SOCIO-HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION AS THE MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE OF THE RUSSIAN HIGHER SCHOOL

. Purpose. Is to determine the role of social and humanitarian education in the system of higher professional education and justify the need for its actualization as an important resource in the field of higher education, analysis of existing educational practices and educational needs of students of Russian universities. Methodology and Approach. The article presents three stages of the research, during which university students’ current attitudes to social and humanitarian knowledge are studied (on the example of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow Institute of Economics, Politics and Law). The study used such empirical research methods as questionnaires and focus groups. When interpreting the research results, general scientific methods, such as comparison and generalization, were used. Results. The study examined educational practice in the field of social and humanitarian education. The educational needs of Russian students and their attitude to social and humanitarian knowledge are identified. Theoretical/practical significance: The results of the study contribute to the theory and practice of socio-humanitarian education in Russian higher educational institutions, the necessity of changing and updating the content of socio-humanitarian knowledge in today’s educational practice. Besides, its role in the process of preparing the highly-skilled professional for the society is defined.