Employment of university graduates participating in external academic mobility programs

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to understand the role of academic mobility of graduates of Kazakhstani universities in increasing their competitiveness in employment. This article is devoted to the analysis of the employment of university graduates who have had external academic mobility programs. The study of the role of academic mobility of graduates of Kazakhstani universities in the process of their further employment was carried out on the basis of an analysis of some research results conducted on the basis of the Center for the Bologna Process and Academic Mobility of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (СBP&AM) in 2012–2013, as well as the results of a survey of students in a number of Kazakhstani universities conducted by the authors on the basis of the South Kazakhstan University in 2020. The analysis of various factors and measures influencing the increase in the efficiency of academic mobility of university graduates is carried out. As a result of the questionnaire survey, it was found that the majority of university graduates who were trained under the program of academic mobility in foreign universities were able to find a job rather quickly. It is concluded that the lack of funding for tuition does not always contribute to the choice of a strong partner university by students for internship under the academic mobility program. As a result of the study, the authors made a proposal that universities need to strengthen their work to assist in employment on the basis of mutually beneficial partnerships with employers, as well as to ensure that the competencies acquired by students abroad meet the requirements of the labor market in Kazakhstan.