Ethnic Discrimination in Multi-ethnic Societies: Evidence from Russia

This is the final version. Available on open access from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this recordField experiments have provided ample evidence of ethnic and racial discrimination in the labour market. Less is known about how discrimination varies in multi-ethnic societies, where the ethnic composition of populations is different across locations. Inter-group contact and institutional arrangements for ethnic minorities can mitigate the sense of group threat and reduce discrimination. To provide empirical evidence of this, we conduct a field experiment of ethnic discrimination in Russia with a sample of over 9,000 job applications. We compare ethnically homogeneous cities and cities with ethnically mixed populations and privileged institutional status of ethnic minorities. We find strong discrimination against visible minorities in the former but much weaker discrimination in the latter. These findings demonstrate how institutions and historical contexts of inter-group relations can affect ethnic prejudice and discrimination.British AcademyNational Research University Higher School of EconomicsRussian Academic Excellence Projec

Interpreting RCT, process evaluation and case study evidence in evaluating the Integrated Group Reading (IGR) programme: a teacher-led, classroom-based intervention for Year 2 and 3 pupils struggling to read

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis (Routledge) via the DOI in this record.Almost 20% of English pupils still experience difficulties in reading despite a predominantly phonics approach that works well for most children, but not for all; so other approaches need to be explored. The IGR programme involves an inclusive approach to targeted teaching led by class teachers using a group-based class organisation and the integration of diverse research-based approaches (language and phonics-based). IGR has been evaluated in thirty-four English schools in five varied local authority areas using a cluster randomised design and a process evaluation. IGR was found to support enjoyment of reading with as much reading gains as the more phonics-oriented programmes used in control classes. Following its use, there were gains in teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching reading, and no negative effects on the class pupils’ reading. This study shows what a more inclusive approach to targeted reading intervention can achieve with a well-resourced programme. Questions can be about the interpretation of RCT findings when it comes to classroom-based educational interventions, and about teacher choice in opting for alternate teaching approaches.Nuffield Foundatio

An innovative classroom reading intervention for Year 2 and 3 pupils who are struggling to learn to read: Evaluating the Integrated Group Reading Programme

Executive summary and project report - May 2018Nuffield Foundatio

Ethnic and regional inequalities in Russian military fatalities in Ukraine: Preliminary findings from crowdsourced data

This is the final version. Available on open access from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: The data and the R code for replication analysis can be found at the Github repository: https://github.com/abessudnov/ruCasualtiesPublic. The names of the deceased servicemen and their implied ethnicity have been removed from the dataset. However, 93% of the records contain links to archived original social media posts and other reports, allowing the information to be verified.Objective: This paper investigates ethnic and regional disparities in fatality rates in the Russian military in 2022‒2023 during the war in Ukraine. Methods: The analysis uses a new crowdsourced dataset comprising the names of over 20,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine between February 2022 and April 2023. This dataset was compiled by a team of volunteers who gathered information from social media and other accessible sources. The dataset is incomplete and therefore the findings reported in this paper are tentative. Mortality rates and relative risks are estimated by ethnic group and region, and a linear model is fitted to assess the correlation between the ethnic composition of the population, socioeconomic factors, and regional fatality rates. Results: The study reveals significant disparities in military fatality rates across Russian regions, with the highest mortality observed among soldiers originating from economically disadvantaged areas in Siberia and the Russian Far East and the lowest among soldiers from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Buryats and Tuvans are overrepresented among the fatalities relative to their population share. However, when regional socioeconomic disparities are accounted for, ethnic differences in mortality rates are considerably reduced. Conclusions: The observed regional and ethnic fatality disparities appear to be driven by socioeconomic inequalities between regions. Contribution: This paper evaluates social inequalities in fatalities in the Russian military in Ukraine and compares these findings with research on US military casualties

Academisation of Schools in England and Placements of Pupils With Special Educational Needs: An Analysis of Trends, 2011–2017

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available via the DOI in this recordThis paper aims to examine the changes in school composition in England from 2011 to 2017 by school type and school phase; the speed of academisation by region; and the changes in the proportions of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) at SEN Support and EHC Plan levels overall. We analyse publicly available school level data from the National Pupil Database (NPD) to document two simultaneous trends in English education between 2011 and 2017. First, we observe an increasing percentage of the schools that have become Academies, especially in the secondary mainstream sector, but also among primary schools, special schools and pupil referral units. Second, we document a decreasing percentage of pupils who were classified as having SEN. While the decrease happened across all types of schools, it was particularly steep in Sponsored Academies. This evidence does not necessarily imply that the academisation of English schools has had a negative effect on the inclusion of pupils with SEN. However, the findings have significance to provide the basis for a more in-depth analysis of these trends and the causal effects of academisation involving individual and school level analyses. They can also inform national and local policy review of how pupils are identified as having SEN and in the context of international moves toward greater inclusive education.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

