Features of the formation of magistracy in Germany

Abstract

The author of the article make attempt to trace the dynamics of the development of the European magistracy, to identify the features of its formation in the German higher education, compare this experience with the Russian. Оn a basis of the analysis of official documents, statistical data and the results of the surveys conducted by the German researchers, the author shows how under the influence of external and internal factors in Germany, the second level of higher education is formed. In particular, within the framework of expanding the availability of education, not only universities but also professional higher schools received the right to carry out training in master’s programs, which led to the formation of not only academic and applied magistracy, but also it another varieties. In turn, the course of reducing the period of study in higher education ensured the establishment of such a close relationship between programs of the first and second levels of training that the defense of the bachelor’s degree work perceive not as the end of the first stage of higher education, but rather as an intermediate test necessary for continuing in magistracy. It explains the low level of internal mobility during the transition from the first to the second level of higher education. Summing up the twenty-year experience of Germany on the transition to multi-level higher education, the author concludes that in the presence of a variety of types and forms of training, as well as degrees awarded, single-level training of specialists, adjusted to modern requirements, continues to operate in Germany.