Sholpan Tazabek is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Education (GSE), Nazarbayev University (Astana/Kazakhstan). She majors in education with a specific research interest in the internationalization of higher education. Currently, she is conducting a doctoral study titled “Faculty members and internationalization of higher education in Kazakhstan: exploring perceptions, motivations and engagement”. Sholpan was a research associate in the project of GSE “Advancing models of best practice in Internationalization of higher education in Kazakhstan”, which investigates the international dimension of institutional engagement, curriculum, and research. Before joining academia, Sholpan worked as an international officer in public and private universities of Kazakhstan, where she was responsible for developing international activities and practices of these institutions. Sholpan has obtained her Bachelor degree in English language from Tsinghua University (Beijing/China) and Master’s degree in Political Science from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Almaty/Kazakhstan).

Curriculum vitae can be found here.

Doctoral thesis

Topic: “Faculty members and internationalization of higher education in Kazakhstan: exploring perceptions, experiences, and engagement”

Supervisor: Prof. Lynne Parmenter

Abstract:

Faculty members play an essential role in internationalization of higher education. A growing number of studies on internationalization claim that faculty engagement in internationalization processes deserves more research attention. However, the literature shows that very little research has been done in Kazakhstan, and almost no research has been conducted from the perspective of the faculty members. Therefore, by taking a qualitative approach using 30 semi-structured interviews, this multiple case study attempts to conduct an in-depth inquiry into faculty members’ perceptions, motivations and engagement in internationalization at two universities in Kazakhstan. By exploring faculty members' perspectives on these issues, the findings of this research can serve as helpful contribution to the field of local higher education as well as an original contribution to the international research on internationalization of higher education.