Changes of Higher Education in the Post-Soviet countries: case studies of Lithuania and Kazakhstan

Abstract

The paper examined how the HE system has changed in the two post-Soviet countries – Lithuania and Kazakhstan – after the collapse of the USSR until the present day. In particular, we were interested in changes to structure and organisation of HE and what the outcomes of these changes have been in terms of institutional autonomy and the quality of universities. These changes and outcomes could be explained on the basis of three variables: path dependency, connections with politics, and the involvement of international pressure groups.