Eurasia SIG members Maia Chankseliani (University of Oxford) and Aisi Li (Nazarbayev University) organised the workshop “Escaping the Exclusion or Sustaining the Privilege? A Complex Reality of Student Mobility from Kazakhstan” (May 30 – June 3, 2016, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan). The workshop was funded by a Newton-Al-Farabi Researcher Links grant. It brought together early career researchers from the UK and Kazakhstan to discuss how outbound student mobility influences individual and societal well-being in Kazakhstan. It drew students, researchers, and academics from different educational institutions, disciplinary backgrounds, countries of origin, genders, races, and disability status. This diversity was critical for the fruitful and engaging discussions during the workshop.
Presentation by Madina Karsakpayeva, Erasmus graduate student in inclusive education from Roehampton University, attracted a special interest. Madina shared her personal experience of studying abroad and challenges in applying for the Bolashak scholarship while being a student with special needs: “I am a citizen of Kazakhstan, where many physical barriers such as abundant ramps and other wheelchair accessible facilities prevent scholars from being fully integrated with mainstream academics. I am so glad I persisted after so many unsuccessful attempts in study abroad applications. Coming to the US on Fulbright and to the UK, Norway and Czech Republic on Erasmus exposed me to a completely new culture of acceptance, respect and equality that I never anticipated.” Olga Mun, a Eurasia SIG student member and an Erasmus+ research trainee at the University of Cambridge, presented on the complexities of exclusion within higher education institutions in Kazakhstan and in Erasmus+ and Bolashak international mobility programs.
The workshop discussions contributed to generating a better understanding of outbound student mobility from Kazakhstan, higher education policymaking in the country, and educational trajectories for the economically disadvantaged, rural, and/or disabled young people who have relatively restricted access to study abroad opportunities. As a part of the workshop, participants had a chance to meet and discuss their ideas with Kazakhstani educational policy-makers.
For more information about the workshop, contact Aisi Li (li.aisi@nu.edu.kz) and Maia Chankseliani (maia.chankseliani@education.ox.ac.uk)
