Paper abstract:

With the acquisition of independence of Kyrgyzstan, the national education system has undergone some transformations and changes.

The transition of the national economy to a market economy caused objective changes in the approaches and attitudes of society and the state towards the higher education /post-secondary system. Government reforms in various fields also contributed to the reforms in higher education.

In 2012, Kyrgyzstan’s higher education/post-secondary system switched to a two-level system called the Bologna education system. The Prime Minister of the country signed that Government Resolution in 2011. According to that document, since the 2012-2013 academic year, all university graduates have been awarded degrees such as bachelor’s and master except for some specialties. Kyrgyzstan had only a five-year program (specialist) based on the Soviet Union education system before.

The Bologna Declaration was signed in 1999 by 29 European ministers in the Italian city of Bologna. Russia joined the Bologna process in September 2003; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine joined in May 2005; Kazakhstan joined in 2010. Rectors of 37 universities from 10 countries signed the Magna Charta of Universities on November 16, 2011, including 11 leading universities of Kyrgyzstan. As a result, these universities joined the Bologna Convention of 721 other universities from 79 countries. The main goal of the process is to create a common space for higher education globally.

According to that Convention, European students can continue their studies at other European universities collecting credits and receiving a single diploma so that graduates can get jobs in European companies.

The biggest issue for Kyrgyz Universities is the recognition of the diploma of Kyrgyz universities by European countries due to different barriers such as language, differences in courses contents, etc. Student exchange programs occasionally take place, but only at some levels that were previously planned. Currently, Russia has been removed from the Bologna system and there are discussions that if Kyrgyzstan will be in the Bologna system in the future as it requires consistent level, structure, education content, and compatible qualifications with other Bologna Convention members, which is not a case currently.

Therefore, in this article, I would like to examine the problems of the higher/post-secondary education system in Kyrgyzstan in transition to the Bologna system.

Paper abstract:

The globalization and internationalization of higher education have consolidated the spread of English Medium Instruction (EMI) among universities around the globe. Nevertheless, EMI phenomenon is still in its infancy in Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan is one of the active pioneers of EMI among other Central Asian countries. Just in the past decade, higher education institutions (HEIs) in Kazakhstan have launched EMI education following multiple governmental directives, references, initiatives, and policies. EMI, just like most of the reforms and policies in Kazakhstan and in the majority of post-soviet countries, is imposed top-down, and not much is known about how institutions translate policies into practice. Little knowledge exists on institutional readiness for the EMI policy and how HEIs are enacting the policy that is not clearly articulated at the ministry level. However, when inchoate state policy is introduced, institutions, as a rule, may introduce policy, ignoring their capacity and/or enacting it substantially on their interpretation. Thus, policy actors’ interpretation of EMI policy and any (mis)alignment between EMI as policy and the actual experiences deserve rigorous and in-depth investigation. Therefore, the proposed study explores how the national policy of EMI is being interpreted and enacted in two HEIs located in two different regions in Kazakhstan and explored successes and challenges in the enactment of EMI policy. The study employs an interpretive multiple-case study research design to achieve its aim. It uses a conceptual framework that combines the enactment theory, the onion framework, and Language-in-education planning. The use of these frameworks helps understand the enactment process at multiple levels and from the perspectives of a range of policy actors (including university senior leadership, deans, faculty, and students). The views of policy actors were gathered through individual interviews and focus group discussions. The results of the study may be significant for policymakers and university stakeholders in understanding the process of EMI implementation and developing effective strategies to address the challenges encountered in the implementation of EMI. Also, the integrated conceptual framework may lead to our deeper understanding of language policy enactment at universities both in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

Paper abstract:

With the rise of globalization, internationalization has become a key trend in higher education systems worldwide. While there are various rationales as to why institutions and national governments integrate internationalization into higher education and how they do it, little is known as to how internationalization can be enforced at a national level. After the change of leadership in 2016 Uzbekistan has opened its higher education (HE) system for broader internationalization and welcomed international initiatives such as the opening of foreign university branch campuses and joint programs. While this change in the HE policy has brought some liberalization to the sector, the current nature of internationalization does not seem to reflect the voices of university academics. Nor does it seem to have a clear HE development intent. Using the case of post-Soviet Uzbekistan, this paper argues that HE internationalization can be a cosmetic measure enforced by the government in which universities lack independent internationalization strategies. The argument is supported by the content analysis of interviews held with 22 university lecturers during the fieldwork in Tashkent in 2020. The research findings contribute to the expansion of commonly known conceptualizations on the manifestations of internationalization in the university sectors.

Paper short abstract:

Aliya Kuzhabekova (presenter), Gulfia Kuchumova Nazarbayev University Keywords: women in STEM, post-Soviet, employment transition, STEM pipeline, gender

Paper abstract:

