From Political Science in Belgrade to HR Analytics in Moscow

Andrija Djokic

© HSE University

Andrija Djokic, from Serbia, got his master’s degree with honours from the HSE Graduate School of Business in 2022. In his interview with the HSE News Service, he talks about the advantages of studying at HSE University, the importance of a knowledge-based approach to HR management, and the challenges of pursuing a career in a foreign environment.

I have always loved to read and study, and I was a top student during my political science studies in Belgrade. Our education system was traditional—we relied on professors’ textbooks, oral exams, a lot of theory and literature, but little research or presentation. It was a world where knowledge was deep and conceptual, where one learned to think, argue, and understand the logic of human systems.

Although I achieved excellent grades, I didn’t see myself in a purely academic career. Even then, I was already working with my father on implementing quality management systems in companies, which sparked my interest in how organisations function and improve.

I was fascinated by the intersection between human behaviour, structure, and efficiency—and this passion naturally steered me toward management

A New Beginning: Moscow and HSE

The desire for new challenges—and love—brought me to Moscow. I received a scholarship from Rossotrudnichestvo, and my first year in Russia (2019–2020) was spent in the International Prep Year, where I began learning the Russian language from scratch. That year was transformative: a new language, a new culture, and my first encounter with HSE University.

I still remember visiting the HSE building on Pokrovka—bright, modern, digitalised, and full of life

It was so different from everything I had experienced before. I immediately felt that this was the kind of environment where I wanted to study: dynamic, international, and forward-looking.

Discovering HR Analytics at HSE

After the preparatory year, I enrolled in the Master’s programme in HR Analytics at the Graduate School of Business (GSB), on Shabolovka. It was a completely new world for me.

When the master’s programme began, I was lucky enough to meet my colleague Anna Makarova at the first and only in-person lecture before classes moved online again. That meeting was one of the most important moments of my studies. You can be smart, talented, inquisitive, hardworking, and organised, but when you enter a completely new educational system, everything feels unfamiliar. Without good onboarding, it’s hard to understand how the organisation functions, what the academic expectations are, how to structure papers, or what a proper presentation should look like.

Instead of memorising theories, we discussed cutting-edge academic papers, analysed data, and presented our own projects. Exams were not about repeating information, but about critical thinking and real impact

 Anna helped me navigate all those unwritten rules and cultural nuances. She became both a guide and a friend, and together we supported each other through every stage of the programme. Besides my scientific supervisor, she is one of the most important people I met in Moscow. For me, HSE is, above all, about people—those who share knowledge, offer help, and inspire you to become better.

This shift in learning philosophy changed the way I approached knowledge itself. I learned to think even more practically, to not only analyse a process but to influence it, to offer solutions that create real change in organisations

A decisive figure in this transformation was Veronica Kabalina, the academic manager of our programme. She designed the HR Analytics curriculum as a living dialogue with practitioners and researchers—where students could test hypotheses, confront their ideas with experts, and learn from constructive feedback. Later, Veronica became my scientific supervisor, mentor, and teacher.

Under her guidance, I wrote my master’s dissertation titled ‘The Impact of Organizational Climate on Employee Burnout’—and it became the most important project of my academic life. I was the only student in my cohort to receive the highest grade, and I defended my work entirely in Russian, which I had learned from zero only a few years earlier.

My dissertation was later turned into a research article, which was published in the Russian Management Journal and in 2024 received an award at the HSE competition for the best academic article written in Russian in the field of management

That recognition meant a lot—not only as a professional achievement but also as proof that perseverance, curiosity, and intercultural learning can produce meaningful results.

Photo courtesy of Andrija Djokic

A Path Toward Research and the PhD

My academic performance opened the door to PhD studies at HSE. Once again, I worked closely with Dr Kabalina, participated in joint research projects, and presented at conferences. One of the most memorable moments was attending the 2024 HR Students and Researchers Conference in Rotterdam (Netherlands)—the most prestigious HR academic event in Europe, where leading professors and young scholars meet to exchange ideas.

Unfortunately, due to financial reasons, I had to interrupt my PhD studies in the third year. It was a difficult decision, but not the end of the journey. I am determined to return and complete my dissertation because, for me, every project must be brought to its conclusion. That sense of responsibility—to finish what I start—has always guided me.

Looking Ahead: Connecting Research and Practice

My greatest aspiration now is to find an organisation that recognises the importance of a scientific approach to human capital management—one that values data, analytics, and genuine understanding of people.

My area of research—organisational climate, culture, engagement, and burnout—can directly help companies preserve their most valuable resource: their employees

Analytics, in my view, is not just about dashboards or statistics. It is a strategic function—a way to connect human behaviour with organisational outcomes. With my combined background in political science, management, and HR analytics, I aim to contribute to creating workplaces that are not only efficient but also healthy, creative, and humane.

Work Experience and the Challenge of Job Hunting

During my master’s studies, I was very fortunate to spend almost a year at the international energy company Enel (which at that time operated in Russia)—first as an intern, and later as a full-time employee. That experience was invaluable.

Through both positive and challenging moments, my work experience gave me a deeper understanding of how large corporations function—something that didn’t really exist back in Serbia

At Enel, I had the opportunity to conduct my first data collection project—to design and implement an employee survey together with my scientific supervisor, adapting the questionnaire to the Russian context. We gathered responses from around a thousand employees and obtained insights that later became the foundation for my master’s dissertation. It was my first real experience of connecting data, people, and organisational processes.

What I appreciated most was that in Enel, it didn’t matter how old you were—what mattered was whether the work was done well and on time. I sometimes joke that the HSE deadline culture helped me a lot in prioritising and completing the set tasks.

However, the search for a job in Russia after graduation turned out to be one of the most challenging parts of life for international students. We often don’t have the networking connections that local graduates have been building for years.

That’s why I believe that the HSE Alumni community, professors, departments, and the university itself play a crucial role in helping international graduates integrate into the professional environment

If today is a global battle for talents, it is important to help those who were ready to change their lives, entered the unknown, and showed results. Without support, it’s hard to win some battles in a new city and a new country.

Many of my peers eventually left Moscow, even though they dreamed of staying and contributing to this vibrant and dynamic city. I understand them—it’s not easy to start over in a different system

Yet, despite all the difficulties, I remain convinced that every experience, even the hardest one, teaches us something valuable about resilience, adaptation, and growth.

Reflection

Looking back, I see how every stage of my journey—from Belgrade to Moscow, from political theory to HR analytics—has shaped me into who I am today. The theoretical discipline of Serbian education gave me depth; HSE gave me direction and the tools to transform theory into impact.

Photo courtesy of Andrija Djokic

Moving to Russia, learning a new language, adapting to life in a megapolis, studying during the COVID period, and ultimately graduating with honours—all of these experiences taught me resilience and flexibility.

By the way, one of the biggest motivations for getting a degree with honours was the possibility of getting a residence permit, which I got in 2023

Even today, just as Anna once helped me, I try to support newly arrived students from Serbia who plan to study at HSE. Every year, several of them reach out to me, and I share my experience—which, as they often say, helps them achieve excellent results and integrate more easily into the HSE culture. Without the desire to help one another, we cannot truly progress—neither individually nor as a community. HSE became more than a university for me; it became a place where I learned how to think, communicate, research, and create change.