Alternative Systems and Structures in Russian Higher Education: Institutional Responses for the 21st Century

At a recent Kennan Institute talk, Andrey Rezaev, Professor, Faculty of Sociology, St. Petersburg State University, and Director, InterComCenter, argued that ideas and education are among the few socio-economic spheres in which Russia is still a global leader. Maintaining and strengthening the system of higher education is crucial to Russia's future, he said, and therefore it is important for Russia to develop a clear program of objectives and goals for its development.

The number of institutions of higher education in Russia has increased dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rezaev noted. While Leningrad had 41 institutions of higher education in 1990, St. Petersburg today has 42 state institutions and 60 private institutions. The total number of students enrolled has skyrocketed as well. Within universities number of faculty who hold the title of full professor has increased significantly, while there are fewer and fewer assistant professors, he added. At the same time, Rezaev continued, professors have lost the high status they enjoyed in the Soviet period, and—as throughout the world—there is less money available to educate the increased number of students. He argued that higher education does not fit comfortably in the market economic system. It is not culturally acceptable in Russia to treat universities as service providers that hand out degrees in return for money.

Throughout history, higher education has existed as part of an international system, according to Rezaev, and Russia needs to be part of this system. Today, Russia is largely cut off from international trends of multiculturalism and inter-disciplinary research, he stated. Russian higher education institutions are also heavily influenced by the Soviet legacy and are much more conservative than their counterparts in other countries. These trends must be changed if Russian educational institutions are to successfully prepare students for jobs in a knowledge-based economy, Rezaev argued. However, he believes that the main current reform effort—the Bologna process for the standardization of higher educational systems across Europe—will not be effective. The Bologna process, he contended, artificially forces concepts such as bachelor's and master's degrees on Russia, which has no history of these programs, nor even good translations for the terms.

Russia, Rezaev contended, can and should adopt some the norms and values of the international academic community, without copying its forms. In order to do this, Russia will need to go through a process of "de-institutionalization" of the Soviet model type of education—that is, replacing the old "rules of the game" with a new set of rules. According to Rezaev, the government's current policy is to maintain the Soviet-style institutional structure of higher education with a few small, ad hoc reforms. However, Rezaev concluded, Russia's system of higher education truly needs a comprehensive program of reforms.