Not Enough Altruists in the Post-Soviet Space
There is not a single country in the world where all people share the same system of values. Every society has members focused on serving others as well as those who value personal achievement above all and rely only on themselves. Independent altruists committed to helping others, yet expecting nothing in return, are relatively rare in all European countries, particularly in post-Soviet countries, where their proportion is among the smallest, according to Vladimir Magun and Maksim Rudnev of the HSE's Laboratory for Comparative Studies in Mass Consciousness.
Russian Businesses Underutilise New Media
Russian businesses have been slow in adopting new media tools. Many companies continue to rely on official websites to reach out to customers and avoid using social media and blogs, as they are not ready for an equal dialogue with external audiences, according to Iosif Dzyaloshinsky and Maria Pilgun, professors of the HSE Faculty of Communication, Media and Design.
Low Self-esteem May Predict Unemployment
Once unemployed, mid-level employees suffer primarily from loss of income, while senior-level leaders mostly resent the loss of respect; of all employee categories, production and service workers are most likely to become unemployed. These are some of the findings summarized in the paper 'The dynamics of subjective social status associated with loss of employment: an analysis of occupational differences', which was presented by Anna Zudina, Junior Research Fellow of the Centre for Labour Market Studies, at the Ninth Yuri Levada Memorial Conference on Contemporary Russian Society and Sociology hosted by HSE.
47%
of Russians reported the existence of electronic scheduling at the health clinics they visit. This is 7% more than in 2013.
Personal Success is Determined by Favourite Work
For people today, a job is not only a source of revenue, but also an essential attribute of a full life. Professional work must be interesting, in demand by society, well paid, and must leave a certain level of freedom, young Russians believe. This is what researchers from the HSE Centre for Youth Studies (CYS) in St. Petersburg found out as part of their project ‘Youth solidarities and generations of the 21st century: the values of labour and consumption’.
1.6
is the number of times by which the share of people with higher education among Russians over 55 years of age has increased since 2000.
Professional Development Mostly Limited to Intellectuals
In Russia, access to professional development is determined by one's occupation, as well as job position, company size, and characteristics of the local labour market. Skilled personnel in non-physical jobs and public sector employees are more likely to pursue professional development, while low-skilled employees in private firms are effectively excluded from any such opportunity, according to Vasiliy Anikin, Assistant Professor of the HSE Department of Applied Economics.
16.2%
of students who attend schools in the inner Moscow suburbs are children whose native language is not Russian.
Life of the Russian Regions is Hidden from the Government
About 40% of the Russian able-bodied population are employed in the informal sector of the economy. This is a competitive market economy. Subsistence production, distributed manufacturing, ‘garage production’, seasonal work and various cottage industries flourish in the Russian regions. The economies of many small cities feature strict specialization and developed cooperation, in the context of internal competition between families and clans. These are the findings of HSE professors Simon Kordonsky and Yury Pliusnin in their study ‘Social Structure of the Russian Provinces’.