The Myth about Universal Higher Education: Russia in the International Context

This is the final version. Available from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) via the DOI in this recordIt is widely believed that higher education in Russia has become almost universal and more people go to universities compared to most European countries. In this paper we explore this issue empirically with the Russian and European census data and data from the Trajectories in Education and Careers (TREC), a longitudinal cohort study. According to the 2010 census, only 34% of people aged between 25 and 34 in Russia have university degrees, which is nearly the same as in most Eastern European countries and slightly fewer than in Western Europe. The TREC data show that only about 50% of 2012 ninthgrade graduates were university students in 2015. The expansion of higher education in Russia has been in line with the overall European trends. Similar to other countries, there have been changes to the gender composition of university students in Russia over the last two decades, with girls being more likely to attend university than boys. The analysis of social backgrounds of students with different educational trajectories reveals a considerable social inequality within the Russian education system. Eighty-four percent of school graduates with university-educated parents are admitted to university, as compared to only 32% of children from less-educated families. Graduation from ninth grade represents an educational fork that is crucial for inequality, as children from less socially advantaged families tend to opt for vocational education at this stage. Graduation from eleventh grade is a less important educational transition: at least 80% of high school students get admitted to university after graduating from 11th grade

Ethnic intermarriage in Russia: the tale of four cities

This is the final version. Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this recordData availability: The data and replication code for this study are publicly available within the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/jrft3/) and on Github (https://github.com/abessudnov/ruIntermarriagePublic).Across most Western societies, trends towards increased ethnic intermarriage have been observed across the second half of the twentieth century. Whether such trends hold across the multi-ethnic society of Russia is not known. We analyze Russian census data and describe levels and trends in ethnic intermarriage in four highly different Russian cities. We find no change in ethnic intermarriage in Moscow, but more intermarriage in younger cohorts in the other three cities where the populations are more ethnically heterogeneous. Levels and trends in ethnic intermarriage vary substantially throughout Russia by locality and ethnic group. Our study highlights how trends in intermarriage can vary within a society, and how the local, historical context may play an important role

A statistical evaluation of the effects of a structured postdoctoral programme

Published© 2014 Society for Research into Higher Education. Postdoctoral programmes have recently become an important step leading from doctoral education to permanent academic careers in the social sciences. This paper investigates the effects of a large and structured postdoctoral programme in the social sciences on a number of academic and non-academic outcomes of fellows. Propensity score matching is employed to match fellows with applicants with similar characteristics who did not receive the fellowship; then the outcomes in the treatment and control groups are compared. The programme has a statistically significant positive effect on the general life satisfaction of former fellows and their publication activity. It is argued that an active and collegial research environment, with training in academic skills during postdoctoral employment, may improve the academic outcomes of postdoctoral fellows

The tempo of cultural change in the Kostenki Upper Paleolithic : further insights

open access via Cambridge University Press agreement This work was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (AHOB3 and RPG-2012-800). We thank the staff of the ORAU past and present for their careful laboratory work. We also thank the reviewers and Editor-in-Chief for their comments. AB and AS acknowledge Russian Science Foundation grant numbers 20-78-10151 and 18-78-00136, and Russian Foundation of Basic Research grant numbers 18-39-20009, 18-00-00837 and 20-09-00233. We also acknowledge the participation of IHMC RAS (state assignment 0184-2019-0001) and ZIN RAS (state assignment АААА-А19-119032590102-7). We thank the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for supporting the Oxford node of the National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Predicting perceived ethnicity with data on personal names in Russia

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: The research data supporting this publication and the Python code are openly available from Github at: https://github.com/abessudnov/ruEthnicNamesPublicIn this paper, we develop a machine learning classifier that predicts perceived ethnicity from data on personal names for major ethnic groups populating Russia. We collect data from VK, the largest Russian social media website. Ethnicity was coded from languages spoken by users and their geographical location, with the data manually cleaned by crowd workers. The classifier shows the accuracy of 0.82 for a scheme with 24 ethnic groups and 0.92 for 15 aggregated ethnic groups. It can be used for research on ethnicity and ethnic relations in Russia, with the data sets that have personal names but not ethnicity