A Mutual Pairing between Undergraduate Students and Academic Advisors: Selection Strategies and Matching Parameters (Case of HSE in St. Petersburg Political Sciences Bachelor Program)

Current research aims at exploring the matching process between undergraduate students and scientific advisors - how both parties select each other, what strategies and patterns there are, and on what parameters their choice relies? The matching process was examined using matching and signaling theories as a theoretical framework and interviewing with the following coding as methods of data gathering and analysis. Last year students of the political sciences bachelor program in Higher School of Economics in Saint-Petersburg were taken as a case. As a result, matching process models for students and advisors were developed based on obtained information about actor's preferences, a pool of population in the process, sources of information inside it, and rules and norms of the university environment. The models built and the derived knowledge are the first steps in exploring the matching process and can be used in future work. The research can be amplified and continued with the application of quantitative methods and game-theoretical approach.