This article examines the innovative qualities of a modern higher education teacher. Currently, training has acquired many new opportunities and continues to evolve. A modern teacher in our world should easily apply the latest approaches and techniques that contribute to the expansion and enrichment of the student's consciousness. The relevance of the research is due to the fact that a modern teacher must be ready for innovation and try something new. It is such a personal characteristic as innovation that contributes to the inclusion of a person in an innovative society, not only from the position of personal adaptation in it, but also inclusion as an active participant in processes. The article presents the results of a study of the degree of expression of the factors of innovative personality traits, such as creativity, orientation towards the future and risk for the sake of success of teachers of two areas of teaching.