Interview with the scientific supervisor

The Master’s programme Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation prepares professionals to address social challenges through entrepreneurial and innovative solutions. All students develop an interdisciplinary skill set, including management, data analysis, social impact assessment, and work on real-world projects. Individual professional trajectories are shaped through programme tracks and practice-oriented projects within the programme’s international ecosystem. In this interview, the programme’s Scientific Supervisor, Magdalena Gaete, discusses the key competencies required in social entrepreneurship, the personal qualities essential for working in social impact, and how the programme supports career development in Russia and internationally.

- What makes the Master’s programme “Social Entrepreneurship” distinctive?
- The key feature of the programme is that social entrepreneurship is treated not as an elective topic or a “social add-on” to business, but as an independent and systematic form of entrepreneurial activity. We teach students to design sustainable models that simultaneously generate economic value and measurable social impact. The programme is delivered fully in English and is embedded in HSE’s research-and-practice ecosystem (RepLab) as well as in an international consortium of universities in social entrepreneurship established in 2025. This positions the programme not as a local educational product, but as part of a global academic and professional field.

- How does the programme differ from similar programmes at other universities? What is specific about the HSE approach?
- At HSE, the programme is distinguished by its fundamentally interdisciplinary training logic. We integrate management, social sciences, data analysis, ethics, and sustainable development into a single educational trajectory. Unlike programmes that present social entrepreneurship as a collection of practices or cases, here it serves as the conceptual core.
In addition, the programme is embedded in a real research and project infrastructure: the Laboratory for Reputation Management in Education and the International Mirror Laboratory on Social Entrepreneurship (HSE St Petersburg – UTM Malaysia). Students learn not “alongside practice,” but within an operating ecosystem where research is conducted, projects are implemented, and partnerships are developed.
 
- What kind of applicants are you looking for?
- We welcome applicants with diverse educational and professional backgrounds: graduates in management, economics, social sciences, humanities and related fields, as well as practitioners—social entrepreneurs and professionals working in NGOs, foundations, and ESG units. What matters to us is not a “perfect CV,” but the internal coherence of the applicant’s trajectory: a conscious interest in social issues, the ability to think analytically, and readiness to work under conditions of complexity and constraints. Diversity of experience among students is a resource, not a problem.

- What is your role and mission as the Scientific Supervisor of the programme?
- My role as Scientific Supervisor is to ensure the programme’s academic coherence and intellectual depth, as well as its integration into a sustainable international educational and research ecosystem. It is essential to me that social entrepreneurship not be reduced to a set of “good practices,” but be studied as a complex socio-economic phenomenon rooted in the institutional, cultural, and ethical contexts of different countries.

Within the programme, students work within an international consortium and the RepLab and Satellite Lab ecosystem on social entrepreneurship, enabling them to compare models, approaches, and solutions across national and regional contexts. My mission is to develop students’ ability to think systemically, make responsible, well-grounded decisions, and work professionally with social impact in an international environment—rather than relying on intuition or universal templates.

- Does the programme include practice-oriented components? What are its advantages?
- Yes, a practice-oriented approach is one of the programme’s key advantages. The curriculum includes project seminars, internships in foundations and social enterprises, and 9 ECTS credits fully dedicated to real projects commissioned by external partners. Students can also participate in international research and applied projects within the SatLab consortium.
As a result, graduates leave not only with a diploma, but also with a portfolio of implemented projects, experience of teamwork, and international professional connections—significantly enhancing their competitiveness both in Russia and internationally.