Aliya

Aliya Kuzhabekova

Pronouns: She/her

Positions

Assistant Professor

Werklund School of Education

Contact information

Location

Office: EDT 914

Background

Educational Background

PhD Higher Education Policy and Administration, University of Minnesota, 2011

MS Higher Education Leadership, University of North Dakota,

MA Applied Linguistics, University of North Dakota,

Biography

Dr. Aliya Kuzhabekova is an Assistant Professor in Leadership, Policy, and Governance specialization in the Werklund School of Education. Dr. Kuzhabekova has extensive experience as a faculty member, administrator and scholar in international and Canadian contexts. Upon graduation from PhD in Higher Education Policy and Administration, Aliya was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Centre for Science, Technology and Public Policy in her alma mater in the U.S.. She then worked as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, where she became a recognized scholar in international education and higher education reform in post-Soviet Central Asia. She has produced a number of publications on such topics as 1) research capacity building in higher education in transitional contexts, doctoral education reform and researcher development; 2) internationalization and international mobility (faculty mobility, mobility of graduate students, immigrant student experiences); 3) equity issues in higher education (women in higher education leadership, women and international mobility, women in STEM fields). After relocation to Canada in 2018, Aliya worked as a Postdoctoral Scholar at Carleton University and a part-time Professor at the University of Ottawa. Aliya has supervised over 30 Master's and graduate students, many of whom were non-native speakers of English. She has managed 10 funded research projects, including grants from the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan, Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Insight grant, Partnership Engage and Partnership Development grants). Aliya's research and teaching are based on her diverse administrative in higher education settings, including experience as an Executive Assistant to university presidents of two international universities in Kazakhstan, leadership positions on university committees and service as a member of the National Research Council in the area of education in Kazakhstan. Aliya is an active member of the Comparative and International Education Society and Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education. 

 

Projects

Research Misconduct in Non-Western Contexts (SSHRC Partenrship Development)

Awards

  • Early Career Researcher Award, Werklund School of Education. 2024
  • Honor Letter for Achievements in Research from the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan, 2020
  • Clarivate Analytics "Most Productive Social Science Researcher in Kazakhstan", 2020
  • Clarivate Analytics "Most Cited Paper in Social Sciences in Kazakhstan", 2019
  • Springer "Most Productive Social Science Researcher in Kazakhstan", 2017
  • Presidential "Bolashak" Scholarship for Study Abroad, Kazakhstan, 2006

More Information

Most recent publications

Kuzhabekova, A., Mukhamejanova, D.* (in press). Understanding the experiences of early-career female professionals working in male-dominated STEM companies in Kazakhstan. Central Asian Survey. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2024.2331123

Kuzhabekova, A. (in press). Bearing the Woken Bear: Kazakhstani Educators Making Sense of the Russian Invasion in Ukraine and Its Consequences for Internationalization of Higher Education in Kazakhstan. In Kuzhabekova, A. (Ed.), Special Issue “The effect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on international mobility and internationalization in post-Soviet Eurasia and beyond”, Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education, 16 (3).

Kuzhabekova, A., Moldashev, K., Baigazina, A.,* Chanchem, V.* (in press). Readjustment of Returning Scholars: Experience of Cambodian researchers. Minerva, published online. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-024-09522-6

Kuzhabekova, A. (2024). From importing to exporting World Class: Can Kazakhstan scale up its successful   center of excellence project to a regional education hub. Special Issue “International Education Hubs”, International Journal of Educational Development, 106 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103016

Kuzhabekova, A., Amankulova, Zh.* (2024). International student agency in emergency: Insights from government-funded students from Kazakhstan. Journal of International Students 14(3), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v14i3.6107

Kuzhabekova, A., Kuchumova, G.* (2024). Females’ STEM persistence after graduation: Insights from a Central Asian country, Journal of Career Development, 51(3), 408-428. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453241251466

Kuzhabekova, A.,  Amankulova, Zh.* (2023). Supporting sponsored international students during COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from a study of Kazakhstani “Bolashak” scholarship recipients. European Education (published online June 5), 30-43.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10564934.2023.2217803

Almukhambetova, A., Kuzhabekova, A., Torrano, D. (2023). Hidden bias, low expectations, and social stereotypes: Understanding female higher education students’ retention in math-intensive STEM fields. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21(2), 535-537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-022-10256-8

Oleksiyenko, Cardenas, F., Dwivedi, O., Kabir., A., Kuzhabekova., A., Mendoza, P., Muweesi, C., Vutha, R., Shchepetylnykova*. (2023). Global Crisis Management and Higher Education: Agency and Coupling in the Context of Wicked COVID-19 Problems. Higher Education Quarterly, 77(2), 356-374. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12406

