Elvira Leontyeva

On the development of students’ attitudes towards corruption and cheating in Russian universities

ABSTRACT Based on empirical data from selected public universities in Khabarovsk, Russia, this paper compares first- and fifth-year students regarding their attitudes towards corruption in general and university corruption in particular. Even after making both groups of students comparable with respect to a range of socio-economic characteristics by a matching approach, the results suggest that fifth-year students are more open to a range of informal and corrupt practices than first years. Our analysis therefore points to the possibility that the Russian higher education system might ‘favour’ compliance with corruption and informal practices, with potentially detrimental consequences for the Russian society as a whole.

Russia: The Unified State Exam in Russia: Problems and Perspectives

Russian universities have undergone two significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union: the dramatic cuts in state financial support that accompanied the adoption of a market economy and integration into the European higher education system through the Bologna process. Both reforms remain incomplete. Universities are still dependent on the state. There are more universities than necessary, and the level of education they offer is sometimes questionable. Corruption in many forms and in large volumes in the university admissions process and during university studies is the other challenge, with which many universities still have to deal.