Publications

This study is devoted to assessing the supply chain management impact on universities promotion and efficiency in international and Russian universities' ratings on their development. The peculiarity of the study is that it considers both universities participating in the competitive recovery program and presented in international rankings, as well as those that do not participate therein. The paper analyzes the rating indicators, the development strategy and the positioning of four Russian universities: Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (KFU), National Research University "Higher School of Economics" (HSE), M.T. Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University (IzhSTU) and G.R. Derzhavin Tambov State University (TSU). The research revealed the positive effects of the promotion in the university rankings on their development, among which the following can be distinguished: the formation of a competitive environment within the university, the definition of a specific strategic goal, the attraction of more qualified personnel to the university, including from the international academic market, etc. Negative consequences were revealed too, such as: increase in the workload on teachers, and as a result, reduced attention to the organization of the educational process, higher risk of losing the quality of scientific research, as a result of increasing the number of publications, ineffective spending of the university funds. 

University mergers are a common practice in higher education systems around the world. Merger-related aspects such as the transformation of organizational and administrative structures, the impact on the internal funding allocation mechanisms, or changes in academic strategies and profiles, are well researched. However, the role of students in university mergers and their understanding of these processes are hardly investigated. The aim of this study was to identify how students are affected by merger processes. Through the conceptual framework, integrating university organizational identity theory and studies of the human side of mergers and acquisitions, this article encompasses six institutional cases in Russian higher education. These cases were selected to illustrate different scenarios of university mergers and accordingly to analyze the variety of student experience in changing universities. The project’s data included the results of document analysis, analysis of the merged universities’ representation in the public space, interviews and focus-groups with university administrators and with students who studied during the process of university merger. It highlights such perceived effects of mergers as anxiety and perceived unfairness due to post-merger changes, activization of we-they opposition between the students of merged universities, loss or transformation of organizational identity, and clash of university cultures. 

The article discusses the effects of concentration of students in the system of higher education in the regions of Russia and methodological approaches to their assessment. The issues of accessibility and inequality in higher education are increasingly being put on the agenda by a number of researchers. Historically, universities are located in large cities, new universities also follow this example, thereby enhancing the effect of concentration. The policy of the Ministry of Education and Science and Federal service for supervision in education and science, aimed at combating low-quality programs and universities, has led to an increase in the concentration of universities in major cities. This fact is confirmed by the calculated Theil and Herfindahl — Hirschman indices and the coefficient of variation. Thus, we can talk about the formation of university oases and deserts. According to our research, more than half of the territory of the Russian Federation constitutes an educational (university) desert

The paper analyses determinants of efficiency of Russian universities. The analysis is based on the data from annual monitoring of performance of higher education institutions conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science. Special attention is paid to the factors that are associated with public policy in the sphere of higher education. In order to explain the variation of the efficiency scores we implement one of the most modern techniques for analysis of efficiency’ determinants – Two-Stage Semi-parametric DEA. The high level of heterogeneity in Russian higher education sector is controlled for by considering two different specifications of DEA model: with the focus on educational activity and with the focus on scientific activity. The results show that relatively less efficient universities are more likely to be affected by the considered efficiency’ determinants compared to efficient ones. Universities that are governed by the Ministry of Education and Science and by regional governments appeared to be relatively more efficient compared to the universities that are governed by another federal authorities except for the Ministry of Education and Science (Ministry of agriculture, Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Sport and so on). Governance by the Ministry of Education and Science has the strongest effect on efficiency level among considered factors. Governance by regional authorities has the weakest effect. The total square of buildings available for the university appeared to be positively and statistically significantly related to efficiency level. While the autonomous status has no any effect.

Human capital is produced primarily by the education system. Today it is the most important factor in the development of economy and society. By investing in human capital, economic growth rates above the average world-level can be achieved, which is necessary in order to strengthen Russia’s positions in the context of increasing global competition. The report proposes 12 projects, aiming not only for the development of education, but for making a decisive contribution to the “breakthrough” of the country in economic, social and technological development by activating the creative potential of the Russian population as a whole and self-realization of each individual. The ultimate result of all the proposed 12 solutions will be a steady increase in the quality of life of the Russian people.

