Vaišnys, Rimas

Emigration of first-rate students is a very significant form of 'brain drain' for a nation, with serious long-term consequences for cultural, economic, and educational sectors. The purpose of this study is to identify important social factors which influence students in choosing between foreign and Lithuanian universities for a college education. The research used a longitudinal study approach, where the same respondent is repeatedly observed over a number of time instances. A system theory approach was applied for data gathering and analysis. This was done by identifying state and the environmental values and their interactions in terms of which the student's observed behavior can be explained. Data were gathered by observation of students' surrounding at their universities, semi-structured interviews with study participants, and structured questionnaires. Fifty students, some of whom have emigrated for studies in Great Britain and others who have stayed in Lithuania, have been followed by our team for almost five years. The research identified significant changes with time in the values and importance of variables characterizing the students, finding a greater than anticipated influence of peers and personal contacts on the behavior of the research participants. In contrast, economic considerations seem to have been of less significance than anticipated in modulating the behavior of both kinds of students. The study has implications for research and practice. The first is related to an application of a system theory approach to longitudinal social research which results in an in-depth systematic analysis of social processes while searching for causalities in a behavior of the research system (a student in our case). The study makes it possible to understand how the environments could be changed so that students would choose studies at Lithuanian universities or return to Lithuania after graduating. This knowledge may by usefull for policy makers [...]

Emigration of first-rate students is a very significant form of “brain drain” on the national level, with serious long-term consequences for cultural, economic and educational sectors of the nation. Fifty students, some of whom have emigrated for studies in Great Britain and others who have stayed in Lithuania, have been followed by our team by employing repeated in-depth interviews and detailed questionnaires for almost five years. We have seen significant changes with time in the values and importance of variables characterizing the students, finding a greater than anticipated influence of peers and personal contacts on the behavior of the respondents. In contrast, economic considerations seem to have been of less significance than anticipated in modulating the behavior of both kinds of students. The presence of both short term and long term response variables increases social policy possibilities.

This paper presents a conceptual framework for research on cultural groups which existed in recent Soviet societies but were opposed to the regime. The framework is designed to facilitate research on social processes related to the behaviour of individuals and groups through cooperation between social researchers and IT scientists. The proposed methodology helps not only acquire knowledge about processes that took place in the societies in the recent past but can also be adapted for exploration of current processes in various other cultural groups and communities. The methodology adapts the techniques of several disciplines to the study of social problems by integrating simultaneous technical adjustments in these disciplines under a systems approach.

Emigration and immigration, particularly of young individuals, raise social, economic, and cultural problems for both the recipient and donor countries. Substantial fluctuations in these rates make coherent adjustment and planning for the resulting social processes at best difficult, at worst ineffective. We have undertaken a study of the behavior and motivation of university students as they enter the university educational system and begin their studies with an aim to provide a measure of predictability in this phenomenon. To identify important factors which influence a young person's choice between continuing studies in a native university and a foreign one we have carried out a longitudinal study of about fifty Lithuanian students at three time instances: At t0, the time they choose between emigration or staying in their home country for their university education; at t1, soon after they arrive and first encounter their chosen environment; at t2, some six months or so after their direct experience of their chosen environment. The investigation was carried out with respondents drawn from universities in Lithuania and Great Britain. The information was collected through in-depth interviews using ethnographic techniques, initiated with a questionnaire designed to identify some four hundred binary values but allowing additional exploration of naturally arising motivational factors.

This article reports an analysis of the interactions that occur in a small Lithuanian pagan group, both within the group and between the group and its environment. A dynamical systems approach is used to highlight the process of group identity formation, revealing the importance of negative interactions with the group environment in this process. The micro-processes at the individual level are related to the macro-processes at the group level, the former providing a lens through which the latter may be viewed for greater clarity.

Mokslinėje studijoje pristatomi autorių atlikto moksleivių ir studentų migracijos procesų empirinio tyrimo rezultatai. Tyrimo duomenys atskleidė, kad studijų kokybė yra vienas aktualiausių veiksnių, skatinančių jaunimą rinktis studijuoti užsienio universitetuose. Nustatyta, jog universitetai ir studentai skirtingai supranta studijų kokybę, todėl svarbu išsiaiškinti studentų sampratą, kad sėkmingai vyktų universitetų ir studentų dialogas. Aptariamos studentų suvokiamos studijų kokybės dedamosios, jų studijų pasirinkimo principai. Analizuojama, kaip studentai lygina Lietuvos ir užsienio universitetų akademinio gyvenimo aplinką: studijų programas, dėstomus dalykus, dėstytojų darbą, universitetų administracijos bendravimą su studentais ir kt. Iškeliamos nepakankamo akademinio jaunimo domėjimosi realiais visuomenės procesais problemos, nemokėjimas sukaupti socialiniam gyvenimui reikalingų žinių. Remiantis tyrimo duomenimis, pateikiami studijų kokybės trikdžiai ir aprašomos šių trikdžių suvaldymo galimybės. Tyrimo išvados turėtų sudominti visus, kurie gilinasi į aktualius studijų pasirinkimo ir studijų kokybės klausimus.