Session Information
99 ERC SES 05 I, Organizational Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Research in higher education (HE) has become a centre of attention for the creation of new knowledge and its dissemination as well as for its effectiveness for higher education institutions (HEIs) and contribution to societal progress (Altbach, 2013). Nevertheless, in the modern world research development is seen as a complex and multifaceted process. It requires comprehensive understanding of globalisation and internationalization trends, geopolitical circumstances, national and organisational conditions including individual aspects and cultural contexts when policymakers are involved in adopting specific reforms and making transformations in HE. It is especially important for developing countries in which universities are seen traditionally as places of teaching, training, and service (Altbach, 2009). Yet with increasing competition among HEIs globally and regionalally, the emphasis on integrating research development and knowledge production at universities intensified.
In the context of Uzbekistan, national research policies play an instrumental role in shaping the research landscape of the country because HEIs are centrally controlled by the government (Ruziev & Burkhanov, 2018). Yet, over the years the HE sector witnessed the erosion of physical infrastructure and human capital because of decades of neglect and underinvestment after the country gained independence in 1991 (Ruziev & Mamasolieva, 2022). Driven by a common belief that economic growth is highly influenced by a nation’s ability to compete in the global knowledge economy (Lane, 2012), the government of Uzbekistan also started to develop research capacity of HEIs and make investments in research infrastructure with an ambitious plan of establishing an education hub in Central Asia by 2030 and creating the foundation for so-called ‘‘The Third Renaissance Initiative’’ (President Decree No. 5847, 2019). In view of these developments, this research study focuses on the government’s initiatives since 2017, a turning point in the liberalization of many sectors, including HE. These initiatives aim to enhance research productivity, stimulate innovation, and drive economic growth within the country and encourage university academics in their pursuit of research engagement and raising research productivity.
This research project aims to examine the effects of internationalization efforts in Uzbekistan, specifically regarding how academics produce research. The objective is to investigate various internationalization initiatives such as the introduction of research metrics and global rankings, international collaboration, academic mobility, and international publication, and how they influence the research landscape and orientation of HE in Uzbekistan. An important aspect of this study involves the changing boundaries of the academic work and profession in response to national research policies, including influences from the Soviet era, Western norms, and nation-building on academic practices. By exploring these aspects, the research aims to identify any shifts and tensions within the current academic environment, highlighting the challenges that need addressing to enhance research engagement at universities.
Using a qualitative research method, this study aims to gain insights into changes and continuities experienced by academics in Uzbekistan. The research addresses three main questions: 1) What are the main international trends observed in the higher education sector? 2) How are these internationalization agendas translated and adapted to the context of the strong Soviet legacy and current geopolitical tensions? 3) How do Uzbek academics experience the changing research landscape and what strategies do they adopt in planning and conducting their research and publications?
The study will utilize the sociology of quantification and Stephen Ball's (2004) performativity to expand understanding of changes and continuities in the current academic environment and to gain insights into how the quantification of performance (control by numbers) impact the behavior and practices of academics. The theoretical framework will aid in comprehending how internationalization trends are contextualized to accommodate the Soviet legacy and understand the mechanisms through which these changes occur.
Method
The research study utilizes a qualitative method to examine how academics participate in research endeavors in accordance with national research policies. The study involves in-depth semi-structured interviews (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993; ) mainly with academic staff as well as vice-rectors and/or deans for scientific and internationalization affairs (as data triangulation) to gain insights into how the Soviet legacy and internationalization efforts shape the research environment and transform the academic work of university staff. The sampling strategy for this study involves two steps: the selection of HEIs as research sites, and the selection of faculty members from the selected universities. The study uses a purposive sampling technique to select the HEIs. Specifically, the primary pool of HEIs consists of those recognized as 'public universities' by the government. This focus is justified by the fact that 'public universities' are research-oriented and have a broader specialization in various fields. The universities are chosen based on several criteria, including their research-intensive nature, their status as flagship or research universities, their diverse range of specializations (social sciences, natural sciences, humanities), and their establishment during the Soviet period. The participants are recruited from the faculty members of four selected institutions located in two regions applying purposive (maximum variation strategy) and snowball sampling. Purposive sampling enables researchers to carefully select cases based on their judgement of typicality (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2017), while snowball sampling facilitates to access additional participants who meet the inclusion criteria through referrals (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2017). The maximum variation strategy of purposive sampling involves diverse cases in order to include various types across one or more dimensions in the research (Johnson & Christensen, 2019). Considering different backgrounds of academics, the study aims for variation in terms of gender, age, education background, academic discipline (humanities and social sciences), and institutional rank. This allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges and tensions faced by academics across diverse contexts. The interviews are conducted with 36 academic and administrative staff working at selected public universities. The study utilizes coding techniques (in the English language) to analyze the transcribed (in the Uzbek language) material employing the NVIVO software. The codes will then be organized into categories, enabling the development of new themes or the reinforcement of existing ones based on the inductive data (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Finally, the themes will be developed based on the interview questions.
Expected Outcomes
Overall, this research project aims to contribute to academic literature by extensively examining internationalization efforts in HE and the transformations of academic work in Uzbekistan. It provides a qualitative understanding of how Uzbek academics experience changing landscape and the strategies they adopt in planning and conducting their research and highlights the challenges that need to be addressed to enhance research engagement at universities in Uzbekistan. It also sheds light on topics related to quantification, performativity, and academic work that were previously little known or understudied in Uzbekistan. In terms of wider extent of knowledge, the study advances our understanding of higher education in Central Asia, an understudied region of the world that is strategically and geopolitically significant and at the nexus of influences from Europe, China, and Russia. Finally, the study provides valuable insights into how internationalization goals have shaped the current state of higher education in Central Asia as well as in Eastern Europe (the regions which share similar histories) to inform future policy decisions.
References
Altbach, P. G. (2009). Peripheries and centers: Research universities in developing countries. Asia Pacific Education Review, 10, 15-27. Altbach, P. G. (2013). Advancing the national and global knowledge economy: The role of research universities in developing countries. Studies in Higher Education, 38(3), 316-330. Ball, S. (2004). Performativities and fabrications in the education economy: Towards the performative society. In The performing school (pp. 210-226). Routledge. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2017). Research methods in education. Routledge. Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2019). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Sage publications. Lane, J. E. (2012). Higher education and economic competitiveness. In J. E. Lane & D. B. Johnstone (Eds.), Colleges and universities as economic drivers: Measuring higher education’s role in economic development (pp. 1–30). Albany: State University of New York Press. LeCompte, M. D., Preissle, J., & Tesch, R. (1993). Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research. Academic Press. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. President Decree of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 5847. (2019, October 8). On approval of the Concept of developing Higher Education system by 2030. https://lex.uz/docs/-4545884 Ruziev, K., & Burkhanov, U. (2018). Uzbekistan: Higher education reforms and the changing landscape since independence. In 25 Years of Transformations of Higher Education Systems in Post-Soviet Countries: Reform and Continuity, 435-459. Ruziev, K., & Mamasolieva, M. (2022). Building University Research Capacity in Uzbekistan. In Building Research Capacity at Universities (pp. 285-303). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
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