The Effects of Institutional Transformations on the Russian Doctoral Education Performance

Bednyi, B. I.; Рыбаков, Н. В.; Zhuchkova, Svetlana

doi:10.31992/0869-3617-2022-31-11-9-29

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…The government and several of the country’s most prestigious universities have launched programs to assist international students to travel abroad. 18 The number of international doctoral students (IDS) at Russian universities and research institutions increased dramatically between 2010 and 2019. 15 In 2019, IDS constituted 9% of doctoral students.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges Posed by COVID-19 on Doctoral Students’ Wellbeing in Russia: Of International and Domestic Doctoral Students, Who Suffers More?

Abdul-Rahaman¹

2023

PRBM

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Background While universities closed, implementing remote teaching and learning in response to COVID-19, this change significantly impacted the lives of graduate students, given their exposure to unique and diverse experiences. It thus has become essential to understand the possible differences in regard to the pandemic’s impact on international and domestic students. Purpose The aim of this study was to explore the consequences of the challenges posed by COVID-19 on doctoral students’ wellbeing in Russia. Methods The study surveyed 4454 doctoral students across 249 Russian public universities. Results The challenges posed by COVID-19 negatively affected international doctoral students’ learning experience (β= −0.269, p<0.001); students’ satisfaction with supervision (β= −0.098, p<0.001); dissertation experience (β= −0.039, p<0.001); and doctoral program satisfaction (β= −0.034, p<0.001). Furthermore, the challenges posed by COVID-19 affected domestic doctoral students’ learning experience (β=−0.368, p<0.001); students’ satisfaction with supervision (β=−0.194, p<0.001) and doctoral program satisfaction (β=−0.034, p<0.001). However, the influence of the challenges posed by COVID-19 on communication frequency was relatively positive for both international (β=0.060, p<0.001) and domestic students (β=0.021, p<0.001), and dissertation experience (β=0.061, p<0.001) was also positive for only domestic students. Furthermore, controlled factors comprising field of study (β=−0.033, p<0.001); year of study (β=0.127, p<0.001); and university region (β=−0.056, p<0.001) influenced the effect of the challenges posed by COVID-19 on international doctoral students. Conclusion The COVID-19 challenges had the greatest impact on the wellbeing of international students. Furthermore, both international and domestic students’ communication frequency with their supervisors underwent a relatively positive impact (which implies no effect on both categories of students). Furthermore, the challenges posed by COVID-19 had no effect on domestic students’ dissertation experiences. Finally, among the controlled variables, field of study, year of study, and university region were discovered to be significant factors in relation to the challenges posed by COVID-19 for international students.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges Posed by COVID-19 on Doctoral Students’ Wellbeing in Russia: Of International and Domestic Doctoral Students, Who Suffers More?

Abdul-Rahaman¹

2023

PRBM

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Is Doctoral Education A Priority? Doctoral Education Improvement as an Element of “Priority-2030” Universities’ Development Programs

Zhuchkova,

Pavliuk

2024

umj

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This study aims to identify how often universities of the “Priority 2030” program oﬀer measures for doctoral education improvement in their development programs, what these measures are, and how they correspond to the reasons for the low eﬀectiveness of Russian doctoral education. The empirical study data were the texts of the development programs of the universities participating in the “Priority 2030” program (N= 121). The texts were analyzed using quantitative content analysis. Four measure groups were determined: financial support and employment of doctoral students, development of partnerships, improving the quality of selection and training of doctoral students and improving the quality of supervision. According to the results obtained, in general, the absolute majority of universities use doctoral education as an instrument to achieve the goals set by the program. Measures related to financial support and employment of doctoral students are the most common in universities of the “Priority 2030” (almost 75 % of universities plan to implement such measures). Diversification of programs, cooperation with industry, and increasing the quality of training of doctoral students are found in university development programs with less prevalence – from 12 to 50 % of universities plan to implement these measures. Finally, less attention in university development programs is paid to modifying the criteria and procedures for selecting doctoral students and improving the quality of supervision – only 5 % of universities announced such measures. The article also provides examples of implementation of these measures in particular universities. The results of the conducted research can be useful to the heads of doctoral departments of Russian universities to develop local measures of doctoral education improvement.

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Role of Mentorship in Science as an Element of Scientific and Technological Development

Ilina,

Fadeeva

2023

SGS

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Introduction. In Russia, 2023 has been declared the Year of the Educator and Mentor, emphasizing the need for systematic measures in the field of personnel development for the research and development sector, primarily through postgraduate education. The necessity to ensure the stability of the research and development sector arises due to new objectives of the government policy on scientific and technological development, including training personnel in priority fields and enhancing science management. Over the past decade, scientific periodicals have extensively discussed ways to improve the effectiveness of postgraduate studies, given the decline in researcher numbers and dissertation defense rates, stricter requirements for dissertation councils, and their evolving operational forms. This article attempts to explore the role of mentorship in science within the context of the scientific and technological development objectives set by the country's leadership. The study highlights trends in scientific mentorship development and defines its functions based on survey data from research advisors working in Russian universities and research organizations. The study identifies contradictions that need to be addressed and proposes ways to improve the work and status of research advisors. Methods. The empirical foundation of this study is based on a sociological survey of postgraduate students and applicants' research advisors with a candidate or doctoral degree — academic, scientific, and administrative and managerial personnel of universities and research organizations (N = 3000). The survey included representatives from all broad scientific fields (natural, technical, humanities, social, medical, agricultural). The survey was conducted in 2023. Results and Discussion. The study results reveal that the main challenges research advisors face when working with applicants for academic degrees are organizational and competence-related, tied to the high level of bureaucratization in scientific personnel training, lack of flexibility, insufficient time allocation, and poor competencies of the participants in this process, especially those responsible for scientific and technological development. The study notes an increase in the complexity of the functional roles of research advisors due to an outdated workload distribution system that hinders full participation in scientific personnel training to meet current demands. Research advisors believe they require specialized training and describe the current state of scientific personnel training as being in crisis, necessitating significant changes. The study identifies several directions for modernizing higher qualification personnel training to address scientific and technological development challenges: aligning postgraduate training with practical experience (transitioning to professional and industrial postgraduate education in experimental mode for certain fields); creating individualized tracks for dissertation preparation (implementing individual programs); conducting internships at enterprises oriented at knowledge-driven economy and academic mobility improvement; appointing consultants from companies alongside research advisors, etc. The study results are discussed in terms of gender, age, job differences, and affiliation to a specific field of science. Conclusion. The study suggests that adopting a hybrid model of scientific mentorship, which combines elements of the traditional model (the research advisor being the sole mentor) and other models (developmental mentorship, multiple mentors, supportive mentorship) prevalent in international practice, could help address certain organizational and competence-related issues. To enhance the benefits of postgraduate studies for the hightech sector, special attention should be paid to natural and technical sciences, interdisciplinary research, dissertations commissioned by the industry, organizations, or companies, joint supervision models, and strengthening ties between universities, research organizations, and the economy sector itself among others.

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The Effects of Institutional Transformations on the Russian Doctoral Education Performance

Cited by 3 publications

References 22 publications

Challenges Posed by COVID-19 on Doctoral Students’ Wellbeing in Russia: Of International and Domestic Doctoral Students, Who Suffers More?

Challenges Posed by COVID-19 on Doctoral Students’ Wellbeing in Russia: Of International and Domestic Doctoral Students, Who Suffers More?

Is Doctoral Education A Priority? Doctoral Education Improvement as an Element of “Priority-2030” Universities’ Development Programs

Role of Mentorship in Science as an Element of Scientific and Technological Development

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