Entrepreneurialism and the transformation of Russian universities

This book describes the transformational processes at work in Russian universities, which have had to adapt very quickly to conditions more adverse than any other major university system has faced.Since the fall of communism the Russian university system has suffered the most serious financial downturn together with one of the most dramatic expansions of any European country. As a result it is often portrayed as chaotic. But economic and social pressures have also been a forcing house for change, causing many Russian universities to transform themselves in the process.This book shows, through a series of case studies, how Russian universities have ridden the storm of marketization and how, in the process, they have created new original forms and structures, new ways of financing themselves with much less dependence on the state and new partnerships with regional state agencies and industries. They demonstrate that entrepreneurialism can be transformational and that the new organizational features that are emerging may offer important new models for other advanced industrial economies.