About the project

The project «Educational migration of students from small towns and villages to megacities. Social inclusion as a way to increase sustainability: barriers, strategies, successful practices» continues the project «Scenarios for social inclusion of regional youth in the context of educational migration».

The project is being implemented within Mirror Labs program together with the Laboratory of Sociological Research of the KFU and is aimed at studying the social inclusion of young people in the context of educational migration in St. Petersburg and Kazan.

Project implementation period: 2024 – 2026

The goals of the project combine scientific, educational and practical activities.

Scientific:

• identification of trajectories and strategies for the social inclusion of student youth from small towns and villages into megacities;
• clarification and specification of social inclusion scenarios, taking into account different student groups and their migration routes, studying best practices and strategies that contribute to increasing sustainability and developing agency in the city and university in the face of new challenges.

Educational:

• involvement of students and graduate students of the Higher School of Economics (St. Petersburg) and the Partner (KFU) in project scientific activities;
• conducting a series of practical master classes for students and employees of the Partner.

Practical:

• creation of a database based on empirical materials based on the results of joint research, starting in 2021, subject to registration in the RIA format;
• preparation of comprehensive practical recommendations for universities in order to improve the work of student services aimed at adapting and increasing the resilience of students to new challenges.

The continuation of the Mirror Labs project in 2024-2026 will be a study implemented using qualitative methodology (a series of biographical interviews with students from villages and small towns, expert interviews, the method of autobiographies, case studies).

Project participants:

1. National Research University "Higher School of Economics" in St. Petersburg (HSE St. Petersburg), Center for Youth Studies;

2. Kazan Federal University (KFU), Laboratory of Sociological Research.

The project has gathered a team of experienced researchers from the Center for Youth Studies (HSE - St. Petersburg) and the Laboratory of Sociological Research (KFU), specializing in the study of youth, migration, urban studies, as well as undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students from the Higher School of Economics - St. Petersburg and KFU involved based on the project activities of the Project Fair.

The following student project groups are working in 2024:

Bachelor's degree (11 students), «Urban vs rural: migration paths of student youth in megacities»
Master's degree (7 students), «Youth from villages and small towns go to study in the metropolis: analysis of educational migration experiences»

Also, as part of the ongoing Mirror Labs project, an online course in the MAGOLEG format «Youth and Migration» has been launched»

Сontact person

Lisovskaya Irina, ilisovskaya@hse.ru (project supervisor)