The article is devoted to the consideration of strategies for the success of university teachers in the context of the basic principles of modern higher education in Russia — managerialism and academism. Based on an analysis of the socio-cultural and socio-economic aspects of the activities of a higher school teacher, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that the ideology of success imposed by managerialism is incompatible with the high mission of the university. As forms of achieving a goal, success and success are specific results. The university and the teacher, in particular, form the ideology of serving the profession — such is the long-term impact of higher education on the entire subsequent life of a person and on the social space as a whole. And such prolonged exposure has a delayed effect that cannot be assessed in the short term. The article emphasizes that there is an ongoing conflict between managerialism and the professional ethics of university teaching staff, which is based on the principle of academicism. Relations in the university environment between generations are built on mentoring, on the formation and functioning of scientific schools, which fundamentally contradicts the individualism of the ideology of success and success. Rivalry as an integral component of managerialism destroys the educational space of higher education, first of all, due to the implantation of an ideal of success that cannot be realized in this environment. The success of a higher education teacher cannot be assessed in accordance with quantitative criteria. Participation in prestigious international scientific conferences, high-quality scientific publications, effective teaching of academic disciplines, including the use of innovative teaching methods, development of promising scientific topics and involvement of students in research — this is what forms the basis for the success of university teachers. In addition, in the context of the development of modern media, it is necessary to remember the importance of creating a brand of a successful university and an attractive image of science in general, and in this vein, a success strategy can be built as a «populist» one, aimed at achieving fame for a particular teacher or scientific group, department, creative team not only in the student and teaching environment of a particular university, but also in the media, which works to create a positive competitive image of the university in the educational and cultural space at the regional, federal and international levels.