Doctoral Student Explores the Challenges Faced by International PhD Seekers During the Pandemic
In late June 2024, a pre-defence of Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman’s dissertation took place at the HSE Institute of Education. Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman, a doctoral student from Ghana, has presented his dissertation ‘Academic and Social Integration of Foreign Doctoral Students at Russian Universities during the Covid-19 Pandemic’ for the degree of Candidate of Sciences in Education (PhD). The HSE News Service spoke with Nurudeen as well as his academic supervisor, Evgeniy Terentev, Director of the Institute of Education, about their extensive research on international doctoral students in Russia and Nurudeen's contribution to this research.
The pre-defence was held as an open extended session of the HSE Institute of Education’s Centre for Sociology of Higher Education.
Evgeniy Terentev
Evgeniy Terentev talks about a large project by the Centre for Sociology of Higher Education. In this project, researchers from the Centre analysed the quality of higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic. One of its modules studied the experience of doctoral students during this time.
The study included both Russian and international doctoral students studying at Russian universities. A total of 4,500 doctoral students participated in the survey, which was conducted in both Russian and English
'I found it interesting to involve Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman in this project, given his personal teaching and doctoral experience,' says Evgeniy Terentev. 'His participation was especially valuable in terms of developing the questionnaire and analysing the data. We wanted to explore the difficulties faced by international doctoral students during the pandemic and how various factors of their educational and research experiences were related to their satisfaction with the quality of education and their expectations for successful defence. We obtained very interesting data.'
This study is the first quantitative research on the experience of international doctoral students at Russian universities. Evgeniy Terentev notes that there has been a steady increase in the number of international doctoral students at Russian universities, nearly tripling over the past decade.
Today, more than 10,000 international doctoral students are studying at Russian universities
The study confirmed, based on specific empirical data, that social integration is crucial for international doctoral students. This topic has been discussed before, but it lacked research confirmation.
'Now we have a better understanding of how to properly train international doctoral students,' said Evgeniy Terentev. 'We need to focus not only on providing individual academic support from a supervisor but also on integrating doctoral students into the community so they can interact with other doctoral students, researchers, and teachers at the university. This is different from what we usually do in Russia, where the doctoral system is generally based on a mentorship model, where the entire doctoral journey is essentially an individual interaction between an academic supervisor and a doctoral student.'
'We aimed to highlight the importance of looking at this issue more broadly and addressing the challenges of integrating doctoral students into the social fabric of the university in a systematic way. This is one of the main conclusions we drew. Another interesting finding is that we did not observe significant differences between Russian and international doctoral students, as we generally compared these two groups.'
International doctoral students have more difficulty making friends and socialising, partly due to language barriers. Therefore, the issue of social integration is particularly relevant for them
'Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman focused on ‘Education and Pedagogical Studies’ and in his work examined the academic and social integration factors that are crucial for the success of doctoral students,' commented Evgeniy Terentev. 'By the way, I was happy to be his academic supervisor because Nurudeen had well-developed academic skills, which is something that is unfortunately in short supply today. Nurudeen is a hardworking person who has mastered the intricacies of Russian higher education and has been able to clearly articulate all his conclusions.'
Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman
Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Education in Winneba, Ghana, and a Master of Philosophy in Public Administration from the University of Science and Technology in China. At HSE University, he spent half of his doctoral studies in person in Moscow, with the other half being conducted remotely in Ghana. Currently, he works as an English teacher in his hometown of Wa. According to Nurudeen, he discovered HSE University while searching online. The Education and Pedagogical Studies programme caught his attention, and he decided to apply.
‘With the guidance and support of my supervisor, I was able to complete the most significant part of my research—data collection—on time,’ says Nurudeen. ‘This has helped me finish my dissertation in a timely manner. I communicate frequently with my supervisor using messengers and online platforms. I receive timely feedback on my work through these channels, and occasionally we meet online to discuss my research in more detail. At HSE, there is a challenging academic environment that pushes you to your intellectual limits, but this journey also fosters immense growth as a scholar. The rigorous coursework and high expectations prepare you for a successful career in academia or industry.’
In his research, Nurudeen found that academic and social integration are crucial for international students' success at universities. These factors positively impact their ability to complete their dissertations within the expected timeframe for PhD studies in Russia.
‘The review went well, and I successfully passed the pre-defence,’ he recalls. ‘Some suggestions can be incorporated into the current study, while others can be used to design future research. For instance, I will revise my theoretical framework, explain the validity and reliability of my scale, and update the section on the Russian higher education context to make it more relevant to my work.’
Nurudeen fondly remembers his time in Moscow: 'Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there, and I believe that living in Moscow becomes much easier when one can speak good Russian.' Now, Nurudeen is busy teaching and completing his PhD. In his free time, he enjoys playing football and table tennis. He dreams of working as a lecturer at a university, either in his home country or in Russia, if the opportunity arises.
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