Mobility in the Higher Education System as a Factor of Soft Power of the Russian Federation: Ways of Improvement

The article is devoted to the problem of increasing the efficiency of mobility in higher education system of the Russian Federation in the context of the policy of soft power. The authors believe that the first stage of the development of so-called incoming mobility, focused primarily on the mass attraction of students, including foreign ones and the creation of a favorable image of the Russian education system, is completed. Today, it is time to optimize the work with foreign students, graduate students and lecturers (teachers). It needs, first of all, to put at the forefront the national interests of Russia, and mainly, the creation abroad a pool like a benevolent society consisting of those people who studied in our country and owed the acquired knowledge and skills of professional activity. At the same time, it requires a differentiated approach as concerns foreign personnel, which should be recruited from the point of view of the importance of their native countries for the political and economic interests of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, the authors propose their hierarchy of priorities for incoming academic mobility, highlighting the 6 most significant categories.