medicine. Five areas of competence were defined: Doctor-patient communication, team competence, staying healthy, my paths to becoming a doctor, medicine and society. The focus of this article is on the communication curriculum. The first year of study focusses on the training of basic communication skills. In the 2nd year of study, students practice these basic skills in small groups with simulated patients (SP), whereby the emphasis in the 3rd semester is on history taking and in the 4th semester is on sharing information. In the 3rd semester, students complete a communication station in an OSCE. From the 5th semester onwards, the focus of training is on the consolidation of basic and advanced communication skills, which can be applied in clinical clerkships, and the reflection of clinical experiences. Key didactic elements are, in addition to teaching the theoretical basics, experience-based small group work with and without SP, feedback and reflection. The evaluation of the summer semester 2020 showed high agreement ratings of the students regarding the overall satisfaction with the individual courses (83-100% agreement).Discussion: The introduction of IAP has been very positively received by the students. Challenges are the adequate handling of the increasing student workload when planning new courses, the implementation of a longitudinal e-portfolio as well as the recruitment and training of clinical teachers and SPs.Conclusion: As the evaluation results of the summer semester 2020 show, the first steps of implementing a longitudinal communication curriculum at UW/H have been successful. Helpful strategies were the orientation on published examples from other faculties as well as regular feedback and discussions with students and teachers in order to adapt and integrate educational considerations into the existing model programme in Witten.

Жанартылған бағдарламаға сәйкес химияны оқытудың тиімділігін арттыру

In order to increase the effectiveness of teaching chemistry on the basis of the updated program, it is envisaged that students need to improve the quality of education and training, ensure a high level of scientific education, ensure deep mastery of the basics of natural science, it is necessary to build the learning process not only as a process of mastering the system of knowledge, skills and competencies that make up the instrumental basis of the student's educational activity, but also as a process of personality development, the adoption of spiritual, moral, social, family and other values. The introduction of modern teaching technologies and their systematic use contributes to improving the quality of learning, motivation, the formation of functional literacy of students and key competencies, the development of potential abilities of students .. New technologies provide new opportunities for the formation of personal potential and ensuring the success of the graduate Today, the use of modern educational technologies that provide x personal development of students by reducing the share of reproductive activity (reproduction of what is left in memory) in the educational process can be considered as a key condition for improving the quality of education, reducing the workload of students, more efficient use of study time. Development of cognitive and creative interests among students is facilitated by various types of technologies.

АКАДЕМІЧНА ДОБРОЧЕСНІСТЬ – ЗАПОРУКА ПІДГОТОВКИ ВИСОКОКВАЛІФІКОВАНИХ ФАХІВЦІВ

The article considers the issue of academic integrity at the university. The origins of dishonesty starting from the school desk and ending with higher education institutions are analyzed. It is established that excessive workload of students pushes them to use the Internet, not only as a source of knowledge, but also as a source of finished work, which is published as their own work. It is stated that the basic principles of academic integrity are honesty, trust, justice, respect, responsibility, courage, which must be followed by all participants in the educational process. The main violations of academic integrity are: in the field of educational activities – extortion or provocation of money, gifts, personal services in various forms of student assessment, lack of fair evaluation of plagiarized educational and qualification work, performance for payment of such work to order, forced purchase of educational and methodical literature, underestimation of grades and coercion to additional educational services and consultations, updating of equipment at the expense of students or purchase by students of various consumables, stationery; in the field of scientific research – preparation and publication of scientific, educational and methodical texts with the help of plagiarism; falsification of experimental data underlying scientific publications; inclusion in the list of authors of persons who did not make a proper contribution to the results; approval of research or dissertations on topics that have no scientific, practical, social and other significance; providing positive reviews and feedback on works that, according to their scientific results, do not deserve it; obtaining unjustified preferences in the provision of scientific and educational grants; misuse of his official position. The rights and responsibilities of each participant in the educational process in the field of compliance with the requirements of academic integrity are given. Virtue in the modern civilized world is the cornerstone that forms the foundation of the inner harmony of man, the stability of his character and the consistency of the moral image. Higher education through teaching and research actually binds this foundation with elements of academic integrity. Academic integrity must be formed from the beginning of university studies and adhere to its principles throughout the period of study. For this purpose, the documents adopted by the KhNTUSG – the Code of Honor and the Regulations on Academic Integrity of Participants in the Educational Process, and the Ethics and Professional Commission and the Commission on Academic Integrity are created. This will not only train a highly qualified specialist, but also form a highly conscious member of society. Keywords: academic integrity, university, University honor code, professional activity, highly qualified specialists.

