Policy enactment of mainstreaming gender equality in higher education and civil service in Kazakhstan

Collaborative Research Program 2021-2023

The proposed study seeks to explore the ways the Government of Kazakhstan’s policy of mainstreaming gender in higher education institutions (HEIs) and civil service is enacted on the ground and to what effect. As policies are complex and multifaceted, educational and public institutions produce their own interpretation of policy, drawing on aspects of their culture and environments. Thus, these multiple global and national gender equality initiatives adopted in Kazakhstan demand a better understanding of the ‘enactment’ of mainstreaming gender equality initiatives in HE and civil service to explore and examine the ways in which policy actors elaborate, interpret and embed discourses of global and national gender equality into their own environments and working practices. Very little is known about how gender equality is understood or mainstreamed in educational courses in HEIs or civil service in Kazakhstan, how are policy actors such as tutors/faculty/trainers enacting the courses and how are the educational initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality received by students or civil servants. Without this knowledge, it is hard to assess if these educational initiatives are achieving their intended purposes or how they might better support their desired objectives. The project will use multiple qualitative case studies of 9 HEIs and 3 civil service academies to provide useful insights for its enactment and recommendations for policy and practice.