Profiles in the social network of university students as a source of migration data (on the example of RUDN University)

Chernyshev Konstantin Anatolevich ORCID: 0000-0003-3543-4776 PhD in Geography Associate Professor, Department of Regional Economics and Geography, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University); Leading Researcher, Institute for Demographic Research of the Federal Research Sociological Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences 6 Miklukho-Maklaya Street, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation kochern@rambler.ru

Thanks. The ublication was carried out within the framework of the project

No. 060508-0-000 grant support systems for scientific projects of the RUDN

Acknowledgements.This publication has been supported byproject  

№ 060508-0-000? (RUDN University Scientific Projects Grant System) 

Introduction

Currently, there is an increasing interest in the study of educational migration, which makes a significant contribution and redistribution of human capital and labor resources between countries and regions of different types ^[1] and the level of development ^[2]. The location of educational institutions, primarily large universities, plays an organizing role in the formation of the educational space of the country and the flows of educational migrants ^[3]. Territorial analysis of the role of universities in the organization of migration flows related to education and the development of human capital of regions and countries is possible from two positions – it is the study of the areas of collection of applicants or the geography of the distribution of graduates ^[4].

To a considerable extent, the formation of intra-Russian interregional migration flows is facilitated by the continuing differentiation of the subjects of the Russian Federation in terms of income, opportunities for professional self-realization, availability of social benefits, the state of the environment, and other parameters of socio-economic development ^[5]. Admission to an educational institution located in a more attractive subject of the Russian Federation for a young person is an educational migration. However, it is obvious that when choosing a city of study, a combination of socio-economic factors is crucial: the comfort of the urban environment, the cost of studying and living in the university region, prospects for further employment, and others ^[6].

In this paper, we propose to study the territorial structure of the exit regions of students and graduates of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (hereinafter – RUDN), a large university located in Moscow – the main center of attraction for educational migrants in the country.

Methods

The study of migration processes is usually based on the use of statistical data, which primarily include current migration records and the results of population censuses. Traditional sources can be supplemented by departmental statistics (for example, the results of the Unified State Exam) ^[7] or sociological surveys ^[8]. In this paper, it is proposed to use the analysis of digital traces of users of the VKontakte social network as the main method. The study of educational and youth migration based on uploads of user profiles of this network is becoming widespread in Russian science. Traditionally, migration in certain regions of the country is studied ^[9] or the participation of specific universities in the organization of educational mobility ^[10].

The VKontakte social network is one of the most popular in Russia, and also has an open API (Application programming interface), which allows you to access the user base and upload them for research purposes. Another advantage for studying educational migration using VKontakte data is the ability to find out the geographical location of users. So, when registering on a social network, a specific locality is indicated in the profile in the "hometown" field ("home_city"), on the basis of which the social network forms an entry in the "home region" field ("home_region"). The prevalence of this network in Russia makes it suitable for the analysis of internal migration. The main criterion for inclusion in the resulting sample for studying the migration of VKontakte users who are studying or have completed their studies at the RUDN was the indication in the "univ_name" field of the values "RUDN" or "Peoples' Friendship University of Russia". An additional criterion was the indication of age in the profile: the sample included users 17 years and older. User profiles closed by privacy settings were excluded from consideration, as well as profiles for which it is impossible to find out the user's native region. The paper analyzes only intra-Russian migration, and therefore the profiles of foreign network users (born abroad) were not included in the sample.

During the formation of the upload of VKontakte users, the period of study and the year of graduation from the RUDN were not taken into account, and therefore it reflects the native regions of both those studying at the RUDN at the time of data collection and those who studied at this university in the past (graduates).

The upload was carried out in February 2022 using the Social Network Data Collection and Processing Platform of the University Consortium of Big Data Researchers, the copyright holder of which is Tomsk State University. If, at the time of unloading, the user had filled in the profile fields necessary for migration analysis, then this information was considered reliable, and the data about the user fell into the database used in the work. At the same time, it is obvious that the source of information used has disadvantages, since it involves studying not the migration itself, but only records in user profiles. It cannot be unequivocally stated that the user of the VKontakte network, who indicated in the profile of studying at the RUDN, is a student or graduate of this university.

Discussion and results

Since its establishment in 1960, RUDN has been positioned as an international university designed to train specialists primarily for developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which desperately needed qualified personnel for the development of their countries ^[11]. The University still holds a leading position among Russian universities in terms of the share of foreign students. However, currently the overwhelming majority of university students are citizens of Russia (Table 1). This makes it necessary to consider the characteristics of Russians studying and graduating from this university, the territorial structure of the collection of applicants of the RUDN.