Despite the differences in political, social, economic, and cultural histories, Brazil, Russia, India, and China share the common characteristics. The BRIC countries are very large in terms of population, territory, and economy. Each country has great economic and political influence in the regions, as well as dominance in education sphere (Altbach et al. 2013). They are emerging markets as their economies have been rapidly growing for the last decades while remaining lower middle income or upper middle income countries (World Bank 2016). The experience of these countries is critical for understanding the higher education system dynamics in large countries with limited resources.

Higher Education in Federal Countries: A Comparative Study is a unique study of higher education in nine federal countries—the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, China and India. In this book, leading international scholars discuss the role of federalism and how it shapes higher education in major nation-state actors on the world stage. The editors develop an overarching comparative analysis of the dynamics of central and regional power in higher education, and the national case studies explain how each federal and federal-like higher education system has evolved and how it functions in what are highly varied contexts.  

The book makes a major contribution to higher education studies and defines a new field of comparative analysis. It also provides important insights into comparative governance and the study of federalism and federal arrangements, with their particular historical, political, legal and economic dimensions.

Russia (Russian Federation) has the largest territory in the world and extends over 11 time zones. As a federal state, Russia has 85 regions. Over 146 million people (FSSS 2016) are unevenly distributed throughout the country. About 77% of the population lives in the more urbanized European part of the country, whereas the Asian part of the country occupies more than 76% of the total area. The youth population is declining. Although there are around 180 different ethnic groups in Russia, most of the populations (78%) are ethnic Russians (Statdata 2017).

The Russian economy is based heavily on natural resources. As of 2015, it was the 13th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP (World Bank 2017a) and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (World Bank 2017b).

The Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees the right to free higher education on a competitive basis for those obtaining it for the first time. General and vocational education is free and available to all.

The social and economic landscape has been rapidly changing in Russia during the last quarter of a century. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Russia experienced many changes, including: • The movement to an electoral democracy and a market economy • The rejection of a planned human resources policy relating to the main economic sectors • The decline or elimination of a number of key industries (OECD 2007)

The chapter examines how the Russian federal government has been driving international student recruitment with attempts to force the modernization of higher education (HE) and promote soft power interests. We provide an overview of Soviet policies related to international student mobility, scrutinize the cyclic and multi-rational educational transformation that has been taking place since the 1990s, and reflect on the implications for the future. We explain the rationale of HE internationalization in contemporary Russia and show that the government’s reforms have focused on the political rationale inherited from Soviet times, combined with the heavy-handed modernization policy to fit in the context of global competition. This curious combination encourages higher education institutions to fixate on meeting government-led performance indicators, preserving the current structure of student mobility concentrated in a few institutions, and creating constraints for the development of academic excellence in Russian HE.

This Appendix consists of the statistical data that is considered to be the most important for the study of Soviet and Post-Soviet higher education. Here we talk about general trends and aggregate numbers that provide a broad view on higher education changes. The Appendix contains three parts. The first part includes data on higher education in Russian empire (until 1917). Second part covers Soviet period (1917–1991): statistics on higher education institutions (HEIs), numbers of students by field of education, forms of studies and across the USSR Republics as well as age cohort participation in the Republics. The third part consists of post-Soviet changes of HEIs in state and non-state sector, student body, privatisation of costs (fee-paying students) and participation in higher education. The Appendix includes not only tables but also brief comments on data sources, major points that should be considered for data analysis and descriptions of key facts.

We hope that this study will make one more step in the gradual movement towards opening up opportunities for research on the post-Soviet space built on transparent data and keen academic interest. The demand for a thorough grasp of post-Soviet higher education transformations in each former Soviet Republic seemed natural at the start. Basically, we assumed that national higher education systems reflect changes in societies and the economic and political environment. The institutional landscape of higher education, the structure of the system and the set of ‘rules of the game’ can tell us a great deal about the society in which they are rooted.

