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, thus 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.