Structure and Agency in Students' Preparation for the Labor Market: A Comparison Between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: The Global Social Contexts of Education, Stratification, and Adaptation

Abstract

This study examined university students’ perceptions of the role of their academic credentials in relation to future job prospects, and how much control they feel they have over future employability. Findings from focus group discussions with undergraduate students in the final year of social science degree programmes suggest that a university degree is only a minimum requirement, and that employability depends on a range of structural and individual factors. While students in smaller towns and less economically developed urban areas voiced greater concerns regarding their future employability, there appears to be generally high level of optimism in terms of future employment, together with the feeling of a substantial degree of ‘control’ over transition from education to work.

Author

• Dilrabo Jonbekova, Nazarbayev University