The “Triple Helix” Theory and Institutional Gaps in the Engineering Personnel Training System in Russia

Abstract

The article is the first one in a series of studies on the institutional mechanisms of engineering personnel train-ing in Russia. The aim is to analyze the causes of persistent institutional gaps within the STEM specialist train-ing system through a critical reassessment of the “Triple Helix” theory, and to substantiate new analytical ap-proaches. The methodology is based on the Triple Helix framework, J. Alexander’s concept of the epistemolog-ical continuum, S.G. Kirdina’s concept of institutional matrices, and V.M. Polterovich’s theory of institutional traps. The empirical base comprises data from the research project “Satellites in the Third STEM Space” con-ducted at the Center for Sociological Research “14–35” of the State University of Management. The research findings indicate that the “Triple Helix” theory is not validated in practice. The state redistributive, academic uni-versity, and market production coordination matrices are structurally incompatible, which reproduces institu-tional gaps regardless of the existence of formal interaction mechanisms. The student survey data confirm that within this gap even professionally motivated students do not associate a career trajectory with formal institu-tional channels. A new research framework is proposed that identifies the possibilities of interaction between three actors (the state, education, and an industrial partner) in an environment with a heterogeneous institution-al structure.