RUSSIA AND GLOBAL HIGHER EDUCATION COMPETITION

Harley Balzer

balzerh@georgetown.edu

Georgetown University

ACTR/ACCELS, April 13, 2011

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Outline

1. The Global Competition

2. Russia’s Standing

3. The Problems

4. Recommendations

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Global Competition:(human & financial resources, status)

• For students (both bodies and brains)• For faculty (teachers and researchers; stars)• For managers (education, research,

development)• For status = RATINGS GAME• For financial support (state and private)CIRCULATION KEY = INCREASES

COMPETITION

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Russia and China

• Paired comparison

• China modeled economic and political systems on USSR.

• China now doing better in both economic and political realms.

• And in Education and S&T

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Output Growth (% change)

Russia China

2008 5.6 9.6

2009 -9.0 8.7

2010 3.6 10.0

2011 3.4 9.7

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Growth in Research Output, 1999-2008

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Publications Growth, 1990-2008

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Foreign Student Enrollment

Russia: 90,000- 20% Kazakhstan- 20% Other CIS- 40% Asia (majority

from China)

China: >270,000

Top 5 Sources:- South Korea- Japan- United States- Vietnam- Thailand

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Outline

1. The Global Competition

2. Russia’s Standing

3. The Problems

4. A Recommendation

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The Education Ratings Game

• U.S. News & World Report

• Times Higher Education Supplement

• Jiao Tong U. Shanghai

• Spanish Web-based

• Russian system

• Grande École des Mines Paris Tech

• 2011 Iranian “Islamic Universities”

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U.S. News USA Top 20, 2011

1. Harvard2 Princeton3 Yale4 Columbia5 Stanford5 U. Pennsylvania7 California Inst. Techno.7 MIT9 Dartmouth9 Duke

9 U. Chicago12. Northwestern13. Johns Hopkins13. Washington U. (St. Louis)15. Brown15. Cornell17. Rice17 Vanderbilt19 Notre Dame20 Emory

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U.S. News #s 21-25, 2011

21 Georgetown

22 U. California Berkeley

23 Carnegie Mellon

23 U. of Southern California

25 UCLA

25 U. of Virginia

25 Wake Forest U.

[3 of top 27 Not Private]

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Times Top 200, 2009

• Hong Kong: ( 5) #s 24, 35, 46, 124, 195

• China: (6) #s 49, 52, 103, 153, 154, 168

• Russia (2):– 155 Moscow Lomonosov– 168 St. Petersburg State (Mendeleev)

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Shanghai Jiao Tong Top 100

• 77: Moscow State (Lomonosov)

• No Chinese or Hong Kong Universities in the top 100

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Russian Rankings: 1   

TOP 10 (Global universities ranking)

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA2 California Institute of Technology, USA3 University of Tokyo, Japan4 Columbia University, USA5 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia6 Harvard University, USA7 Stanford University, USA8 University of Cambridge, UK9 Johns Hopkins University, USA10 University of Chicago, USA

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Russian Rankings: 2

• Moscow & St. Petersburg in Top 100

• No Chinese or HK in Top 100

• U. of MN # 26; U. of MD # 28

• Second 100: 2 Russia; 2 China; 2 HK

• Third 100: 3 Russia; 2 China

• 301-430: 45 Russian

• 52 of 430 = 12%

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Defense of Russian Rankings

• Inputs as well as outputs

• Size, number of alumni, number of specialties

• Need to raise prestige of Russian journals

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Everyone Has Their Biases

“French do well in French world rankings”

2 in top 10; 5 in top 20

[Based on alumni CEOs of Fortune 500 Firms]

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Outline

1. The Global Competition

2. Russia’s Standing

3. The Problems

4. A Recommendation

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Resource Constraints:

• Students pay

• Star system = inequality

• Commercialization mantra

• State-private partnerships/smaller State share

• Accountability/measurement

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Private Funding

• 50 - 90% of Russians report making “unofficial” contributions to educational institutions.

• Side payments exceed those for medical services• Admissions process fraught, even with EGE

– “Less expensive to enroll in the commercial division than a budget place.”

• Market highly developed: rents vary by location, size and quality of institution, specialty, and family resources

(Popravko & Rykun, 2002)

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Growing Burden on Students

• 2/3 at State VUZy pay tuition = MUTUAL HOSTAGE

• No price competition (yet)

• Cost rising, tied to budget students

• Demographic situation makes this unsustainable

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Population Pyramid

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Women Age 20-29

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ШПАРГАЛКИ

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внедрение

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Skolkovo Site

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Zhongguancun

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Outline

1. The Global Competition

2. Russia’s Standing

3. The Problems

4. Conclusion & Recommendations

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Conclusions & Recommendation

• Global Competition

• Russia Similar in what it confronts:– Mass Tertiary Education– Demands of Knowledge Economy– Resource Constraints

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Conclusions, II• Russia outlier in:

– Demographic crisis (Stats)– Academy role (Their Data)– Bureaucratic obstacles MASSIVE:

• Demand Teaching AND Research: No Reduced Load

• Payments Late, and Restrictions on Use• Mania for Working in Specialties Studied

– Not confronting fraud and corruption– Resisting internationalization

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Pre-2008 Solution

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2008-2010 Solution

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2011: DUELING DOKLADY

• INSOR: Medvedev

• CSD: The 3rd Man

• Nemtsov et. al.: Change leadership

• [ALL FOCUSED ON PERSONALITIES, NOT INSTITUTIONS OR SYSTEM]

• Only demand from below AND response at top produces institutional change.

• Epistemic Communities = Reform, not Revolution

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Recommendations:

• Focus on Epistemic Communities

• International

• Keys to Successful Partnerships:– Publications– Bottom-up, NOT Top-down– Personal Contacts– Returnees

Thanks for Staying Awake

Questions/Comments?