Formation of Professional Expert Community Leaders’ Competency Profiles

In the difficult conditions of transformation of socioeconomic and labor relations, professional expert communities (PEC) acquire a special role, ensuring both the development of individual professions, experts, and, in general, affecting the quality of the education system and the national qualifications system in the country. At the same time, community leaders play a key role, often acting as initiators of the creation and locomotives of PEC development. The aim of this study is to systematize the approaches of modern researchers to modeling competencies and develop, on its basis, a competency profile for PEC leaders. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is a systematic approach based on a multidimensional model of competencies, which involves considering both professional and personal competencies. The empirical basis of the study is a series of in-depth expert interviews with twenty leaders of professional expert communities, selected based on the results of PEC monitoring, implemented in 2019-2020 within the framework of the RFBR grant. The study made it possible to formulate the main goal of the communities’ activities, which is the exchange of experience, the development of the profession and the community of professionals, the dissemination and implementation of best practices, and the transfer of knowledge. Based on this, the community leader must demonstrate a sufficiently high level of intellectual qualities, as well as managerial and expert knowledge. The study shows that one of the key competencies characteristic of PEC leaders is developed skills of expert activity in the framework of the professional activity of the community. In addition, PEC leaders have a high and equal level of the following competencies: continuous development, confidence, self-awareness and control, honesty and ethical behavior; they all have a high level of intellectual abilities, the skill of demonstrating leadership expertise and expert examination. Cognitive competences and meta-competencies are the most pronounced among PEC leaders. Among the socio-ethical competencies, honesty and ethical behavior are the most manifested. Formation of the competence profile of PEC leaders will allow determining the most manifested competencies of community leaders and preparing recommendations regarding the formation of individual development plans for current and future community leaders. The stronger communities become embedded in socioeconomic relations, the more important it is to understand the capabilities of their leaders. In addition, the understanding of PEC managers’ competency profiles will allow integrating them more effectively into the activities of professional qualifications councils, whose activities are aimed, among other things, at standardizing areas of professional activity.

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