Parents’ Views on Higher Education Abroad – a Focus Group Study for Launching a New Engineering University in Eastern Europe

摘要

As part of a general trend for globalization, the number of students pursuing higher education degrees outside of their countries of origin has shown a steady growth during last two decades. The trend is equally observed in the territories of Russia and former USSR territories. The purpose of the current study is to examine and compare beliefs and attitudes of parents of high school graduates in Russia and Belarus, regarding the possibility of pursuing higher education degrees by their children outside of their country of origin. Data was collected during four in-depth interviews in Moscow, Russia and Minsk, Belarus, with 32 participants in total. The research effort results are meant to contribute to envisioning the concept of a new medium size engineering university in Eastern Europe.