COMPARATIVE GEOGRAPHY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE USSR: AN INITIAL INVESTIGATION

Several aspects of the distribution of institutions of higher education and their graduates are compared for the Soviet Union and the United States. The concentration of institutions and students is found to be greater in the USSR. Differences in regional enrollment rates relative to the location of institutions and students may be partly explained by differences in the curriculum structure of American and Soviet institutions of higher education and the greater degree of local control over higher education in the United States. A direct relationship exists in both countries between the percentage of graduates in a region and percentage urban and per capita income. Regional inequality in the percentage of graduates in urban versus rural areas is much greater in the USSR while regional inequality in the percentage of male and female graduates was only somewhat greater in the United States. Level of urbanization, migration of students and graduates, economic opportunity and economic structure are seen as important factors helping explain regional variation in the distribution of graduates.     

SOME ASPECTS OF THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE USSR

Studies of the geography of higher education have become increasingly common in the Soviet Union in view of two basic issues: (1) what some consider an excessive concentration of educational and research centers in Moscow and Leningrad, and a sparse distribution of such institutions in some other regions of the USSR; (2) the need for relating the specialization of institutions of higher learning to the basic economic activities of the regions in which they are situated. The author develops a number of measures such as indices of localization of undergraduates, graduate students and holders of academic degrees to assess the significance of higher education in various regions of the Soviet Union.     

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY IN THE USSR

Development of the field of political geography in the USSR is surveyed, beginning with its early roots in the late 19th Century and early Soviet period and ties to foreign area studies and historical geography in the 1950s. Activities of the 1980s are described in terms of university-level course offerings, research at universities and research institutes, and theoretical and methodological publications. Concluding sections survey current research trends (electoral geography, developing countries, the ocean, reassessment of geopolitics) and outline general theoretical issues and major questions for future research. An extensive bibliography follows (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

THE WATER ASPECT OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF AGRICULTURE IN THE USSR

The long-term grain requirements of the growing Soviet population are calculated. On the basis of the relationship between water use and grain yields by natural soil zones of the USSR, the authors show that the amount of water needed per unit of output declines with a growth of productivity, especially in the non-chernozem zone of the Soviet Union. It is therefore concluded that greater water savings might be assured by expanding grain production in zones with an adequate supply of natural moisture rather than by the use of artificial irrigation of arid lands.     

SPATIAL PATTERNS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE SOVIET UNION

Analysis of spatial patterns of attained educational levels is helpful in understanding the cultural geography of an area, perhaps especially in the Soviet Union, with its many ethnic groups and stated aim of providing equality of education regardless of ethnicity or sex. The proportion of the population that had completed a higher education was mapped at oblast level from 1970 census data. High rates are found in certain urban areas, Estonia and Latvia, Georgia, and certain sparsely populated areas of the Far North, Siberia, and the Far East. There are regional patterns of disparity between male and female rates of completed higher education and between rural and urban rates, despite Soviet attempts to reduce these inequalities. The distribution of Soviet higher educational institutions conforms generally to the distribution of population, although access to higher education opportunities appears to be geographically limited in some regions. (Maps by Joann L. Krupa, George Mason University.)     

POLITICIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE

The more highly politicized nature of French, as compared to British universities can be explained only partially in terms of such cultural and Political differences as the greater strength of the revolutionary tradition in France and the more conservative tenor of French governments in the l960's and 1970's. Political tensions in French higher education are also in Dart the result of policy choices, notably the greater speed of expansion of enrollments in France as compared to Britain and the form of French university elections, which strengthened politicized unions.     

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE 1989 ELECTIONS OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES OF THE USSR (PRELIMINARY RESULTS)

In the first Soviet paper written on electoral geography in the USSR, a team of scholars analyzes results of recent elections to the Congress of People's Deputies. An introductory section explains the rationale for greater attention to electoral geography and assesses Western research from a Soviet perspective. Interesting spatial insights (supplemented by maps) are offered on whether existing electoral districts provide equitable representation for the population, on voter turnout (including negative voting against “establishment” candidates), and the level of social-political activism. A concluding section surveys prospects for the further participation of geographers in the study of electoral processes (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERSHIP IN STATE LEGISLATURES

The distribution of higher education leadership in state legislatures is examined. It is based on questionnaire and interview information from 285 legislators who exercise influence on education policy in the fifty states, and one-third of whom give special attention to issues of higher education. These higher education leaders differ from education leaders generally in terms of their experience, their location within the legislature, and their effort and relationships. What explains higher education leadership as much as anything else, however, is the nature of the environment in which legislators find themselves. In focusing on eleven states, where higher education is of considerable salience, it is possible to discern how environment combines with other factors to produce such leadership.     

THE HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY RESEARCH AGENDA

Substantial opportunities exist for social scientists, humanists practitioners, and other scholars to contribute to research on higher education policy. Not only is the university or college an interesting study objective itself but also with higher education in the United States and worldwide so immersed in public policy considerations, the relations between academe and government raise many political, economic and other Questions. Some issues currently on the research agenda are listed here. The consequences of higher education policy research are also considered.     

THE GEOGRAPHY OF ELECTIONS OF USSR PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES BY NATIONAL-TERRITORIAL DISTRICTS AND THE NATIONALITIES ISSUE

A Soviet political geographer analyzes elections to the USSR Congress of People's Deputies (March 26, 1989), based on returns from nationality-based electoral districts from which one-third of all deputies were elected (see Soviet Geography, October 1989 special issue). Topics investigated include problems in the partitioning of electoral districts (including analysis of the tendency toward the under-representation of cities relative to rural areas), the number of candidates vying for each deputy seat in various districts, the backgrounds of winning and losing candidates, and the extent to which elected deputies mirrored the nationality composition of their respective electoral districts. Translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005.     

TYPES OF URBANIZATION IN THE USSR

A typology of urbanization is developed for the 163 major civil divisions of the USSR on the basis of three factors: (a) an index of the level of urbanization (incorporating the percentage of urban population, the share of cities of 100,000 or more in urban population, an index of urban agglomerations, and a coefficient adjusting for the density of urban population); (b) the structural complexity of urbanization (which is treated as deriving either solely from the urban population percentage in the simplest case; or from the urban population percentage and the share of large cities in a two-element case, or additionally from the presence of urban agglomerations in the three-element case); (c) the dominance of any of the three structural elements. The typology yields 24 combinations of the three factors out of a theoretically possible total of 54 combinations, some combinations being represented only by one or two examples. The typology is conceptualized as a mobile system in which particular major civil divisions may advance to higher levels as urbanization processes continue.