Early Transition Trends and Differences of Higher Education Attainment in the Former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern European Countries

Emma Terama,Kc Samir,Anu Kõu

doi:10.23979/fypr.48426

Abstract

The past trends in tertiary education attainment of selected post-communist countries are investigated through population projections. Did a common higher education policy manifest itself through attainment levels, and how did the situation change after the collapse of the Soviet regime? The approach is based on comprehensive back-projections ranging from year 2000 to 1970. Descriptive findings for most countries show that the level of tertiary education attainment for women has surpassed that of men sooner than in Western Europe. Results are discussed in light of individual countries’ pre-war higher education models and former communist policy, and possible implications are derived for future study of higher education attainment.

Highlights

The period from 1989 to 1991 will remain in history due to the fall of the statesocialist regimes in Europe and affiliated countries on the border of Europe
Each country is represented by a marker, and the axes give the proportion of tertiary educated in the 30–34-year-old cohort by gender. This particular cohort is chosen because it is the group to have most likely just completed their higher education without diluting possible new generation effects across the whole working age population
Looking at the past 30-year trend in higher education attainment for all of the 19 countries, it is suggested that the Soviet model enhanced gender equality in higher education faster than in the Western European countries, given national differences in institutional infrastructure and secondary education levels feeding into higher education

Summary

Introduction

The period from 1989 to 1991 will remain in history due to the fall of the statesocialist regimes in Europe and affiliated countries on the border of Europe. Most of these countries entered a process towards democratization and liberalization of their governance structures and financial markets that proved to be a long transition rather than a quickly accomplished leap. As a result of this regime, may it be without a particular ‘master plan’ (David-Fox and Péteri 2000:27), the countries participating in it ended up with higher education systems largely resembling one another

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