Educational aspirations of school adolescents in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: how are these aspirations shaped?
International Journal of Comparative Education and Development
ISSN: 2396-7404
Article publication date: 18 June 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the factors influencing educational aspirations among adolescents in secondary and high schools across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (officially Kyrgyz Republic), and Tajikistan, with a focus on their aspirations for higher and postgraduate education. Through an analysis of a sample comprising 1360 students from grades 7 to 11, the research explores the likelihood of these students pursuing tertiary education.
Design/methodology/approach
The ordered logit regression models were used to analyze the impact of variables related to family background, including parents’ education, family support and SES, and school grade. Additionally, the Exploratory Factor Analysis was utilized to distill a smaller set of underlying factors or constructs from the measured variables.
Findings
The findings indicate that the mother's education level is significantly more influential compared to the father's education in shaping adolescents' aspirations for higher and postgraduate education in the Central Asian context. Additionally, hypotheses concerning the influence of family socioeconomic status (SES), family support, and grade-level differences on adolescents' higher educational aspirations have only been partially confirmed.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, no prior research work has indicated a significant impact of a mother's education on the educational aspirations of her offspring in the Central Asian region. This trend is consistent with the concept of educational hypogamy, wherein mothers possess higher educational levels than fathers, a phenomenon that is gaining prominence in contemporary family dynamics.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The data for this research have been collected by the University of Central Asia’s Education Improvement Programme (UCA-EIP). The UCA’s EIP staff led by Dr Dean developed the instruments and collected the data. The corresponding author, as part of the research team, played a key role in developing the methodology and analyzing the data.
Citation
Smailova, A., Tynaliev, U.M., Borbugulov, M. and Sadyrova, G. (2024), "Educational aspirations of school adolescents in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: how are these aspirations shaped?", International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-12-2023-0114
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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