The Russian market of university services: social and demographic aspects

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of demographic, social, economic and international aspects on the market of university services in Russia. It also reminds readers briefly of the evolution of the Russian higher education system during the last 20 years and considers some consequences of the current public policy and reforms in this sector. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a qualitative analysis of the marketing environment of Russian universities. Findings – The results show that it is urgent for Russian universities to think and innovate about their marketing strategies to better position themselves in the educational market that has greatly changed throughout the transition period. International competition, demographic decrease, change in age structure and consumer behavior and preferences are those trends that create new challenges. Research limitations/implications – Public policy in higher education needs to be improved also to enable better equity across territory and different universities. Practical implications – After a drastic drop in the public funding during the 1990s (from 9.6 percent of GDP in 1986 to 3.5 percent in 1990), the higher education sector in Russia is still “struggling for survival.” In spite of the increase in funding in the year 2000, public support is distributed unequally across universities, 40 universities being distinguished among more than 1,100 other existing institutions. For those institutions that are not supported by the State, an efficient marketing strategy helps to keep the pace and continue to exist and offer educational programs. In order to ensure a wide access to higher education throughout the whole territory and to let some institutions to continue to work, it is urgent to rethink and reinforce marketing research in education. Originality/value – The paper is an original study of the market for higher education services in Russia.

Brand Name and Customers' Intention

“…It is an opportunity for universities to remain attractive in these competitive conditions, especially in higher education markets that have become increasingly tight. As the findings of Bydanova et al (2015) suggest, market changes create new challenges that make higher education institutions think of innovative marketing strategies and driven competition encouraging universities to focus on the introduction and development of clear brands (Hemsley-Brown and Goonawardana, 2007). In the increasingly competitive services of higher education, strong brands will contribute to influence the interest of prospective students.…”

Methodological Peculiarities of the Development of Emotional Intelligence of Competitive Graduates from Regional Higher Educational Institutes

“…The specialists' training should correspond to the social and economic development of the region and reflect its traditions and history, that's why Russia and other countries should solve problems connected with functioning of regional labour markets. Problems which define state educational politics in regions are the following [8,2]: reduction of the total number of economically active population; discrepancy of workforce supply in accordance with professional skills' structure of employers' demand, including mismatch of supply and demand of professions, specialities which require high level of employees' skills on the labour market; discrepancy in the field of specialization; inadequacy of the structure and quality of the professional education of the personnel to the demand of the regional labour market; discrepancy of skills including the non-use of the great part of knowledge and skills in practical activity and also 'over-education' of employees (the work oftener requires a lower level of skills than graduates have). As the result of the above-mentioned problems, high education, high level of knowledge, skills and competences not always influence accordingly indicators of graduate's being in demand on the labour market and success in general.…”

National strategy for promotion of Russian universities in the world market of education services

“…While the period of the 1990s was the toughest time for the Russian higher education (with particularly poor financial conditions for universities and massive outflow of the academic staff to other economic sectors or abroad), a certain revival starting from the yearly 2000 was observed (Kastoueva-Jean, 2006). This revival is notably due to a “coming back” of the federal state in the higher education, notably through renewed regulation mechanisms and an increase in the public spending (Bydanova et al , 2015).…”