Age as a Source of Academic Rent or a Resource Curse of University Youth?

The article is devoted to the age policy implemented by modern Russian universities and focused on largescale and accelerated rejuvenation of the scientific and pedagogical community. The relevance of the research topic is related to the problems of attracting and retaining young scientific and pedagogical workers (SPWs). The authors focus on the theory of academic rent, which makes it possible to explain the limitations of institutional and organizational measures to support university youth. The purpose of the article is to show monetary and non–monetary academic rents as a factor in attracting and retaining young graduates in universities. The article is based on research data carried out in 2024 using methods of analyzing documents and interviews with graduate students and applicants (n = 30 people) and SPWs of Russian universities (n = 30 people). At the theoretical level, the content of tangible and intangible elements of academic rent characterizing a group of young SPWs is disclosed. Based on the materials of an empirical study, the restrictive nature of financial support measures for young SPWs is shown. It was revealed that not all categories of young scientists and not all Russian universities have access to monetary rent. Only a part of the measures of financial support for young SPWs have signs of academic rent. Satisfaction with academic work and the prestige of the academic profession as elements of non-monetary academic rents do not bring dividends to young SPWs. The non-material “superprofit” of a part of the university youth is provided by membership in the institutions of representation of university youth. They serve as a launching pad for their career growth. Based on the ratio of two types of academic rent – monetary and non-monetary, the types of rent-oriented behavior of young SPWs (“ideological”, “pragmatists” and “ambivalent”) are identified and characterized. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using its results to develop and improve programs for attracting and retaining young SPWs through the expansion of material and non-material academic rents and the development of scientific mentoring. The novelty of the study is because for the first time, the theory of academic rent is used to explain the problems of attracting and retaining young SPWs and the prospects for their consolidation in an academic career.