One of the most significant processes that has established Kazakhstani higher education in the global arena was entering the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and joining the Bologna Process (BP) in 2010. Being the first Central Asian country, Kazakhstan became the forty-seventh member of the EHEA. After signing the Bologna Declaration, Kazakhstani higher education switched to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and adopted the National Qualifications Framework (IQAA, n.d.). 

The impact of the Bologna Process on Kazakhstani education is undoubtedly significant. In 2011, Kazakhstan replaced the Soviet two-tier system for training researchers, comprising the Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science degrees, with the PhD system, aligning with the European Bologna Process (OECD, 2017). This had a great impact on faculty promotion and remuneration policies in Kazakhstani universities. Awarding titles like professor and academic professor signifies the research and academic pursuits of faculty members subsequent to earning their academic degrees. The process for accrediting scientific and educational staff is a critical step in advancing within the academic sector. In the years following independence, the criteria and approach for conferring these titles, especially regarding research activities, have been modified. From 2011 onwards, a key requirement for receiving an academic title has involved publishing in globally acknowledged peer-reviewed journals featured in Scopus and Web of Science. Additionally, career policies and management processes in universities are steered by principles of accountability and transparency. The tradition of producing annual reports, accessible to the public and authored by rectors of national universities, has been established and recently expanded to include all universities in Kazakhstan (IAC, 2022). Consequently, faculty in higher education are increasingly driven to demonstrate their research effectiveness to align with the modern standards of higher education.

Even within the local policy context of Kazakhstan, there is a dearth of empirical critical research on faculty performativity in regional universities. Much research has been done in major cities and megalopolises of the country (see for example, Kuzhabekova & Mukhamejanova, 2017). This study specifically focuses on regional universities located in three provinces of Kazakhstan. 

The proposed study has explored how faculty members at regional public universities adapt to and experience neoliberal reforms in the post-socialist context of higher education. The study pursued the following research question: (1) What are the changing patterns of the academic profession in regional public universities in Kazakhstan?

Numerous studies have examined the academic profession globally (Cummings, 2008; Teichler et al., 2013), but post-socialist higher education contexts remain less explored (Lee & Kuzhabekova, 2019). Notably, the prominent “Changing Academic Profession”study primarily focuses on leading educational systems, overlooking post-socialist regions (Teichler et al., 2013). 

Overall, this study makes an effort to bring attention to underrepresented voices in academia, inform policy reforms that better cater to the needs of regional public universities, and contribute to the professional development and recognition of faculty members in Kazakhstan’s higher education landscape. Moreover, the study aims at contributing knowledge about changing academic professions to international literature by shedding the light on the Central Asian region as the survey had been adapted to the Kazakhstani/Central Asian post-socialist context.

The study draws on a mixed methods research design. Thus, an explanatory research design was applied to the study. Within the quantitative research component, the study followed the research design of the international and comparative study “Changing Academic Profession” (Teichler, 2013; Hiroshima University, 2008). It specifically adopted the survey instrument used in the discussed comparative study on the changing academic profession. Qualitative data was collected through conducting semi-structured interviews with university faculty members (based on various faculty ranks and ages) as well as elite interviews with university leaders (vice-rectors for research, deans and vice deans) and research administrators (research departments) at the same regional public universities.

In its intention to generate a culturally appropriate impact on the local education policy and practice in the post-socialist context of Kazakhstan, the proposed project draws on the Knowledge to Action Framework (KTAF) through the research-policy-practice cycle (Best & Holmes, 2010). In this vein, the proposed project aims to have a potential impact on the following areas within the academic profession at regional universities: (1) Gathering quantitative and qualitative data about faculty research performativity and accountability in understudied contexts of regional public universities; (2) Raising awareness among university leaders and policymakers about opportunities for the development of research productivity among the faculty as well as negative consequences of research performativity on the faculty; (3) Producing a sustainable professional development program based on the trainer-trainer model for sustainability of the project; (4) Changing practices through evidence-based skills training intervention​s and (5) Shaping policies through research-informed recommendations on the research productivity in local HEIs; (6) Development and provision of a research-informed policy brief on the changing patterns of the academic profession to relevant policymaking organizations

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