Higher education in welfare regimes: Three worlds of post-Soviet transition

Abstract

Higher education has generally been excluded from the welfare discourse, especially in transition countries. This article addresses existing research gaps by applying the ideas of decommodification and stratification to higher education in post-Soviet countries, within the comparative framework of welfare regime typology. The purpose of this study is to analyse the extent to which higher education relates to welfare state models in such countries. The research demonstrates that institutional settings and outcomes of higher education provision in Estonia, Georgia and Russia are evolving toward patterns of social-democratic, liberal and conservative models, respectively. Although the correspondence is incomplete, we argue that post-Soviet states are more similar to groups of countries representing these welfare regimes than to each other. This study argues against the assumption of a uniform post-Soviet pattern of higher education policy and shows that its structuring is embedded in the wider context of national welfare state models.

Mapping the distinct patterns of educational and social stratification in European countries

“…In contrast to the study by West (2013), this analysis identifies multiple patterns of educational stratification among post-socialist countries with EU membership, challenging the idea that post-socialist countries constitute a distinct and coherent educational regime. This finding is aligned with most research comparing CEE countries to ‘old’ EU members (Beblavý et al, 2013; Dumas et al, 2013; Malinovskiy and Shibanova, 2022). This article finds that Romania and Bulgaria are similar to France, while Czechia and Slovakia are similar to Germany.…”

“…The labels of ‘high’, ‘medium’, and ‘low’ are attributed through comparison between the mean values of each cluster. Employing the same strategy as Malinovskiy and Shibanova (2022), the label ‘low’ is assigned if the mean value for a cluster is lower than the difference between the overall country mean and half of the overall standard deviation (Mean −0.5*Std); the label ‘medium’ is assigned if the value for a cluster falls within the interval [Mean −0.5*Std; Mean + 0.5*Std]; the value ‘High’ is assigned if the mean for a cluster is higher than the value of the sum between the overall mean and half of the overall standard deviation.…”

“…I am including these countries, as they have a history of promoting a strong link between educational attainment and social status, but have adjusted to accommodate less rigid trajectories in post-industrial economies (Bukodi and Goldthorpe, 2010). While West (2013) considers the educational systems from CEE countries as a distinct regime, most research studies comparing educational systems from Eastern and Western Europe (Beblavý et al, 2013; Dumas et al, 2013) identify differences between these countries, challenging the idea that they can be regarded as part of the same educational model (Malinovskiy and Shibanova, 2022; Roberts, 2001).…”

Финансовая Поддержка Национальных Систем Высшего Образования В Период Пандемии COVID-19: Обзор Опыта Европейских Стран

“…Государственное финансирование высшего образования, его объемы и механизмы распределения считаются одними из главных рычагов государственной политики [van Vught, de Boer, 2015]. Результаты различных исследований показывают, что схема распределения государственных средств, в рамках которой функционируют университеты, оказывает существенное влияние на разные аспекты деятельности университетов, в том числе результативность деятельности , эффективность управленческих практик и внутреннего распределения и использования финансовых ресурсов [Liefner, 2003;Sexton, Comunale, Gara, 2012], неравенство и доступность высшего образования [Malinovskiy, Shibanova, 2022].…”

Transforming Familialistic Youth Welfare Policies in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis of Changes in Higher Education Support Policies in Korea and Japan

“…In comprehending HESPs and their changes, first, we should not overlook the characteristics of the citizenship and welfare regime in which HESPs are embedded (West and Nikolai, 2013). Previous research has emphasised the close relationships between HESPs and welfare (Malinovskiy and Shibanova, 2022). Second, East Asia generally has a different social policy structure from that found in Western Europe (Takegawa and Lee, 2006; Kim, 2016).…”