Research & Expertise news at HSE University

Only 2% of Russians consider themselves financially literate. One in 10 people signs contracts without reading them. Almost half of all depositors do not understand what state insurance of private savings means. One third of the population can manage their individual budget, but do not know their way around the financial services market.

The level of education, the size of the settlement, and the social status can all seriously affect the chance of feeling poor in Russia. These are the findings by experts of the HSE Institute for Social Policy, revealed as part of their regular Monitoring of the Social and Economic Situation and Well-being of the Population.

The 12^th International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Conference took place in Stockholm and was entitled ‘The Third Sector in Transition:Accountability, Transparency, and Social Inclusion’. The conference is held biannually and is a major academic event in its field.

Interesting work, the desire to help patients, and money – these are the three key factors which motivate Russian doctors to perform, while career ambitions remain a secondary consideration, according to HSE research. Alexander Temnitsky, Leading Research Fellow of the HSE Centre for Health Policy, studied Russian doctors’ personal motives driving their performance between 2007 and 2014. 

For the first time ever, the leaders of education studies centres from some of the world’s leading research universities met at the HSE Academic Centre in Pushkin, Russia. At the meeting, the researchers, along with a representative from OECD, discussed how education studies departments should change to meet the global challenges that face the sphere of education.

The IV International Summer School on Higher Education Research, which was devoted to ‘Higher Education, Society and State’, was held June 4-10 in St. Petersburg. Organized jointly with the China Institute for Educational Finance Research at Peking University, the Summer School brings together senior and junior scholars in the field of higher education research; it aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas, enhance research quality, and foster the integration of early-career researchers into the international academic community.

In late May Moscow hosted a Russian-Italian research conference marking the anniversary of the birth of Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce. The conference entitled 'The Legacy of Benedetto Croce in the 21st Century' was organized by and held at the HSE's Humanities Faculty in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Institute in Moscow.

The more books in the family and the richer and more educated the parents, the more likely it is that the children will do well at school. Elena Kardanova, Inna Antypkina and Alina Ivanova, researchers at the Centre of Education Quality Monitoring of the HSE Institute of Education, presented their paper 'The Progress of Grade One Students in the First Year of School: Perpetuating Inequality in Primary Education' at the HSE's XVII April Conference.