UČENJE NA DALJINU IZ UGLA NASTAVNIKA, UČENIKA I RODITELJA

Uvođenjem vanrednog stanja u Srbiji usled epidemiološke situacije u zemlji, obustavljen je neposredni obrazovno-vaspitni rad u školama, a nastavak obrazovanja obezbeđen je kroz učenje na daljinu. Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja organizovalo je edukativne emisije na televiziji, dok su škole dobile zadatak da nađu načine za komunikaciju na daljinu sa svojim učenicima i da im, pored postojećih edukativnih emisija, pružaju podršku u učenju. Budući da učenje na daljinu do sada nije bilo u većoj meri zastupljeno u obrazovnom sistemu u Srbiji, naročito kada je u pitanju osnovno obrazovanje i vaspitanje, namera ovog istraživanja je bila da utvrdi kako je započelo učenje na daljinu, koji kanali komunikacije sa učenicima su uspostavljeni i šta učenici i njihovi roditelji misle o ovakvom načinu rada. Rezultati pokazuju da je većina nastavnika i učenika uspostavila adekvatne kanale komunikacije, da su učenici aktivno uključeni u učenje na daljinu, ali i da su podeljena mišljenja o opterećenosti učenika sadržajima i načinom rada. Na osnovu dobijenih rezultata, kreiran je set preporuka za unapređivanje nastave na daljinu u trenutnoj situaciji. Takođe, nameće se pitanje na koji način, po normalizaciji uslova i povratku učenika u škole, uvrstiti učenje na daljinu u redovan obrazovno-vaspitni rad.

The Effectiveness of Interaction between Scientific Supervisors and Graduate Students at the University and at the Academy of Sciences

The effectiveness of work and relationship of postgraduate students with their supervisors seem to be an urgent issue in the context of contemporary transformations of the Russian system of training highly qualified personnel. The article assesses the understanding of the purposes of graduate school by both “sides”, the specifics of the interaction between mentors and their mentees, the leading difficulties and ways to overcome them. Since in our country postgraduate programs are implemented not only at universities, we also compared situations at a university and in an academic community considering the case of the Ural Federal University (UrFU) and scientific institutes of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (UB RAS). Empirical methods for collecting initial data were applied both at UrFU and at UB RAS and included interviewing scientific leaders and questioning graduate students. A series of in-depth interviews with mentors led to the formulation of research hypotheses and allowed the elaboration of an online questionnaire for graduate students. As a result, we may state the prevalence of the “external” obstacles that reduce the effectiveness of the interaction of young scientists with their scientific leaders; in general, the relationship between them looks quite harmoniously. Among the most pressing problems we have identified (1) disorientation about the concept of postgraduate studies without obligatory defense of the thesis (especially at university); (2) low productivity of the “educational” postgraduate studies; (3) lack of advanced training for supervisors in the field of management in science; (4) high employment of professors; (5) side mentoring and (6) the lack of plans for writing a dissertation. The solution of this set of problems seems to be based, first of all, on a new regulatory framework at the federal level, revising the types and volumes of workload of graduate students and their supervisors, fixing the need to write a dissertation during the course of study, regulating the requirements for scientific supervisors and guaranteeing them advanced training in the field managerial competencies. The positive practice of employing all graduate students at academic institutions, at least for a fraction of the rate, may also help universities in increasing the motivation of graduate students to defend their PhD thesis and build their future career at the university.