Career management system for academic staff: From adaptation to leadership

Aim. To develop a conceptual career management model for academic staff that integrates adaptation, professional development, and leadership into a single management cycle. Objectives. To systematize existing approaches to career management for academic staff and identify their limitations; to develop a five-level model that ensures the transition from adaptation to leadership based on the integration of formal, informal, and self-regulated forms of learning; to delineate the levels of transformation of the subjective position of the teacher and the administration in the process of career development. Methods. The research is based on the systems theory of career development, the model of three forms of workplace learning (formal, informal, and self-regulated), and the level model Architecture – Infrastructure – Access – Practice. The analysis of sources was conducted using a problem-oriented review method. To validate the model, an expert assessment protocol was developed, including a questionnaire for a semi-structured interview and a self-assessment checklist of organizational readiness. Results. A five-level career management model for academic staff is substantiated, providing for preboarding, socialization and self-regulation, collective support practices, institutional design, and reflective control. Each level relies on empirically confirmed mechanisms and performs a function absent in existing approaches. The key result of the model is a change in the logic of management: the administration does not create a career for the teacher but creates conditions and tools that allow the teacher to independently construct a trajectory. The model fills the gaps reflected in scholarly sources, takes into account all stages of the career and the macro context, and integrates institutional conditions, human resource practices, support networks, and behavioral patterns into a single system. Conclusions. A career management system aimed at forming a leader must transform from directive management to environmental management, from control to facilitation. At the input of the system, management means ensuring transparency and safety at the stage preceding the first working day. Within the organization, management is transformed into cultivating an environment in which assistance and learning become everyday practices of employees. In the strategic perspective, management is seen as providing a set of tools and trajectories from which the teacher independently determines their path. The practical significance of the model is ensured by the developed expert assessment protocol, which allows it to be adapted to the conditions of a specific university. The scientific significance lies in the integration of disparate research directions within a single conceptual framework. Prospects for further research are associated with the empirical verification of the model, the development of tools for diagnosing self-regulated learning, and the study of the conditions for the sustainability of collective leadership behaviors.