CInSt Publications Digest
We proudly share some of the recent articles by our reserchers: from pre-entry coaching to the Unified State Examination.
Еlizaveta Sivak, Мaria Yudkevich
This paper studies the dynamics of key characteristics of the academic profession in Russia based on the analysis of university faculty in the two largest cities in Russia – Moscow and St Petersburg. We use data on Russian university faculty from two large-scale comparative studies of the academic profession (‘The Carnegie Study’ carried out in 1992 in 14 countries, including Russia, and ‘The Changing Academic Profession Study’, 2007–2012, with 19 participating countries and which Russia joined in 2012) to look at how faculty’s characteristics and attitudes toward different aspects of their academic life changed over 20 years (1992–2011) such as faculty’s views on reasons to leave or to stay at a university, on university’s management and the role of faculty in decision making. Using the example of universities in the two largest Russian cities, we demonstrate that the high degree of overall centralization of governance in Russian universities barely changed in 20 years.
Our paper provides comparisons of teaching/research preferences and views on statements concerning personal strain associated with work, academic career perspectives, etc., not only in Russian universities between the years 1992 and 2012, but also in Russia and other ‘Changing Academic Profession’ countries.
The prevalence and efficiency of investment in pre-entry coaching in Russia // Tertiary Education and Management
Ilya Prakhov
This paper examines the prevalence and the costs of pre-entry coaching programs before and after the introduction of the Unified State Examination in Russia. The efficiency of private tutoring under the new standardized university admission procedures is estimated. It is argued that the main types of pre-entry coaching are still in demand, however the popularity of pre-entry courses at particular universities has declined, and the prevalence of classes with tutors who are not related to university has risen. A few years after the introduction of the Unified State Examination, the level of investment in private tutoring in real terms has barely changed; the returns from such an investment are still positive but moderate.
University admission in Russia: Do the wealthier benefit from standardized exams? // International Journal of Educational Development
Ilya Prakhov, Мaria Yudkevich
This paper examines the impact of family income on the results of the newly introduced Unified State Examination (USE) in Russia. We argue that entrants from wealthy households have an advantage in terms of access to higher education, since income positively affects USE scores through a higher level of investment in pre-entry coaching. We have found positive and significant relationships between the level of income and USE results for high school graduates, given equal achievement before coaching. We demonstrate that in general, investment in pre-entry coaching has positive returns, but the most significant type of investment is pre-entry courses. However, such strategy improves USE results only for students from the most affluent households.