The Development of Academic Membership and the Development of Higher Education System in Bulgaria

Higher education system's development and the academic membership's development is directly and immediately connected to the overall philosophy of higher education's development in Bulgaria. The economic, political and cultural transformations in the recent decades reflect these processes in a particular way. At the presence of a conservative and partially "closed" system of getting an academic ranks and titles in Bulgaria, a transition towards a system that has no objectively grounded criteria system (regarding the procedure) as well as no objective evaluating system for conducting the procedures for awarding educational and scientific degree "Doctor", scientific decree "Doctor of Science" and the procedures for habilitation for academic positions "Associate Professor" and "Professor" was made. Creating democratic conditions in the circumstances of higher schools' autonomy, a system for getting educational and scientific degrees was established at unclear and in the most general sense incorrect requirements from the candidates. Put in different conditions, the candidates satisfy the requirements for acquiring educational and scientific degrees different way. The present article makes a detailed analysis of that process throughout the last five years, looking for the possible correct and adequate answers to the established wrong practice, and at the same time analyzes in details the possible new requirements at legislation change in this direction. Unified state requirements are the possible way out but not in all professional fields. What is looked for is the specific in the separate fields of higher education, while alternative solutions are suggested for particular fields