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., Bekova S.

  Same programme, different experience: Does the perception of departmental climate in doctoral programmes vary among different students?

  Doctoral programmes worldwide are facing numerous challenges. Among these challenges is the diversification of the student body in aspects such as age, socioeconomic background, motivation, and career aspirations. However, these programmes often struggle to respond adequately and promptly to these changes. In this article, we employ the concept of a ‘departmental climate’ to investigate how doctoral students at Russian universities perceive their envir-onment. The data collected at nine Russian universities (n = 1097) were utilised. Our findings reveal that students whose job is related to doctoral study and those whose job is driven by academic career goals generally perceive the departmental climate more positively. We assume that Russian doctoral programmes are more oriented towards these students and provide them with more support than other students. Our results underscore the need for doctoral pro-grammes to evolve to accommodate a diverse range of student needs, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness and inclusivity of doctoral education.

  Innovations in Education and Teaching International. 2025. Vol. 62. No. 1. P. 317-327.

• Book chapter

  Maloshonok N., Zhuchkova S., Bekova S. et al.

  The quality of admissions to Russian doctoral programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic

  Previous studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on higher education systems and student learning globally. However, despite this, many countries experienced an increase in doctoral enrolment in 2020, which has raised concerns about the quality of admission and the motivation of doctoral candidates during the pandemic. This article aims to explore this context by delving into statistics about Russian doctoral programmes, which saw a decline in enrolment from 2010 to 2019. We use data from a web survey of 1,895 students enrolled in doctoral programmes at Russian universities in 2020. The results suggest that the increase in enrolment came in tandem with a decrease in the quality of doctoral admission. More students with non-academic motivation and a lack of academic skills and attainment were admitted. This situation is likely to prompt completion rates to lower over the course of the next three to five years.

  In bk.: Global Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education: International Case Studies. L.: Routledge, 2025. P. 103-112.

• 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.