Horizontal Stratification of Higher Education in Russia: Trends, Gender Differences, and Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract

Using survey data collected in fall 2000, the authors analyzed four aspects of “horizontal” variation among Russian university students: field of specialization, cost (paid versus free), intensity (full- versus part-time study), and timing of study (Soviet versus post-Soviet era). For each type of variation, they examined trends over time, gender differences, and effects on earnings and employment opportunities. In Russia, as elsewhere, horizontal differentiation of higher education has stratifying consequences. Unlike in many countries, gender differences along horizontal dimensions have not narrowed in Russia; in fact, the gender gap in part-time study has widened. But the introduction of market forces in higher education and the economy has shaped both male and female distributions across specialty, cost, and intensity. The labor market advantages accruing to a university degree differ across these horizontal dimensions and by the timing of the degree. Some of the patterns observed in Russia resemble those in the United States, while others are distinctive.