About the School of Sociology

Mission: Achieving New Evidence-based Knowledge

Our mission is to teach seeing, thinking, and acting. Seeing the problems of contemporary society and the changes taking place in its social structure. Thinking freely, openly and using evidence. Acting for the good of society by implementing one’s own professional projects. To do this, we seek excellence in teaching and research by creating an atmosphere that promotes the exchange of experience and knowledge between teachers and students.

Strategic goals

Taking the leading position in the country in sociological education and research

Strengthening our leading position on the market for sociological education and academic sociological research in the faculty’s priority areas; developing Master’s programmes; becoming integrated into international exchange and cooperation programmes; modernizing sociological education in Russia and taking a leading role in this sphere.

Becoming competitive with the leading universities in developed countries in terms of research

Developing internationally recognized research projects in the relevant areas of sociology; achieving full-scale integration into the international academic community based on joint research with Russian and international scholars. Publishing significant research results in international academic journals. Providing regular transfer of research results to the study process. Becoming the leading sociology department in Eastern Europe in terms of research organization.

Becoming competitive with the leading universities in teaching sociology

High-quality training in mathematics, economics, and English language at the undergraduate level has been among the defining characteristics forming competitive advantage in HSE’s sociology programmes, both at the undergraduate level and in specialized research-based Master’s programmes in the key fields of the faculty’s research activities.

History

Since 1996, the HSE Faculty of Economics has offered a major in economic sociology, and since 1999 a separate Faculty of Sociology has been in existence. This faculty became the basis for the School of Sociology in 2014, which offers undergraduate, Master’s, and doctoral programmes.

To reinforce ties with the market for marketing and socio-political studies, where graduates primarily work, four joint departments were created with WCIOM, the Public Opinion Foundation, GfK Rus, and the Levada Centre. At these departments, students can see how the ‘data production factories’ work, as well as participate in field research and analysis.

Leading researchers and experts from the School have worked to develop the federal educational standard in sociology and are involved in designing specialized professional standards. The School coordinates the activities of the consortium of universities that is developing the third generation of federal state educational standards for higher professional education in sociology.

In 2013, two international expert assessments of educational and research activities were carried out, one of which by experts from the World Bank.