Research & Expertise news at HSE University

Most Russians would like to have two children: a boy and a girl. The others fall between the two extremes of either wanting no children (at least for now) or planning to have three or more. Having a large family is often associated with affluence. The reasons for having another child are many, from wishing to strengthen the family bond and teach older children to care for younger siblings to hoping that the maternity subsidy may help the family improve their housing situation. A HSE demographer used data from a sample of 15,000 respondents to study reproductive attitudes in Russia.

From April 6–7, the HSE Centre of Development Institute conducted a special survey among professional forecasters on the Russian economy’s prospects for 2020-2021. The experts expect a decline this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices this year, but predict that the losses will be fully recouped in 2021.

The coronavirus pandemic is transforming modern society, reviving old social practices and formulas such as the Russian ‘flat-car-dacha’ principle, while opening new technological frontiers and creating new cultural skills. Professor Vitaly Kurennoy, Head of HSE’s School of Cultural Studies, discusses these issues in an op-ed for Izvestiia. Read the full translation of the article below.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced universities to switch to online learning, which will probably foster the development of online higher education. HSE University researchers joined forces with their American colleagues to demonstrate that online learning at university can be as effective as traditional in-person education. Their research used the example of technology disciplines.

On April 7, 2020, the XXI April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, organized by HSE University together with the World Bank, commenced. This year, the conference will be held in a distributed format.

Evgeny Yasin, HSE Academic Supervisor and Head of the Programme Committee of the XXI April Conference, addressed participants of the forum, which is being held in a distributed format this year.

The Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) has released a new journal list on the Web of Science Platform. The list was prepared by a group of experts at the Index who assessed the journals in terms of their quality and academic integrity.

Citing data from Russia’s largest international sampling study, HSE demographers have shown that women are more likely than men to consider divorce and are more determined to end their marriage. They also found that young couples are more likely to be unhappy with their relationship. The report was prepared for the XXI April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development at HSE University.