Centre of Sociology of Higher Education

Publications

• Book

  Alcott B., CohenMiller A., Sandygulova A. et al.

  Gender Equity in STEM in Higher Education: International Perspectives on Policy, Institutional Culture, and Individual Choice

  This timely volume brings together a range of international scholars to analyse cultural, political, and individual factors which contribute to the continued global issue of female underrepresentation in STEM study and careers. 

  Offering a comparative approach to examining gender equity in STEM fields across countries including the UK, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Africa, and China, the volume provides a thematic breakdown of institutional trends and national policies that have successfully improved gender equity in STEM at institutions of higher education. Offering case studies that demonstrate how policies interact with changing social and cultural norms, and impact women’s choices and experiences in relation to the uptake and continuation of STEM study at the undergraduate level, the volume highlights new directions for research and policy to promote gender equity in STEM at school, university, and career levels. 

  Contributing to the United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in science education, higher education, and gender equity in STEM fields. The text will also support further discussion and reflection around multicultural education, educational policy and politics, and the sociology of education more broadly.

  NY: Routledge, 2022.

• Article

  Maloshonok N., Vilkova K.

  Student behavior at university: The development and validation of a 10-dimensional scale

  This study proposes the multidimensional concept of ‘student behavior at university’ and methodology for its quantitative investigation. Unlike previous concepts related to aspects of the student experience, the idea of student behavior considers the combinations and interrelations of individual and environmental characteristics affecting student experience and outcomes. It provides a new lens for viewing student experience at university, highlighting the multifacetedness of this phenomenon and the diversity of possible patterns of student behavior. Based on the conceptual model, a ten-dimensional scale measuring student behavior was developed and validated through mixed-method research with an exploratory sequential design. The following dimensions of student behavior were identified: 1) interaction with course content in class; 2) persistence; 3) self-learning; 4) irresponsible learning behavior; 5) active learning; 6) friendship; 7) study collaboration; 8) obedience; 9) creating a positive self-image; and 10) extracurricular involvement. To develop a survey instrument, we utilized semistructured in-depth interviews with Russian students (n = 119). In the quantitative phase of the study, based on the survey (n = 1,253) carried out at seven highly selective Russian universities, we tested the reliability and validity of the ten-dimensional scale. To test construct-related validity, we utilized the self-determination theory developed by Ryan and Deci and a short version of the Academic Motivation Scale developed by Gordeeva, Sychev, and Osin for the Russian educational context. Our findings are in line with assumptions of self-determination theory and the results of previous studies and can be considered evidence of construct validity. The directions for further development of the methodological approach and its practical implications are discussed.

  Plos One. 2024. Vol. 19. No. 11.

• Book chapter

  Aleksei Egorov, Sergey Malinovskiy.

  Higher education and regional elite formation in Russia

  Massification of higher education system may have changed significantly the roles of different types of universities in elite class formation. While the educational background of political elites in general has been widely studied, some questions have been left on the periphery. First, social sciences focus mostly on the political elite at the centres of power, with regional elites receiving little attention. Second, the analysis of political elites usually does not take into account the transformations of the higher education system – stratification of the sector, the differences between elite and mass segments, changes in the dominant fields of studies – and how these might intersect with elite formation. This chapter aims at addressing the above limitations. It focuses on the Russian regional political legislative elites. We analyse changes in their educational background and connect those changes to transformations in the higher education systems and larger society. 

  In bk.: Assessing the Contributions of Higher Education: Knowledge for a Disordered World. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023. Ch. 14. P. 286-299.

• Working paper

  Валединский П. И., Ivaniushina V. A., Alexandrov D. A. et al.

  Factors Influencing Adolescent Alcohol Consumption: Parents And Depression

  Alcohol use is a common form of risky consumption among adolescents. Little research has been carried out on the influence of such factors as parental control, relationships with parents, and teenage feelings of depression on the frequency of alcohol consumption among adolescents in Russia. In this paper, structural models were developed to describe the influence of these factors on adolescent alcohol consumption and the relationship between the factors. Alcohol consumption in adolescents is represented in the work in two ways: casual alcohol use and binge drinking (the consumption of four or more servings of alcohol at a time). The respondents were students at vocational schools who participated in a longitudinal project to study the risky behavior of adolescents in St. Petersburg. Four waves of the survey were used: 1, 5, 6 & 7. According to the results, the strongest direct negative effect on alcohol consumption is caused by parental monitoring. However, the direct influence of monitoring on adolescent alcohol consumption was significant in Wave 1. But in Wave 6, this influence was insignificant, which can partially be explained by the age of the respondents, most of whom were already adults at the moment of completing the questionnaire in Wave 6. Regarding the relationship with parents, no direct influence on alcohol consumption was detected—only an indirect effect mediated by parental monitoring. The positive correlation between the relationship with parents and the level of monitoring was significant in Waves 1 and 7. The level of depression in adolescents was a significant predictor of drinking behavior only in the model describing alcohol consumption as the frequency of casual drinking. In the models describing binge drinking, this relationship was insignificant. In all models, there was a stable negative relationship between the relationship with parents and depression in adolescents.

  Sociology. SOC. Высшая школа экономики, 2023. No. 101.