Causes of communication barriers in the professional activities of higher education teachers and ways to overcome them

the issue of communication barriers in the professional activities of higher education teachers has gained particular significance in the current context—amid ongoing institutional reforms, intensive digital transformations in education, and a widening sociocultural and generational gap between educators and students. The purpose of this article is to identify the causes and prerequisites of persistent communication difficulties in the academic environment, classify their types, and propose evidence-based strategies for overcoming these obstacles at different levels of pedagogical interaction. The author describes communication barriers as a systemically conditioned phenomenon arising at the intersection of the teacher's personal characteristics, the specifics of the academic environment, and broader social transformations. It is noted that the scientific literature remains fragmented in its approaches—some authors focus on individual psychological aspects, while others limit themselves to describing structural determinants without integrating them into a unified model. Additionally, the majority of existing studies overlook the dynamic and adaptive nature of pedagogical communication, often reducing it to a formalized exchange of information. Based on a comprehensive analysis, the article identifies key types of communication barriers (ranging from stage fright and negative biases to perfectionism and imitation effects) and examines their underlying mechanisms. The study also explores aspects of adaptive pedagogical interaction and proposes an original modeling system designed to prevent and correct professional deformations. The practical significance of the research lies in its recommendations, which are justified by their novelty. These include rapid diagnostics of audience readiness, a communicative portfolio strategy, and a supervision support system tailored for educators operating under high communicative stress. The findings will be useful to higher education specialists, teachers, methodologists, professional development program organizers, and developers of digital tools for educators.

adaptation, higher education, communication strategy, communication barrier, pedagogical deformation, teacher’s professional activity, professional interaction, digitalization