Introduction. Most Russian authors study human resources potential of secondary vocational education system from the perspective of teachers’ professional competencies. Social characteristics of teachers that define their motivation to do pedagogical work and develop themselves go unnoticed.
The aim of the article is to create a social portrait of a vocational teacher, taking into account their age, education, and gender.
Methods. Among the methods used were secondary analysis of statistical data; sociological survey by means of a questionnaire within the national study of 2022 with pedagogical and administrative employees of secondary vocational education institutions in the role of respondents (3, 416 representatives of various subjects of the Russian Federation in total).
Results. The article presents the social characteristics of teachers of secondary vocational education depending on their motivation for pedagogical work. The main criteria are age, educational and gender markers, which together make it possible to build two alternative social portraits of teachers of Russian colleges.
Scientific novelty. Patterns of influence of gender and age on teachers’ professional motivation were identified.
Practical significance. The requests for reorganization of secondary vocational education system are able to be specified considering social characteristics that define teachers’ professional motivation and motivation for self-development.
Funding. The research was carried out within the state task of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation “Teaching Staff of Secondary Vocational Education: Recruitment, Professional Adaptation and Social Representation” (applied research, №. 073-00104-22-01).