“I Definitely Would Not Be Doing Science…”, or Features of the Status Transmission in Scientific Dynasties in Russia

The article discusses the problem of value orientations in scientific dynasties of Russia in the 20th century. An interdisciplinary historical, sociological and anthropological perspective focused on a socio-historical approach was applied to the study of intergenerational interaction. Evolved on the developed classification of transmission status models in professional dynasties, the authors sought to identify the features and patterns of the choice of certain types of succession by members of the dynasties during а specified period. The following observations were made with the help of sociological data. Hence, according to the study, the reform spirit of the 1950s – 1960s corresponds to the model of active succession. The transition to a conservative model of political and economic development of the country in the Brezhnev period, and the evolution of the image of a scientist as a mass researcher lead to the spread of a passive model of professional inheritance. However, the internal patterns of mastering professional practices in academic families should be also accounted. Moreover, in the context of socio-political and economic transformations in Russia in the 1990s, subsequent generations “X” and “Y” demonstrate a full set of models for the professional status transmission, such as transprofessional mobility, active and passive models. Under conditions of “depressurization” of the scientific community, hybrid transmission models, characterized by a partial return to basic scientific values, enriched by the actualization of subjective life experience, turned out to be possible.