The 1 st year Phd students' career expectations and reasons to choose NUGSE

Abstract

The Graduate School of Education was launched in 2012. Its PhD program is designed for students, who "are committed to taking a leadership role in educational reform and management in Kazakhstan" (NU website). In 2014 eleven students were selected and offered a state scholarship. Within the course on Advanced Methods of Educational Research, the 1s t year PhD students conducted a small scale research to address two research questions, namely to understand the reasons behind PhD students" desire to pursue post-graduate education at Nazarbayev University, Graduate School of Education (NUGSE), and their career expectations upon the completion of the program.