This paperexplores employment experiences of femalescience, technology, engineering andmathematics (STEM) graduates in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country. Within thelast two decades, the importance of STEM fields in promoting the country’ssocio-economic development has been underscored in national policies. Improvingthe effectiveness of STEM education and increasing the number of STEM graduatesis viewed as the key factor for promoting innovation and research-driveneconomic growth.In highereducation, the government has been supporting the reforms in STEM education byannually allocating the largest proportion of state study grants to STEM majors(Stat.gov, 2020; Demessinova, 2020). By 2025, 70% of all state grants areplanned to be allocated to STEM majors (Bilimdinews.kz, 2022; Ummat, 2022).Thegovernment seeks to recruit talented students to STEM majors, includingfemales, the number of whom has also grown within recent years and now is morethan 50 per cent of the total student population (Akhmetbekov, 2020).However,increasing the supply and retention of female students at all stages of STEMeducation pipeline does not guarantee their long-term participation in the STEMlabor force (White & Smith, 2021). Previous research conductedinternationally on female STEM graduates’ employment outcomes shows that theyare still underrepresented in the STEM labor market, even holding relevantqualifications (Michelmore&Sassler, 2016). This happens because compared tomale students majoring in STEM, females are less likely to pursue careerscongruent to their majors and in contrast to their counterparts outside STEMspecializations, they are more likely to leave STEM careers (Glass et al.,2013; Xu, 2013) upon graduation. In literature, the low retention rate of STEMfemales in STEM careers is explained by a diverse set of factors – individual,organizational, and socio-structural.In Kazakhstan,scholarly investigation on females’ experiences in STEM fields is scarce. Theexisting research studies focus on either females’ interests and experiences inuniversity STEM majors (Almukhambetova&Kuzhabekova, 2020;Almukhambetova&Kuzhabekova, 2021; Almukhambetova et al., 2022)   or female academics’ employment experiences(Kuzhabekova&Almukhambetova, 2017; Kuzhabekova&Almukhambetova, 2021). This researchbuilds on these studies and aims to expand existing knowledge on females’experiences in STEM fields in Kazakhstan by investigating their employmentexperiences in the early-career stage (1-4 years after graduation). Inparticular, we seek to understand what factors affect females’ STEM persistenceafter graduation. The study was guided by the following research questions:1.    What are female STEM graduates’ labor market destinations and futurecareer plans?2.    What factors affect females’ STEM persistence after graduation? This studycontributes to the literature on female STEM graduates’ employment outcomes andpersistence. More specifically, it provides new insights by examining STEMfemales’ employment experiences, education-job congruence and persistence inthe early-career stage and across STEM subject areas. By focusing onKazakhstan, a Central Asian country, this study brings evidence from apreviously understudied national/regional context that enriches the currentinternational understanding of females’ work experiences in STEM fields. Inaddition, the findings of this study are believed to be beneficial forpolicy-makers in Kazakhstan and other countries seeking a return from STEMeducation policies to economic growth, as well as for employers in STEM fieldsto improve working conditions for females in the workplace.   Fundingdetails: the MES of RK, project number AP14869690ReferencesAkhmetbekov,A. (2020, February 4). Boleepolovinyvsekhkazahstanskihstudentovsostavlyayutdevushki[More than a half of all Kazakhstani students are girls]. Azattyq-ruhy.Retrieved from: https://rus.azattyq-ruhy.kz/society/4992-bolee-poloviny-vsekh-kazakhstanskikh-studentov-sostavliaiut-devushkiAlmukhambetova, A. &Kuzhabekova,A. (2020). Factors affecting the decision of female students to enrol inscience, technology, engineering and mathematics majors in Kazakhstan. InternationalJournal of Science Education, 42(6), 934-954.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1742948 Almukhambetova,A. &Kuzhabekova, A. (2021). Negotiating conflicting discourses. Femalestudents’ experiences in STEM majors in an international university in CentralAsia. InternationalJournal of Science Education, 43(4), 570-593.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.1875150 Almukhambetova, A., Torrano,D., & Nam, A. (2023). Fixing the Leaky Pipelinefor in

STEM. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21,305-324. doi.org/10.1007/s10763- 021-10239-1 Bilimdinews(2022, April 6). Goszakazbudetpereorientirovannatekhnicheskiespecial'nostiiuvelichenna45 tysyachmest – MON RK [State grants will be allocated to technical majors andgrow by 45 thousand grants – MES RK], Bilimdinews.Retrieved from: https://bilimdinews.kz/?p=195554&ysclid=lcty9swqm114873488Demessinova,A. (2020, July 23) Na kakiespecial'nostivydeliligranty v 2020 godu v Kazahstane[What majors are grants allocated to in Kazakhstan in 2020]. Kazpravda.Retrieved from: https://kazpravda.kz/n/na-kakie-spetsialnosti-vydelili-granty-v-2020-godu-v-kazahstane/?ysclid=lctxumltow234083889Glass,J., Sassler, S., Levitte, Y., &Michelmore, K. (2013). What’s so specialabout STEM? A comparison of women’s retention in STEM and professionaloccupations. Social Forces, 92(2), 723-756.doi.org/10.1093/sf/sot092 Kuzhabekova, A. &Almukhambetova,A. (2017). Female academic leadership in the post-Soviet context.European Educational Research Journal, 16(2-3),183-199.Kuzhabekova, A. &Almukhambetova,A. (2021). Women’s progression through the leadership pipeline in the universities of Kazakhstanand AJournal of Comparative and International Education, 51.doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2019.1599820 Michelmore,K. &Sassler, S. (2016). Explaining the gender wage gap in STEM: Does fieldsex composition matter? RSF: The Russell Sage of the Social Sciences, 2(4), 194-215. doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2016.2.4.07 Ummat,A. (2022). Tokayev: Molodyekazahidolzhnybyt' tekhnaryami [Tokayev: YoungKazakhs should be technical specialists]. Informburo, 21January. Retrieved from:https://informburo.kz/novosti/prezidentmolodye-kazaxi-dolzny-byt-texnaryami?ysclid=lctygmgqiy666648333White,P. & Smith, E. (2022). From subject choice to career path: Female STEMgraduates in the UK labour market. Oxford Review of Education, 48(6),693-709. doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2021.2011713 Xu,Y. (2013). Career outcomes of STEM and non-STEM college in majored-field and influential factorsin career inHigher Education, 54,

9275-2