Higher Education Internationalization: Insights from Kazakhstan

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the approaches, forms, goals and influencing factors of internationalization of higher education in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's education system is regulated centrally by the Ministry of Education and Science, and most internationalization initiatives are set by the Ministry. The Ministry sees the role of internationalization of higher education in advancing Kazakhstan's education system, increasing the attractiveness of higher education, and developing a multicultural society. The government promotes higher education internationalization by: sponsoring degree and non-degree student and faculty mobility programs; signing intergovernmental agreements on educational exchange; incentivizing the internationalization of curriculum by setting accreditation regulations; creating an international university; and signing the Bologna Process which requires universities to make deeper structural reforms. These governmental initiatives were the main drivers for Kazakhstani universities to internationalize. Although most universities adopted strategies on internationalization, their approaches could be characterized as an activity approach rather than a comprehensive approach to internationalization.

Higher Education Internationalization in the Context of Ongoing Economic-Political Transitions: Insights from Former Soviet and Eastern Bloc Nations

“…In Kazakhstan, the perceived importance of internationalization to higher education is articulated by the nation's leaders, as a government policy document specifies that, "national systems of higher education cannot be developed outside of global processes and trends, and without considering the demands of global labor market" (Jumakulov & Ashirbekov, 2016). But, Jumakulov and Ashirbekov also observe that Kazakhstan lacks "a specific national strategy for internationalization" and fails to articulate "a definition of internationalization."…”

“…Jumakulov and Ashirbekov (2016) identify several programs that are funded by the government of Kazakhstan with the goal of promoting outbound and inbound mobility of students and faculty. Pusztai and colleagues (2016) describe patterns of outbound and inbound student and faculty mobility in Hungary and conceptualize international mobility as a form of international knowledge brokerage that may benefit Hungarian students and faculty members at large.…”

“…In this volume, both Jumakulov and Ashirbekov (2016) and Pusztai and colleagues (2016) note that a substantial proportion of inbound student mobility is attributable to students from neighboring nations, and at least some of these inbound students from neighboring nations are ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Hungarians, respectively. "Horizontal mobility" (Rivza & Teichler, 2007), defined as the educationrelated movement of students between national education systems of similar quality and sometimes between neighboring nations, has been documented in prior research on former Soviet and Eastern bloc nations (e.g., Chankseliani, 2015;Heyneman & Skinner, 2014;Rivza & Teichler, 2007).…”

“…Applying world system theory to the papers in this volume suggests that Kazakhstan may be peripheral to Western nations and even to the regional core of Russia, but a regional semi-periphery for other former Soviet states, as evidenced by the inbound mobility of students to Kazakhstan from Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan (Jumakulov & Ashirbekov, 2016). Similarly, Hungary may be characterized as a country on the global periphery but also considered a regional semi-periphery that drives "horizontal mobility" of students from neighboring countries and non-neighboring, peripheral countries such as South Korea (Pusztai et al, 2016).…”

“…Quality assurance in higher education typically takes the form of institutional accreditation, although the implementation of a credit transfer system can also be considered a de facto quality assurance mechanism (Heyneman & Skinner, 2014). In this volume, both Pusztai and colleagues (2016) and Jumakulov and Ashirbekov (2016) identify the implementation of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in Hungary and Kazakhstan, respectively, as an important promoter of higher education internationalization. These studies suggest that, by making postsecondary credentials from different nations more readily comparable, ECTS is a higher education reform that has likely contributed to international student mobility.…”