SPARE TIME: CONSUMER SOCIETY'S CHALLENGES AND THE ISSUES OF MODERNIZING HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The rise of consumer society, economic growth and well-being improvement over the last several decades have led to the fact that for an increasing number of people, free time is no longer just a time of rest from work. Increasingly, free time is becoming a time of active extra-professional activities and leisure, the forms and nature of which are developing and becoming more and more complex. They now increasingly require new knowledge and skills, not only to enable individuals to fully use available opportunities of pastime, but also to neutralize various risks associated with them. In this regard, the question arises about the feasibility of training an individual for leisure and extra-professional activities, including in the framework of higher education. In this vein, the article discusses current trends in improving the curricula of universities and presents the results of a survey of students and graduates of several Russian universities regarding their demand for extra-professional training.