My overall experience with this research project is excellent. I cannot thank both Ms. Pecheritsa (our supervisor) and Ildar (RosNOU intern) too much for their instruction and assistance. I have strengthened my English written and verbal skills, as well as exposed myself to the working environment in an oversea country (though virtually). My research skills have improved the most. I’ve learnt that the research methodology is very important since it influences the resources and materials to be referred to in the project, and some resources and materials are outdated or inaccurate, while others are updated and suitable for the project. It takes empirical knowledge and efforts to decide what materials should be used. More importantly, I’ve learnt the basic principles and logics in an industry research, starting from the market overview to market drivers and future impacts, as well with attention to upper stream and lower stream sectors. I’ve also gained an in-depth perspective of the education sector. I’ve learnt how fast the education sector is changing, with technologies such as AI and Big Data advancing continuously. Obstacles such as traditional education concepts, resistance from faculty teachers, students and their parents, lack of financing also get in the way of the education transformation, but I am looking forward to obtaining the privilege to enter the era of Education 4.0.

My overall experience in this research project was l good. I am grateful to Ms. Pecheritsa and Ildar for their guidance and assistance. During that internship, I better honed my writing skills and gained insight into the Russian work environment. In addition, I think I improved my research skills a lot, learning and applying how to find the right references to meet the research direction of the topic. And I also gained a better understanding and more ideas about the education industry, and it is likely that this research will also have an impact on my future choice of graduate school direction and job prospects. Finally, the division of labor between my peer Stephen and I is desirable but needs to be improved. We usually divide the work equally, but I think Stephen has helped me a lot in some things and he always gives me help when I am in trouble. Being able to get such a partner like this is also a great reward in this internship.

In summer 2021, I participated in the WIE program. My partners in the project were interns from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and, as the subject of our research was the private sector in the higher education of Russia and China, my tasks were to consult them on the higher education in Russia, help them with the search for the sources on the topic, and translate the required information from the Russian-language sources. This project became a great experience for me, as for the first time, I had a chance to do research being a part of an international team. I learned how to look for sources and select reliable ones, analyze data, and draw conclusions based on the conducted analysis. I also significantly developed my translation skills working with primary and secondary English-language sources. But I think the most important outcome of the internship was that I learned a lot about cross-cultural communication and how to efficiently work with people whose values, perceptions, and norms of behavior are very different from those in my culture.