Competition for public project funding in a small research system: the case of Estonia

Masso, Jaan; Ukrainski, Kadri

doi:10.3152/030234209x479502

Cited by 20 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Reimer and Pollak [31] have shown, for instance, that students from advantageous backgrounds are attracted to courses in medicine, law, and veterinary science, as well as in natural sciences. In the Estonian system, there are also oligopolistic signs or signs of a two-tier system [19,32], meaning that even among the same types of HEI, some universities (Tartu University in particular) or disciplines have higher prestige, and have an important impact on higher education and research policy, from agenda setting to political leadership in reform implementation (see also Appendix A on high-rank curricula in Estonia). This indicates the importance of both horizontal and vertical differentiation in Estonian higher education, which is also conveyed in the labour market [33].…”

Section: Literature Overview and Case Specificities 21 Varieties Of Higher Education Financing And Educational Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paradox of State-Funded Higher Education: Does the Winner Still Take It All?

Põder

Lauri

2021

Education Sciences

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Contrary to the overall tendency to increase student participation in the financing of higher education, Estonia abolished student tuition fees in 2013. We study the effects of this reform on the students’ access to and progress in higher education, concentrating mostly on the changes in probabilities of rural and remote students being admitted (extensive margin) and graduating within a nominal time (intensive margin). We distinguish between four different outcomes: admission in general, admission to vocational education, admission to high-rank curricula, and graduation within nominal time. We confirm the tendency that a high socioeconomic status increases the probability of being admitted to high-rank curricula and reduces the probability of choosing an applied curriculum, and the 2013 reform did not change that. While the reform weakly improved rural students’ tendency to graduate on time, it diminished the probability that they were admitted to high-rank curricula. So, paradoxically and contrary to the intention of the reform, higher state involvement in higher education financing has not improved the equity in university admission in Estonia in terms of either socioeconomic background or regional disparities. We claim that part of the explanation of that paradox lies in the conditionality of this reform and the combination of a scarce needs-based and a competitive merit-based student support system in Estonia. We see our broader contribution in emphasising the important role of support systems in the future analysis of the potential to improve students’ access.

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Section: Literature Overview and Case Specificities 21 Varieties Of Higher Education Financing And Educational Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paradox of State-Funded Higher Education: Does the Winner Still Take It All?

Põder

Lauri

2021

Education Sciences

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“…The less-selective, less-prestigious second tier consists of many private institutions, which rely on tuition fees for revenue ('client seekers'). Several authors have described Estonian higher education policy as oligopolistic (Tomusk 2003;OECD 2007;Masso and Ukrainski 2009). This means that even among the same type of HEI, some are more equal than others, for example with their own laws and ability to protect their special status.…”

Section: The Story Of the Inverted U: Expansion And Vertical Differenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverted U-shape of Estonian Higher Education: Post-Socialist Liberalism and Postpostsocialist Consolidation

Saar

Roosalu

2018

Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education

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This chapter provides a description of the basic features of the higher education system in Estonia in the historical perspective, paying special attention to the period during the Soviet time right before the USSR collapse and exploring the developments during the following period up to 2015. It is understood that both the social and political system during the period of socialism, as well as changes in the society during the postsocialist period right after the country became independent, have an impact on the current period. On the other hand, changes in the Estonian higher education system are greatly impacted by external factors, especially processes of Europeanisation and internationalisation of higher education. Tendencies towards standardisation of higher education provision, on the one hand, as well as maintaining differentiation between higher education institutions will be highlighted.The analysis distinguishes four periods of the postsocialist higher education system in Estonia, characterised by different traits. 1988–1992 can be considered a period of chaotic, individually and institutionally driven changes; 1993–1998 saw the major expansion of the higher education system in combination with the development of legal frameworks and quality assurance mechanisms; 1999–2005 indicated the wave of reforms, including following the principles of the Bologna process; from 2006 onwards, new measures are put in place to strengthen the (international) competitiveness and sustainability of the shrinking higher education sector. The main strand of differentiation between the higher education institutions largely follows their formal statuses that stem from the soviet period: the applied higher education institutions on the one hand and the academic universities providing bachelor, master’s and doctoral level education on the other. The further differentiation can be made based on the research intensity of the universities as well as based on their legal status, with some being declared national universities by their dedicated laws.

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Section: The Story Of the Inverted U: Expansion And Vertical Differentiation Of Estonian Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

25 Years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries: reform and continuity

Sabzalieva

2018

European Journal of Higher Education

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Competition for public project funding in a small research system: the case of Estonia

Cited by 20 publications

References 22 publications

The Paradox of State-Funded Higher Education: Does the Winner Still Take It All?

The Paradox of State-Funded Higher Education: Does the Winner Still Take It All?

Inverted U-shape of Estonian Higher Education: Post-Socialist Liberalism and Postpostsocialist Consolidation

25 Years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries: reform and continuity

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