Private Higher Education in Russia: capacity for innovation and investment

Abstract

IntroductionOur experience of evolving economies contains one major peculiarity related to the changes in their educational systems: in measuring the transformation to a market economy, the scale of non-governmental, private sector and, correspondingly, financial capital steadily increases (Bjarnason, Cheng & Fielden, 2009). It is perfectly in order to apply the logic of the market in this context: commodityfinance relations cover not only the material production and service sphere, but also the field of production and dissemination of knowledge and technologies. However, supporters of the commercialisation of culture and education are frequently criticised, in particular over issues of quality assurance. But it can be argued that the issue of quality depends on whether we are looking at mass or élite (meritocratic) education. Élite education will always maintain high quality. But, by its very definition, mass education cannot and, indeed, should not pretend to the same standards. That being the case, an overriding argument in favour of private education (both mass and élite) is that private investment, rather than budgetdriven, government financing can ensure greater flexibility and adaptability of the educational process to the rapidly changing requirements of the labour market. No less important is the fact that financial independence from the State, with its rigid system of control and distribution of resources, allows the practical realisation of two fundamental principles of higher education -the academic autonomy of universities and the assurance of commercial controls.As demonstrated by internationally renowned private universities, such as Harvard and Stanford in the United States and Waseda in Japan, with the right investment of private capital and effective management, the possibility of a high and sustainable output or profit (to use the language of economists) of both material and non material assets is enhanced. However, one should not exaggerate the role of private, non-state professional and vocational education: it depends very much on the specific social and economic situation and cultural-historical traditions. Today's world has a great range of organisational and legal forms of managing educational institutions and their practices. But a significant consistent pattern is found in transition economies in almost all countries. It is this: regarding the level of development of market-economies, the scale of private finance in the sphere of professional education and training steadily increases and gradually replaces public funds; and the privatisation of education is introduced. In this article we focus on the peculiarities of that process in Russia.

Innovation in Russia: The Territorial Dimension

“…Russia's higher education system expanded remarkably in the past two decades, with enrolment increasing from just over 2.5 million in 1993 to 7.8 million in 2008 (Motova and Pykkö, 2012: 27). This growth was partly driven by the rise of private institutions (Geroimenko et al, 2012). With limited external influence on curricula, rapid increases in enrolment and private establishments' expansion may have diluted quality standards (Nikolaev and Chugunov, 2012).…”

Empirical Analysis of Employees With Tertiary Education Occupational Imbalances

“…It can be also of some interest to study the revealed disproportions for the regions of Russia with inherited from Soviet era high concentration of manufacturing industries as well as learning institutions supplying those industries with skilled labor. An analysis of private universities' contribution towards growing disproportions in tertiary education also seems to be a promising, however controversial, direction of quantitative research, since the aforementioned learning institutions are generally characterized by lower standards of education (Geroimenko et al, 2012).…”

Higher Education in the BRICS Countries

“…In other words, and in contrast to broad global trends, the private sector has remained relatively marginal in Russian higher education (about 30 % of total institutions, but only 10-12 % of enrolments), despite some real successes in certain professional fields (Geroimenko et al 2012). In other words, and in contrast to broad global trends, the private sector has remained relatively marginal in Russian higher education (about 30 % of total institutions, but only 10-12 % of enrolments), despite some real successes in certain professional fields (Geroimenko et al 2012).…”