"Higher education at a crossroad: The case of Estonia"

Raamatututvustus annab ülevaate artiklikogumikust "Higher education at a crossroad: The case of Estonia". Raamat keskendub muutustele, mis on Eesti kõrghariduses toimunud viimase paarikümne aasta jooksul, samuti eesseisvatele ülesannetele, mille need muutused on endaga kaasa toonud. Kogumik esindab multidistsiplinaarset koostööprojekti, sest uuringute läbiviijad ja artiklite autorid on kasvatusteadlased, psühholoogid, majandusteadlased ja sotsioloogid kolmest Eesti kõrgkoolist

Estonia - Highly Unequal but Classless?

"In this short essay, we try to assess the utility of class analyses for understanding the contemporary Estonian society. Erik Wright (2009) identifi es three strands of class analysis: a stratification approach, a Weberian approach and a Marxist approach. We address the following questions: Which kind of class analysis is most present in Estonia today? Which is most needed? The main conclusion is that due to this marginalisation of class discourse, as well as the power of national/ ethnic discourse and transitional culture, those most economically vulnerable were deprived of the cultural and discursive resources to resist the most the extreme market-oriented policies. The conditions for structuration of class relations were created, while the class and inequality discourse was marginalised." (author's abstract

Change and Continuity: Adaption of Persons Working in the Secondary Sector During the Period of Socio-Economic Reforms in the 1990s in Estonia

"The aim of this paper is to analyse the interrelationship between the structural changes and personal destinies of people who worked in the secondary sector at the beginning of the transition period. The focal question is whether structural and institutional changes were brought about by a minimum of adaptations and fluctuations or a by maximum of turbulence and mobility. The paper is based on indepth interviews conducted in 2003 and 2004 with people who graduated from secondary educational institutions in 1983 and belong to the so-called ‘winners’ cohort. One of the pivotal results of the analysis is that when companies were winding down and being reorganised, it launched processes of intercompany workers’ displacement and lead to their imminent unemployment. Individuals changed their plans and behaviour because they had to adapt. Opportunities proved to be less a matter of individual control and planning, than of unfavourable structural conditions. A work place in the secondary sector often worked as a ‘push’ factor for mobility during the reforms, as massive layoffs and restructuring in the economy did not leave any other choices for people than to start looking for new possibilities. In spite of some attempts to set up businesses, the majority of former industrial workers belong to the same occupational group and are working in the same sector, even 15 years after the reforms. This means that the relative occupational ranking of the workers remained the same despite the change in the political and social order." (author's abstract

Estonia – Highly Unequal but Classless?

In this short essay, we try to assess the utility of class analyses for understanding the contemporary Estonian society. Erik Wright (2009) identifi es three strands of class analysis: a stratifi cation approach, a Weberian approach and a Marxist approach. We address the following questions: Which kind of class analysis is most present in Estonia today? Which is most needed? The main conclusion is that due to this marginalisation of class discourse, as well as the power of national/ethnic discourse and transitional culture, those most economically vulnerable were deprived of the cultural and discursive resources to resist the most the extreme market-oriented policies. The conditions for structuration of class relations were created, while the class and inequality discourse was marginalised

Institutional Change and Gender Inequalities at Labour Market Entry: A Comparison of Estonia, Russia, and East and West Germany

Our study investigates how gender inequalities in job opportunities evolved during communist and post-communist times in former state-socialist countries. Theoretical arguments (mainly based on studies referring to Western countries) led to the expectation of a surge in gender inequalities in these countries after the collapse of communism. Empirically, we explore the gender gap in job authority upon labour market entry by using life-history data from Russia, Estonia, and East Germany, with West Germany serving as a control case. The selection of countries was motivated primarily by the availability of rich life-history data, covering four decades of (post-) state socialism but also by divergences in institutional set-ups in the course of transition from state socialism to a liberalised market economy. Our findings yield four major results. First, accounting for education and the branch of economy, women were not disadvantaged during Soviet times; instead, we have even found evidence of a slight female advantage in Estonia and East Germany. Thus, our findings mirror the communist regime’s effectiveness in equalising women’s and men’s opportunities at work. Second, in the pre-collapse decade, the advantage of women in terms of job authority decreased in East Germany and Estonia, whereas in Russia, women fell behind men. Third, with the Soviet Union collapse, a remarkable female disadvantage emerged in all formerly state socialist countries under scrutiny. In addition, we observe a growing gender gap in West Germany in the same period. The latter result strengthens the conclusion that times of economic liberalisation may go hand-in-hand with increasing gender inequalities

