25 Professions for the Future for which HSE is Training Students

The labour market is changing rapidly and radically. The changes are already apparent and are certain to become even more pronounced in the coming years. Accordingly, the question 'which professions are going to be in demand in 5-10 years’ time' becomes increasingly important: what qualifications should be acquired now to have labour market-relevant knowledge and skills upon graduation? The HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) experts addressed these issues in the scope of the targeted project to identify professions for the future.

The resulting list of professions was drafted using smart big data analysis tools (such as text mining), and polling leading experts employed by the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Professions’ “market prospects” were assessed by forecasting demand for them both globally and in Russia, taking into account the relevant labour market and S&T development trends.

“Professions for the future” do not necessarily have to be completely new, or unheard of. Some of them are “classic” occupations which have been practiced for many years but whose nature has radically changed in recent years, while other professions didn’t even have a name a few years back. People with that kind of qualifications are already in demand in more advanced countries, while the study revealed that in Russia demand for such skills is expected to emerge in about 5 years’ time.

HSE offers Master’s Programmes to train in all such professions.

An extended version of the project results will be published soon (in the conventional paper format), to provide detailed descriptions of 37 professions with particularly good market prospects.

Subject areas:

Applied mathematics and data science

Research mathematician
Data scientist
Bioinformatician
Personalised medical programme manager

Management

Digital market researcher
STI expert
Impressions manager

Physics and electronics

Quantum communication networks manager
Nanostructures and nanomaterials designer
Nanoelectronics research engineer

Informatics, business informatics

Systems architect
Systems programmer
Cybersecurity expert
E-business consultant

Economics and finance

Financial economist
Financial analyst
Financial engineer
Financial manager

Social science and humanities

Cross-cultural psychology consultant
IT lawyer
Data journalist
Multimedia exhibition curator
Digital producer
Computer linguist

Education management

Tutor

Project team

Expert in science, technology and innovation

Will conduct an integrated analysis of the current state and development prospects in the field of science, technology and innovation (STI); consult companies, public authorities, international organisations; participate in developing and assessing national, industry-specific, regional, and local STI strategies.

The global challenges the world is facing, and ambitious development objectives of particular countries require to make an efficient use of available science, technology and innovation potential. This is also relevant for Russia which is actively trying to find new sources of economic growth and intends to reduce the technological gap with foreign countries.

The expert in science, technology and innovation will monitor the development of national innovation systems, specific areas of, and tools for shaping national and corporate innovation policies; participate in professional and expert discussions and preparing recommendations for key stakeholders; and promote international S&T cooperation. He/she must be proficient in designing S&T policy-shaping tools, developing quantitative and qualitative indicators, specialised techniques and methodologies for assessing the efficiency of the proposed tools, and their contribution to accomplishing socio-economic objectives.

This profession is very much in demand in public administration (government ministries and agencies), research foundations and development institutes (in Russia such as RVC, RUSNANO, Skolkovo, etc.), major companies and international organisations (such as the OECD, the World Bank, etc.)

Market estimate

$2 trillion

reached the global R&D market in 2017. Increasing R&D expenditures to 3% of the GDP is one of the European Union’s development objectives 2020.

Drivers of the profession’s importance:

need to deal with pressing socio-economic problems (global challenges) on national and international levels
globalisation of science, technology, and innovation
need to develop long-term STI policies
accelerated proliferation of new knowledge and technologies
changing approaches to public administration due to digitalisation

What objectives the expert will be accomplishing

dealing with socio-economic problems on the national level, by applying advanced S&T results and promoting companies’ innovation activities
assessing STI policies
designing STI policy tools
developing methodologies for analysing the STI sphere on national and international levels
monitoring global technology trends
forecasting S&T development in Russia and internationally

What knowledge and skills the expert will have

knowledge of national innovation systems’ specific institutional features
proficiency in measuring and analytical techniques suitable for the STI sphere, and STI policies in particular
ability to interpret relevant development trends in Russia and internationally
knowledge of Russian and international intellectual property legislation
knowledge of Foresight methodologies and techniques