Programme Overview

In recent decades, demographic processes have emerged as one of the most significant factors in world-wide economic, social and political development. Russia, in particular, faces some serious challenges — a falling birth-rate, a continuing high mortality rate, high emigration levels, an ageing population, large numbers of new immigrants and many consequences of major demographic changes. But the number of specialists who could help in this situation is also in sharp decline. Over the last fifteen years Russia has hardly produced any new demographers at all. Ageing and depopulation have affected the demography community even more than the population itself. In some CIS countries it’s even worse than in Russia. The question of producing new demographers has been raised at top government levels. If nothing is done, we will soon have no professionals left to try to find answers to our demographic problems.    

The aim of the HSE’s Master’s in Demography is to prepare new specialists with all the fundamentals of knowledge about population development and the most up-to-date methods of gathering and analysing data, making prognoses on demographics and the skills to put their knowledge to practical use. The high standard of teaching on the programme is provided by both Russian and international experts in demography and related social sciences.

Graduates with a Master’s in Demography find they can apply their qualifications in jobs in government departments providing for health care, social welfare, labour and employment, and in research centres, in marketing and think tanks, and also in international and non-governmental organisations.

Masters students will be taught how to:

• Analyse the demographic situation and demographic tendencies
• Organise the collection of data about the population and verify the quality of that data
• Analyse determining factors in demographic change
• Apply methods of studying demographic behaviour
• Fulfil social demographic prognoses including on the level of municipal education
• Evaluate the social and economic consequences of demographic changes
• Make well founded decisions about measures and aims in demographic and social policy
• To work with demographic data to produce expert opinions and solve practical problems facing government and municipal departments and non-commercial organisations and businesses.