Paper abstract:

Due to the tumultuous history of the country as part of the Soviet Union, the modern Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic and multicultural state. Since gaining independence, the government of the country has been balancing nicely the national identity building with ethnic harmony so far. When the Soviet Union collapsed Kazakhs in Kazakhstan made up only 50% of population (stat.gov). During the 30 years of independence mostly thanks to massive emigration of non-Kazakh population and to the demographic indicators of Slavic vs Asian population the number of Kazakhs this year reached 65% (stat.gov, 2022). It means non-Kazakh ethnic groups represent the third of the country’s population, which makes it important to create such political and socio-economic conditions that would enable equal access to higher education and development of human capital. In addition to the Slavic ethnicities, Uzbeks are the second most populous ethnicity in Kazakhstan, and their numbers are on the rise 2.85% (2009) and 3.18% (2018) from total population. They mostly reside in the southern regions: Turkestan region 93% and Zhambyl region 7% (2018). This research aims to investigate the path to employment of minority ethnic groups using the case of Uzbeks in Kazakhstan. This study intends to gain a better understanding of the role Uzbek’s human capital and social capital in finding employment and choosing the career path and sector of economy. The study has the qualitative research design. Official statistics is used to describe the overall trends on socio-economic indicators for minority ethnic groups. I choose interviews since they are the best way to construct and gain insights into experiences of participants. The interviews will be semi-structured in order to have “a balance between the flexibility of an open-ended interview and the focus of a structured survey” (McCammon, n.d.). The target population of this research are comprised of individuals who identify themselves as ethnic Uzbeks residing in the Turkestan region, who should have more than one-year experience in the labour market at the time of the data collection. I plan to interview around 20-25 participants with equal gender and urban/rural residence distribution to gain insights into the experiences of access to human capital development opportunities and labour market participation.

Paper abstract:

Abstract

This paper aims to focus on challenges facing migrant (Kandas) children in Kazakhstani schools. At the dawn of independence the government launched repatriation initiatives to support foreign ethnic Kazakhs from different countries to return to Kazakhstan. However, there are lack of policies for successful integration of migrant children into Kazakhstani society. Since 2010, Kazakhstan has been implementing inclusive education in secondary schools but returnees’ children have faced a number of problems in this mainstream education because they found it difficult to adapt to the new social realities. There are number of studies devoted to Oralmans from China (), Russia (), Mongolia(). However, little attention was paid to their children's adaptations in schools in the frame of inclusive education. The author has conducted field research in different parts of Kazakhstan but mainly in Almaty region due to high concentration of returnees. He has conducted interviews, focus groups, surveys among principals, school children, teachers and state officials using qualitative and quantitative data. His preliminary findings suggest that all stakeholders should coordinate efforts and monitor the activities within the school to help children to navigate in the new educational settings. This study will contribute to the better understanding of special needs of returnees’ children. Moreover, it will raise awareness of this issue in implementing inclusive education and will develop the close relationship between local and returnees’ children.

It is essential to note that the project is the author's first experience; therefore, some aspects may not be covered. However, I believe that it will benefit all the actors in the educational sphere.

Paper abstract:

International studies extensively discuss how the education and welfare of families usually change during labour mobility. This paper demonstrates how the perception of education is gradually changing in the context of labor migration from Tajikistan to Russia. Drawing on qualitative data obtained in both Tajikistan and in Russia, through the narrative inquiry research method, I illustrate how migrant workers change their deeply gendered perception of education (especially post-secondary) for their male and female family members. This paper shows how migrant workers are ready to sacrifice and endure challenges while being in migration, for the benefit of their children’s education, but more so for the boys’ education. I complexify, and discuss how the participants’ new valuing of women and girls’ education is the result of the inequalities they suffered while in Russia and also gender inequalities when they return to Tajikistan. I argue that access to education (especially post-secondary) for younger women is negotiated and dependent on numerous intersecting factors such as age, gender, migration experience, kinship structures, and financial support that can either hinder or facilitate this access. The paper concludes by arguing that although labour migration can positively influence perceptions of education; yet, it is not always translated into tangible actions. This paper is a segment from a larger research project focused on understanding changes in gender relations in the midst of labour mobility from Tajikistan to Russia.