Академическая и социальная интеграция иностранных аспирантов в российских университетах во время пандемии Covid-19Academic and Social Integration of Foreign Doctoral Students at Russian Universities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Recent decades have seen substantial global changes in doctoral education, particularly with the internationalization of PhD programs. This shift has led to a rise in the number of foreign doctoral candidates and increased competition among universities to attract them. Despite these developments, low completion rates remain a significant issue. Previous research indicates that student persistence and success are closely linked to their integration into university life, including both social and academic aspects. For foreign students—defined in this study as those who do not hold Russian citizenship— this integration is especially important, as they often encounter unique challenges that affect their university experience. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted students worldwide, potentially worsening the difficulties faced by foreign students and affecting their persistence and success in doctoral programs.
This study employs a mixed-methods approach based on Tinto's (1993) theory of student attrition to explore the academic and social integration of foreign doctoral students at Russian universities during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on their persistence and success.
The research was carried out in two phases. The first phase involved a systematic review to identify factors that support the academic and social integration of students in higher education. This review synthesized data from seminal studies published between 2010 and 2021, sourced from various databases. The second phase involved analyzing data from a cross-institutional online survey of doctoral students conducted in 2021, on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education. A total of 4,454 doctoral students from 249 universities participated in the survey, using a convenience sampling method.