Russia

?

Russia

P. 75–86.

The Russian doctoral education system experienced dramatic transformations in the last 30 years, which aimed to increase the completion rates and improve the quality of dissertations. However, these changes did not touch upon the supervision practices, which remain the same as in Soviet times. There is a legally approved opportunity to implement team supervision, but most universities and research organisations do not use it. The main barriers to the implementation of team supervision practices are related to the (1) uncertainty of the permissible reasons for team supervision, (2) lack of rewards for team supervision, (3) lack of sustainable requests for team supervision from doctoral students, (4) resistance to team supervision by supervisors, (5) distrust toward team supervision on the institutional and federal levels. Systematic transformations are required to shift towards real integration of team supervision practices into the Russian doctoral education system.

Language: English

DOI

Publication based on the results of:

Undergraduate and doctoral student experience in the context of the student body diversification (2024)

In book

Global Perspectives on Enhancing Doctoral Co-Supervision

Springer, 2024.

“Publish or Perish” under Financial Strain: The Role of Funding Status in Shaping Russian Doctoral Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Publication Requirements

Babayeva J., Journal of Economic Sociology 2026 Vol. 27 No. 3 P. 129–153

This qualitative study examines how funding status mediates doctoral students’ perceptions and experiences of mandatory publication requirements in Russia, by comparing funded and self-funded doctoral students at a selective research intensive university. Through 19 in-depth interviews, the research explores this understudied area. Although publication requirements were initially introduced to develop research skills, these institutional demands ...

Added: June 1, 2026

Motivation matters: How enrollment motives shape doctoral experiences and career aspirations

Smirnov N., Tarasova E., Plos One 2025 Vol. 20 No. 9 Article e0330679

This study examines the motivational profiles of Russian doctoral students and their implications for academic success, satisfaction, and career aspirations. We employ data from a nationwide survey of doctoral students at Russian universities (N = 1,267). Using latent class analysis we identify four distinct motivational profiles: Academic Orientation, Unconscious Motives, Topic Devoted, and Everything Everywhere ...

Added: September 22, 2025

It’s (not) a match! How doctoral students in Russia experience the gap between expectations and reality

Smirnov N., Rakov N., Innovations in Education and Teaching International 2026 Vol. 63 No. 5 P. 1640–1655

This study investigates mismatches between doctoral students’ expectations and experiences, conceptualising the doctorate as a liminal and often opaque educational space. Using survey data from 1,373 doctoral students across 157 universities in Russia, we employ Latent Class Analysis to identify five distinct expectation-reality profiles. While many students report alignment, a substantial proportion experience unmet expectations ...

Added: September 9, 2025

Барьеры при подготовке диссертаций в российской аспирантуре. Современная аналитика образования № 2 (85)

Zhuchkova S., Nefedova A., Terentev E. et al., М.: НИУ ВШЭ, Институт образования, 2025.

This report analyzes the key stages of reforms in Russian doctoral education from 2012 to 2023 — a period marked by a decline in the proportion of timely dissertation defenses. Drawing on survey data from doctoral graduates, the report examines primary barriers to completing a PhD dissertation in Russia. These include financial constraints, academic challenges, ...

Added: May 23, 2025

Успешность аспирантов в области социальных наук: роль научного руководителя

Grigoreva A., Журнал социологии и социальной антропологии 2021 Т. 24 № 4 С. 90–109

Высокий уровень отсева из аспирантуры и низкий процент защит в течение нормативного срока обучения (8,9 % в 2020 г.) — важная проблема об- разовательной политики в России. Российские аспиранты все реже делают выбор в пользу академической профессии и карьеры. Одной из ключевых причин высо- кого уровня отсева является недостаточная академическая интеграция аспирантов и недостаток университетских ...

Added: December 6, 2021

Superhero or hands-off supervisor? An empirical categorization of PhD supervision styles and student satisfaction in Russian universities

Gruzdev I., Terentev E., Dzhafarova Z., Higher Education 2020 No. 79 P. 773–789

This article presents the results of a cross-institutional survey on PhD students’ supervision at Russian universities. It is aimed at answering three questions concerning (1) styles of PhD supervision and their prevalence, (2) the relation between supervision style and PhD students’ satisfaction with their supervisor, and (3) the relation between supervision style and PhD students’ expected ...

Added: August 14, 2019

Кому в аспирантуре жить хорошо: связь трудовой занятости аспирантов с процессом и результатами обучения

Bekova S., Джафарова З. И., Вопросы образования 2019 № 1 С. 87–108

Doctoral education in Russia is characterized by high drop-out rates. Many experts associate this problem with the low financial support of PhD students and their need to find employment during education process. However, the current discussion mainly relies not on the research data, but on expert opinions based on scanty statistics or on the individual cases. ...

Added: January 12, 2019