The purpose of the study is to identify the factors of competitiveness among university teachers through an assessment of a modern teacher desire and abilities to be demanded professionally. Three hypotheses were put forward: about the impact of a teacher's qualification level on his competitiveness, about the motivational component role of the personnel policy, and about the improvement of research work quality as the result of competition development. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey among Russian university teachers (N = 170) aged from 22 to 70, who were grouped into three groups according to 10 indicators of research work: teachers with high, average and low individual rating. The study result established the correlation between the desire of teachers to reach high rating positions within the conditions of fierce competition, their quantitative indicators, the publication activity and the quality of research activity. The level of a teacher's qualification, which is one of the basic requirements for the university teaching staff, does not ensure the competitiveness of a teacher for a long period. It should be accompanied by an active publication activity of a teacher and high rates of research activity. The study showed that the motivational component of the personnel policy is an obligatory, but an insufficient factor ensuring the professional growth of scientific and pedagogical personnel. The authors come to the conclusion about the dual effect of the rating race: the factors of competitiveness among university teachers may contribute to teaching staff quality increase and reduction. But it depends on the adaptive features of teachers.