Institute of Sociology
of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology
of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Zemnukhova L.V. The rise and fall of the Russian techies brand in London. In: From Russia with code: Migrations of Programmers in the Post-Soviet Era ...



Zemnukhova L.V. The rise and fall of the Russian techies brand in London. In: From Russia with code: Migrations of Programmers in the Post-Soviet Era / edited by M. Biagioli, V. Lepine; [trans. from the English by E. Napreenko, edited by D. Zhikharevich]. - St. Petersburg : EUPress, 2021. P. 531-560.
ISBN 978-5-94380-323-9
DOI нет

Posted on site: 13.12.21

 


Abstract

The migration of IT specialists from Russia and the Soviet Union to London was not constant or homogeneous. The ups and downs of the Russian techies brand have occurred in different migration waves, starting with the British Migration Program for Highly Qualified Specialists (HSMP), which opened up an easy way for thousands of IT workers to migrate to London and beyond - to the global labor market. The cultivation of Russianness in the London IT community began during the HSMP program, but the professional achievements of other generations of highly qualified migrants (mainly scientists), as well as the well-known and respected tradition of Soviet mathematical education, played a major role in the formation of this brand. Russian Russian tech Guy initially turned into a brand only among Russian professionals themselves — people who were successfully engaged in computer science and programming. This identity, combining pride and competence at the same time, very quickly overcame the boundaries of the Russian-speaking community and became a widely recognized stereotype.

Content (in russ)


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