‘If You Want to Expand Your Knowledge and Learn to Solve Problems As a Professional, You Need HSE University’
HSE University has held its first online meetup for those planning to apply for a master's degree. University experts discussed how a master's degree can change people's lives and careers, what the development trajectories of graduates and young professionals might be, and why lifelong learning is becoming increasingly popular. In addition, representatives of the University Admissions Committee spoke about admission to HSE University in 2022.
‘Young professionals are wondering whether they should continue studying after completing a bachelor's degree or if it’s better to work and gain professional experience,’ said the moderator Valentina Berezhnaya, Academic Supervisor of the HSE Data Journalism master's programme. Many undergraduates do not fully understand how they can benefit from a master's degree and which course to choose. That is why a lot of graduates take a gap year before proceeding with their studies.
It is never too late to study
The meetup kicked off with a discussion on ‘Master's programme: to enrol or not to enrol’. The participants of this were HSE experts and master’s students. The moderator was Anna Podpryatova, Director of HSE Digital Media and Promotion.
HSE Vice Rector Sergey Roshchin, Head of the HSE Laboratory for Labour Market Studies, noted that the demand for master's programmes has been created by the labour market itself. A bachelor's degree guarantees certain skills in one sphere, while a master's degree is more ‘versatile’. ‘At this level, you can adjust your learning trajectory to your specific needs’ he explained.
According to the Laboratory for Labour Market Studies, the average salary of a postgraduate is 30% higher than that of a someone with a bachelor’s degree, although their employment rate is roughly similar. However, as Sergey Roshchin points out, not everyone pursues a postgraduate course just for the sake of their career and salary growth: for instance, some students might choose a programme in psychology to improve their relationship with their child or change the quality of their life.
A HSE master’s student can create an individual curriculum that meets their needs and preferences. Another advantage of HSE master's programmes is that they are practice-oriented. ‘There are huge opportunities for students to do both internships and work placements, which a regular job cannot provide,’ says Professor Sergey Zverev, Head of the School of Integrated Communications at the Faculty of Communications, Media and Design. More than 45 HSE departments offer their students the opportunity to land an internship with a major partner organisation.
Alyona Storozhenko, a second-year master's student in Digital Humanities, HSE University in Perm, joined HSE University 20 years after her bachelor's degree. She believes that today, classmates have become an essential resource for networking in a professional environment. ‘The programme creates an intellectual funnel that removes internal constraints. If you want to expand your knowledge and learn to solve problems as a professional, you need HSE University,’ says Alyona.
During the meetup, HSE professors held short TED-style talks and shared their thoughts on the lifelong learning strategy. Lifelong learning is particularly in demand in today’s labour market: people used to have to deal with disruptive technologies a few times during their professional lives, while twenty-first-century employees face this sort of change every five years. This creates challenges in terms of competence and competitiveness in the labour market.
Mikhail Blinkin, Director of the HSE Institute for Transport Economics and Transportation Policy Studies, gave a lecture on why a city for people cannot be a city for cars. Sergey Shershakov, Deputy Head of the School of Software Engineering at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, spoke about software engineering and the software creation process.
Do as you like
Kirill Kuptsov, Executive Secretary of the HSE Admissions Office, and his Deputy Natalia Bochenina, Head of the Department for Admission to Master’s Programmes, spoke about the 2022 admission campaign and answered key questions on admission. Here are the answers to some of them.
Why do I need a master’s degree?
Master’s programmes are primarily aimed at expanding knowledge of the subject and developing professional competencies. Students have many different goals: to pursue an academic career, to gain additional knowledge in order to run their business, or to retrain. For each purpose, a suitable programme can be selected—this can be either a more academic programme or a more practice-oriented one.
How do the application and admission processes differ between campuses?
HSE University adheres to the concept of ‘four campuses—one university’. HSE University offers 181 educational programmes, which is one of the largest range of master’s programmes in the country. Despite this, a single standard exists for all HSE campuses. You can apply to any of them using your personal account.