MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's engineering universities sit by right atop global university rankings and their graduates work in many foreign countries, a Russian education researcher with mail.ru Group told RIA Novosti.
"Today students are as mobile as never before. In this situation, Russian universities may be a good choice for many foreign applicants," Mail.Ru Group Research and Education Department Director Dmitry Voloshin said.
According to Voloshin, Russian universities can be internationally competitive primarily in training technology-related and engineering experts.
"Russian universities provide very good fundamental training in mathematics and physics. The Russian school of engineering trains highly competent specialists who can tackle large-scale industrial projects. I think that this is our main competitive advantage," the researcher said.
Russian technical universities can boast sound curricula and faculty staff, but they are somewhat lagging behind in terms of equipment. The modern higher education and training are very practice-oriented, and they require laboratories with the latest equipment.
And yet, he said, this gap is closing. "The trend is definitely positive, and university retooling is really in progress. The government, as I see it, has given it enough attention."
As a result of the state effort to promote Russian education worldwide, there is now "a very high likelihood" that a Russian-trained expert will find a job in their area of expertise.
Another shortcoming of the Russian higher-education system is the lack of the so-called soft-skills training. Education is highly individualistic. Students often don't know how to work as a team or engage in business communication.
"The modern world is a world of teams that is full of interactions and groups. Graduates find it hard to adapt in companies, and this may have a negative effect on their careers," he noted.
In the coming years, engineering professions will be high on demand internationally. The Big Three of technological trends will be robotics, Big Data, and biomedicine - in addition to the all-times favorite programmers.
