Medium of Instruction, National Identity and Attitudes Towards Gender Roles in Kazakhstan

Abstract

AbstractIn Kazakhstan, most educational institutions provide instruction in Kazakh or Russian. This research uses the concepts of civic and ethnic nationalism (Smith, National Identity, University of Nevada Press, 1991) and gendered nationalism (Yuval-Davis and Anthias, Women-Nation-State, St. Martin’s Press, 1989) to look at the differences in national identity and attitudes toward gender roles between university students studying in Kazakh-medium and Russian-medium groups. Mixed-methods design of the study allowed the collection of complementary data on the topic. Around 102 ethnic Kazakh university students in Astana completed a survey (56 and 46 students from Kazakh-medium and Russian-medium groups, respectively). Twenty-four survey respondents were interviewed in-depth for complementary qualitative data on students’ experiences of encountering narratives of national identity and gender in school and university classrooms. The study found that students studying in the Kazakh language reported higher knowledge of the Kazakh language, a stronger sense of national identity, and more traditional attitudes towards gender roles than students studying in the Russian language. These findings were likewise reflected in students’ experiences of encountering narratives of national identity and gender in school and university classrooms, suggesting the pivotal role education plays in forming national identity and gender roles.