The Scope, Structure and Purpose of the Export of Russian Higher Education

Abstract

Alena Nefedova – Postgraduate Student, Faculty of Social Sciences; Research Assistant, the Laboratory for the Economics of Innovation, Higher School of Economics. Address: 11, Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. E-mail: anefedova@hse.ru


According to many researchers one of the main challenges in higher education is the growing competition in the global education market. This article analyses the export of Russia’s higher education from the standpoint of two theoretical approaches: the neoliberal one, in which the university attracts foreign students in order to make a profit, and the political economy approach, according to which the state competes with other states and gains political influence through education.By drawing on statistical and sociological survey data, the article shows that currently the export of Russian higher education is primarily pushed by the universities themselves with the purpose of making additional profits. The state provides a limited number of scholarships for foreign students that serve to improve political loyalty with the countries that form part of the CIS. Nevertheless, as the example of one of the leading Russian universities suggests, the active promotion of educational products abroad can push the attractiveness of Russian higher education in countries both within and beyond the CIS.