Self-placement of the Unemployed in the Social Hierarchy. Evidence from European Countries

Unemployment has risen during the recent recession. However, the experience of unemployment varies considerably across European countries (Gallie 2013b). To study the unemployment experience in different European countries, a social exclusion approach was combined with a social stratification approach utilizing a measure of subjective social position which indicates how people perceive their relative position in the social hierarchy. In evaluating their social position people make comparisons within societal contexts. We hypothesize that the country-level economic and institutional context impacts the experience of unemployment, the way people interpret it, and thus affects the subjective social position of the unemployed. Our main goal was to study the impact of different macro-level economic and social characteristics on the subjective social position of the unemployed. We focused on a comparison of the subjective social position of unemployed persons against the remaining populations of 18 European countries using data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2009 Social Inequality module

Institutional change and gender inequalities at labour market entry: a comparison of Estonia, Russia, and East and West Germany

Our study investigates how gender inequalities in job opportunities evolved during communist and post-communist times in former state-socialist countries. Theoretical arguments (mainly based on studies referring to Western countries) led to the expectation of a surge in gender inequalities in these countries after the collapse of communism. Empirically, we explore the gender gap in job authority upon labour market entry by using life-history data from Russia, Estonia, and East Germany, with West Germany serving as a control case. The selection of countries was motivated primarily by the availability of rich life-history data, covering four decades of (post-) state socialism but also by divergences in institutional set-ups in the course of transition from state socialism to a liberalised market economy. Our findings yield four major results. First, accounting for education and the branch of economy, women were not disadvantaged during Soviet times; instead, we have even found evidence of a slight female advantage in Estonia and East Germany. Thus, our findings mirror the communist regime's effectiveness in equalising women's and men's opportunities at work. Second, in the pre-collapse decade, the advantage of women in terms of job authority decreased in East Germany and Estonia, whereas in Russia, women fell behind men. Third, with the Soviet Union collapse, a remarkable female disadvantage emerged in all formerly state socialist countries under scrutiny. In addition, we observe a growing gender gap in West Germany in the same period. The latter result strengthens the conclusion that times of economic liberalisation may go hand-in-hand with increasing gender inequalities

Change and Continuity: Adaption of Persons Working in the Secondary Sector During the Period of Socio-Economic Reforms in the 1990s in Estonia

The aim of this paper is to analyse the interrelationship between the structural changes and personal destinies of people who worked in the secondary sector at the beginning of the transition period. The focal question is whether structural and institutional changes were brought about by a minimum of adaptations and fluctuations or a by maximum of turbulence and mobility. The paper is based on indepth interviews conducted in 2003 and 2004 with people who graduated from secondary educational institutions in 1983 and belong to the so-called ‘winners’ cohort. One of the pivotal results of the analysis is that when companies were winding down and being reorganised, it launched processes of intercompany workers’ displacement and lead to their imminent unemployment. Individuals changed their plans and behaviour because they had to adapt. Opportunities proved to be less a matter of individual control and planning, than of unfavourable structural conditions. A work place in the secondary sector often worked as a ‘push’ factor for mobility during the reforms, as massive layoffs and restructuring in the economy did not leave any other choices for people than to start looking for new possibilities. In spite of some attempts to set up businesses, the majority of former industrial workers belong to the same occupational group and are working in the same sector, even 15 years after the reforms. This means that the relative occupational ranking of the workers remained the same despite the change in the political and social order