Table 1. The share of the number of Russian and foreign students of RUDN studying under bachelor's, specialty, master's degree programs in the total number of students (the given contingent), %

Source: Characteristics of the higher education system in the Russian Federation. Access mode:https://monitoring.miccedu.ru/?m=vpo&year=2022 (Accessed: 12.08.2023)

The upload made it possible to analyze information about the routes of interregional educational migration of students and graduates of the RUDN using information about the users' home region. The criteria for the formation of unloading corresponded to 7990 VKontakte profiles, the geographical analysis of which made it possible to determine the regions of birth of students and graduates of the RUDN.

The study analyzed the profiles of students and graduates of the main university (in Moscow), excluding branches of the RUDN (active and closed). The unloading covered all regions of Russia, but the representation of the regions was extremely uneven (Table 2). The user base was formed to perform research tasks, primarily to identify the territorial characteristics of students and graduates of the RUDN. However, the information obtained also revealed the gender of the network users studying or studying at the RUDN: 38% of them are men. 

Table 2. Territorial structure of VKontakte users who indicated training at the RUDN

In more than half of the profiles studied, users indicated the city of the university's location as their place of birth, which does not allow them to be classified as migrants. The share of local students is close to the values identified in studies using uploads from the VKontakte social network, conducted on the example of other Moscow universities – Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Higher School of Economics ^[1-0]. In general, more than three-quarters of VKontakte users studying or graduating from the RUDN (including Muscovites) were from the regions of the Central Federal District. The representation of other parts of Russia in the sample was significantly lower.

Fig. The number of VKontakte users who indicated RUDN as a higher education institution, by 1 million inhabitants.

Representatives of Russian regions are covered to varying degrees by migration related to obtaining higher education at the university in question. The figure for each subject of the Russian Federation shows the ratio between the number of VKontakte users who are students or graduates of the RUDN, who indicated the region as their native (February 2022 upload), and the number of residents of this region at the beginning of 2022 (taking into account the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2020-2021). The largest number of VKontakte users from RUDN in relation to the population of the region was found in the city where the university is located (340 users per 1 million inhabitants). The high value of the indicator under consideration was revealed in regions geographically close to the capital: Moscow (106), Kaluga, Tula, Smolensk regions. In general, the regions of Central Russia are characterized by a higher representation among students at the RUDN. There is also a large number of users who indicated RUDN as a place of higher education for people from Chukotka (316) and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (118) – regions where there are no higher educational institutions. In addition, the population of the Magadan region and the national republics of Kalmykia, Sakha (Yakutia), North Ossetia-Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria are characterized by an increased interest in studying at the RUDN.

The smallest number of VKontakte users who indicated RUDN as a higher education institution, in relation to the population of the regions, was found in the Leningrad, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen (without Khanty-Mansiysk - Yugra and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs) regions, Altai and Primorsky Territories, the Republics of Crimea and Chechnya. In these subjects of the Russian Federation, the value of the analyzed indicator was less than 10 people per 1 million inhabitants.

Conclusions

The use of information extracted from social networks to study migration processes is very promising. The digital footprints that VKontakte users leave on the Internet are a relatively new source of information about educational migration. 

RUDN is an internationally oriented university, a significant part of its students and graduates are foreign citizens. At the same time, the university participates in the formation of flows of internal Russian migration associated with higher education. Due to the greater prevalence of the VKontakte network in Russia, this article analyzes the migration of immigrants from the regions of the Russian Federation.

Judging by the profiles on the social network, the majority of Russian students of RUDN are not educational migrants, since they indicate Moscow as their hometown. The largest number of students and graduates of the RUDN compared to the population of the exit regions is typical for the regions close to Moscow, as well as the Chukotka and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, the Magadan Region, individual national-territorial subjects of the Russian Federation. In our opinion, the key factors that determined the territorial structure of the collection zones of RUDN applicants are the geographical proximity of the university and the insufficient level of development of higher education in the regions of the exit of educational migrants. 

A possible direction of the educational policy of the university would be to promote in the regional markets of educational services and attract applicants from densely populated, but poorly represented in the structure of the contingent of students, regions of Russia. This goal is feasible if there is a sufficient housing stock in student dormitories, so its implementation may conflict with the key task of the RUDN for teaching foreign students from abroad. In addition, in a number of Russian regions with low representation in the structure of students and graduates of RUDN (St. Petersburg, Rostov and Sverdlovsk regions, Primorsky and Krasnoyarsk Territories) there are also "strong" universities.