The economic security of higher education institutions from the perspective of international competition

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to develop a methodological approach towards assessing the economic security of institutions of higher education. There has been generalized the experience of foreign universities in terms of providing high standards of educational and research process in the context of ensuring their economic security in modern conditions. The study has been conducted on the comparison of aggregate indicators of the economic security of HEIs based on the results of factor analysis (the method of the main components). The output data are formed taking into account the main approaches to constructing a balanced system of indicators based on the results of cluster analysis. The integral indicators of economic security of HEIs and integral indicators of economic security in general have been calculated based on the values of factor loadings and weighting coefficients of indicators for each group. The system of performance indicators of the world leading universities has been formed and the key factors of economic security of foreign universities have been identified taking into account the generalized experience of foreign universities. The developed methodological approach to the assessment is universal and provides opportunities for developing measures to improve the level of economic security of institutions of higher education. Studies have shown that the economic security of economic entities is not least determined by the management efficiency of intellectual resources. The calculated level of HEI economic security is an indicator not only for protecting it from threats but also for the causal link between socio-economic development of the state, its economic potential and the level of higher education. The holistic scientific and practical study has been carried out in the article taking into account the interconnection of higher education and economic security of institutions of higher education and a methodical approach to the evaluation of the economic security of HEIs has been developed. The above stipulates the necessity of developing a methodological approach to assessing the risks to the economic security of institutions of higher education on the basis of possible threats to their activities.