The Impact of marketisation processes on Russian public universities since the 1990s

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the impact of marketisation processes on Russian public universities since the 1990s. The key issues informing this research were: identifying the main forms of marketisation; understanding the response of Russian Universities on marketisation processes; and how such processes affected the senior academics and managers within universities.
The thesis offers a content analysis of the roadmaps of 21 RAEP 5-100 universities, their websites and 11 semi-structured interviews with senior managers and academics. Such triangulation has allowed an exploration of the interaction between public universities and government, the specifics of state higher education (HE) funding processes in Russia, the variety of ways universities position themselves for the general public and stakeholders and the impact on the daily work of the university members of staff.
The findings of the research demonstrate that marketisation has had a significant impact on public universities. The hybrid nature of the Russian welfare regime (including HE) retains features of the Soviet past and the unique top-down marketisation processes. Public universities, instead of complying with the market demands, have adapted to government demands. This may be due to the strong dependence on the federal funding as well as the historical legacy of the Soviet Union period, when HEIs were deeply integrated into the planned economy and closely co-operated with the relevant state agencies.
This research adds to the current academic debate on how public universities have adapted to the market contexts and explores the narrative of Russian universities not always being successful within the HE market. The evidence suggests that they are not interested in the market activities and consequently do not dedicate a lot of attention to such issues. Universities participate in the HE market to attract more funding from the government and to follow the obligations of the state.