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SUMMARY:Understanding the Transition of Public Universities to Institution
 al Autonomy in Kazakhstan - Kairat Kurakbayev\, Research Institute’s Dir
 ector\, Nazarbayev University\, British Council visiting scholar at the Un
 iversity of Cambridge\, Faculty of Education 
DTSTART:20141022T120000Z
DTEND:20141022T130000Z
UID:TALK55042@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Simin Zeng
DESCRIPTION:Although institutional autonomy has recently received signific
 ant attention from scholars and policymakers in much of the world\, few st
 udies have been made of the universities in transition toward institutiona
 l autonomy in post-Soviet countries. Autonomy\, and its related concept of
  public accountability\, are relatively new phenomena in Kazakhstan’s hi
 gher education system. Learning to be autonomous presents challenges for t
 he universities in transition from state central control to the decentrali
 sation of education system. Based on qualitative data analysis\, this pape
 r examines university leaders and faculty members’ understandings\, expe
 riences and perspectives in relation to the transition to autonomy at thei
 r institutions. Our findings show that the challenges of the transition to
  institutional autonomy combine Soviet legacies\, current difficulties of 
 central control\, entrenched practices of university leadership and legall
 y limited practices of the faculty. We argue that for actual autonomy to t
 ake place\, the discussed socially and ideologically constructed complexit
 ies of the universities in transition need to be dealt with by policy make
 rs and researchers and\, more importantly\, university leadership. \n\nThe
  presentation is structured in four parts. After introducing the social co
 ntext of Kazakhstan’s higher education system\, it highlights nuances of
  the concept of ‘institutional autonomy’ based on a selection of resea
 rch literature\, and provides a brief review of recently-enacted higher ed
 ucation reforms in Kazakhstan calling for greater institutional self-gover
 nance. Next\, drawing on interview data\, it reveals complexities in the t
 ransition to institutional autonomy on the part of university administrato
 rs and academic staff at two established national universities. In the las
 t section\, the presentation introduces implications for higher education 
 leaders and policy makers involved in the organisational change.\n
LOCATION:Room 2S4\, Donald McIntyre Building\, Faculty of Education\, 184 
 Hills Road\, Cambridge CB2 8PQ
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