This study is aimed at identifying contemporary problems of socio-economic and demographic development of the rural population in one of the regions of Russia. The high economic potential of rural areas of the Republic of Tatarstan is revealed in the work. The rural population in Tatarstan is decreasing quite rapidly, and the potential of rural areas is not always properly used. In this study, the example of the Republic of Tatarstan shows how the socio-economic development of a region depends on demographic parameters. All this makes relevant the research aimed at the study and analysis of the reasons for the reduction of the rural population. The study of demographic processes in Tatarstan, using geographic and demographic features at the grass-root territorial level, made it possible to identify stable zones which composition included several regions of administrative regions differing in the course of their demographic processes, what would allow this experience to be used in other territories. The analysis and elaboration at the level of an individual constituent entity made it possible to identify regional features and develop practical recommendations for the transition to regional sustainable development. For a better disclosure of the topic under study, the comparative data of urban and rural populations are used in many ways. 

This article seeks to draw attention to the phenomenon of the academic diversity of students studying at universities and to articulate a research agenda for studying this phenomenon and its relationship with the university administration. We conducted a review of the existing literature and statistical data about Russia, which has allowed us to identify a range of possible reasons for why academic diversity is on the rise at universities and to offer a set of basic conditions for determining its level. The article first analyzes academic diversity as a contextual variable together with the organizational characteristics of the universities. We demonstrate its importance for university administration. The author also provides a range of theoretical frameworks that can be used to analyze university administration in the context of high academic diversity. A more detailed study of administrative practices at universities is needed as a follow-up to this article. The results of this study may be used to expand the existing research agenda in higher education as well as to analyze and plan measures at specific universities.

Abstract: The paper analyses the role of vocational education in formation of professional trajectories of Russian employed population during the period 2005-2015. Based on longitudinal data we explore the differences between career paths of workers that had the experience of vocational training and workers without such experience. We contribute the debate regarding vocational training and its role in innovation and economic development utilizing methodology of sequence analysis and Markov chains with long memory (mixture transition distribution models (MTD)). MTD models suggest the analysis of categorical data sequences instead of quantitative data that is standard for this kind of research. Such methodological approach allows not only estimating casual effects of participation in vocational education programs on the wage level, but exploring how vocational training influences the whole career path. Our findings suggest that those workers who participate in vocational training have lower probability of different negative events in their careers including job loss. Moreover, mixture transitions distribution models suggest that for such workers the current career status determined by longer history of previous career events than for those employees that had not any experience of participation in vocational education programs. These results give the evidence that vocational education is important factor of success on the labour market, providing greater flexibility of career paths that is crucial in innovation development of the labour market and economy as a whole. Findings of the study also have important policy implications. Importance of vocational training on individual level suggests that investment in vocational education on societal level will bring positive returns. This kind of education provides the flexibility of individuals on the labour market, through vocational training workers obtain new skills and knowledge that allows them utilizing new technologies and innovations. Development of vocational education may be considered as policy-making instrument that can generate positive economic outcomes.

In this article authors describe formation of the concept "soft power" and its place in the modern world. Authors come to a conclusion that tourism is that element of "the soft power" which can promote more effective and competent positioning of Russia as benevolent country. Today the tourism industry is a key milestone of applying "the soft power" concept, plunging in particular countries, in particular cultures, in particular national life, the tourist recreates a true picture of the events in the state. Authors note that the Russian Federation needs creation abroad of positive image, for the purpose of applying the "the soft power" concept in the solution of diplomatic questions. In turn, tourism is one of the main methods of the "the soft power" concept and in any a case it is impossible to diminish a tourism role in permission of international issues. Development of the tourism industry promotes not only to increase in a tourist stream and attraction of investments, but also allows creating a positive image of the country and its subjects in the opinion of foreign tourists. Investigating value of the "the soft power" concept, authors came to a conclusion that tourism represents a secret platform for realization of national and public interests on the international scene.