The Structure of the University Network: From the Soviet to Russian “Master Plan”

Abstract

The authors discuss the underpinnings of structural analysis in the higher education system. The article justifies why it focuses on specific labor market segments and the nature of the university's basic product as grounds for proposing a typology and groups of institutions. A Soviet “master plan” is reconstructed on the basis of the formulated approach to the typology. It is important because, according to the authors, the current structure of the Russian system of higher education is largely determined by how it developed during the Soviet period. It is shown that the Soviet project was built on the idea of administrative regulation of the labor market, and it is argued that it generally implemented a quasi-corporate system model of higher vocational education. The article analyzes how the structure of the higher education system that Russia inherited from the Soviet Union changed under the influence of factors that were mainly external to the education system. It was changed to a much lesser degree by deliberate government policy. The typology of higher education institutions that results from these changes is described based on an analysis of quantitative data. The authors consider possible structural policy directions in the field of higher vocational education as a foundation for working out a “master plan” for restructuring the higher education system in Russia. The authors establish goals that must be met by the modernization of the structure of higher education.