Emancipating Higher Education in Ukraine from the Post-Soviet Legacy: A Problem of Trust and Academic Excellence

In this article the problems and challenges in the Ukrainian higher education arising from its Soviet legacy are disclosed and analyzed. Among others, decline of humanities and social sciences, divorce between education and research within university setting, myth of self-sufficiency and reluctance towards international collaboration, corrosion of culture of academic freedom and university autonomy, corruption of academic ethos are discussed. Special attention is paid to the contemporary attempts to promote university autonomy and culture of academic excellence which are seen as essential prerequisites for emancipation of higher education in Ukraine from its most conspicuous Soviet remnants. The potential of higher education institutions to become the vehicles of social change and cultural transition in Ukraine is studied