Kuzhabekova, A., Ispambetova, B.*, Baigazina, A.*, Sparks, J. (2023). A critical perspective on short-term international mobility of faculty: A view from Kazakhstan. Journal of Studies in International Education, 115, 18-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153211016270

Kuzhabekova, A., Nardon, L. (2023). Refugee students’ transition from higher education to employment: Setting a research agenda. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 21(3), 502-517.https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2021.1995922

Kuzhabekova, A., Ospanova, G*. (2022). Unpacking Immigrant Youth Career Development in Canada. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies (published online April 29). https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2022.2069901

Kuzhabekova, A. (2022). Gender differences in international faculty experiences during COVID-19 in Kazakhstan, Gender equity in higher education during COVID-19 in Kazakhstan. European Education,54(1-2), 21-35.https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2022.2138767

Almukhambetova, A., Kuzhabekova, A. (2022). COVID-19 and the Changes in STEM Students' Intentions to Pursue International Mobility. What do the students say? European Education, 54(1-2), 47-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2022.2072748

Kuzhabekova, A., Bilyalov, D., Wan, C.D., Mussabayeva, A*. (2022). Faculty views on internationalization of higher education in Kazakhstan. Yüksekö¤retim Dergisi, 12(Suppl), S35–S44. doi:10.2399/yod.21.202204 (Turkey). 

Wan, C.D., Kuzhabekova, A. (2022) Malaysian PhD Graduates Coming Home: Adjustment and Adaptation, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 44(6), 580-595. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2022.2098450

Nardon, L., Hari, A., Zhang, H., Hoselton, L.*, Kuzhabekova, A. (2021). Skilled immigrant women's career trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.  Equality, diversity and inclusion: An international journal, 41(1), 112-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2020-0255

Kuzhabekova, A. (2021). A postcolonial feminist exploration of the scholarship on women and educational leadership with a bibliometric approach. Educational Management, Administration, and Leadership, 51(3), 616-636. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211003885

Kuzhabekova, A. (2021). Charting the terrain of global research on graduate education: A bibliometric approach. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46(1), 20-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1876219

Almukhambetova, A., Kuzhabekova, A., (2021). Negotiating conflicting discourses. Female students’ experiences in STEM majors in an international university in Central Asia. International Journal of Science Education, 43(4), 570-593.https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.1875150

Kuzhabekova A. (2020). Returning scholars in Kazakhstan and their role in neocolonial oppression in academia. Special Issue “The Decolonization of the Academic World”, Cosmopolis: A review of cosmopolitics, 2020-3-4, https://www.cosmopolis-rev.org/2020-3-4-fr

Almukhambetova, A., Kuzhabekova, A.(2020). Factors affecting the decision of female students to enroll in undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors in Kazakhstan. International Journal of Science Education, 42(6), 934-954. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1742948

Kuzhabekova, A., Lee, J. (2020). International faculty engagement in local research capacity building: Factors affecting knowledge-sharing between international and local faculty in Kazakhstan. European Education, 52 (4), 297-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2020.1723422

Torrano, D., Kuzhabekova, A. (2020). The state and development of research in the field of gifted education over 60 years: A bibliometric study of four gifted education journals (1957–2017). High Ability Studies, 31(2), 133-155.https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2019.1601071

Kuzhabekova, A. (2019). Invisibilizing Eurasia: How North-South dichotomization marginalizes post-Soviet scholars in international research collaborations. Journal of Studies in International Education. Special issue “Moving beyond “North” and “South”: New global perspectives on international research collaboration” (Ed. C.Sa), 24(1), 113-130. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315319888887

Kuzhabekova, A., Sparks,J., Temerbayeva, A.* (2019). Returning from study abroad and transitioning as a scholar: Stories of foreign PhD holders from Kazakhstan. Research in Comparative and International Education, 14(3), 412-430.https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499919868644

Kuzhabekova, A., Almukhambetova, A. (2019). Women’s progression through the leadership pipeline in universities of Central Asia: Comparing findings from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Compare, 51(1), 99-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2019.1599820

Lee, J., Kuzhabekova, A. (2019). Building local research capacity in higher education: A conceptual model. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 41(3), 342-347. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2019.1596867

Kuzhabekova, A. (2019). Performativity as cultural brokerage: An ethnographic exploration of the experiences of faculty mothers at an international university in Kazakhstan. Women Studies International Forum, 75(4). 102250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.

Kuzhabekova, A. (2019). Language Use among Secondary School Students in Kazakhstan. Applied Linguistics Research Journal, 3(2),1-14. https://doi: 10.14744/alrj.2019.29964

Kuzhabekova, A., Temerbayeva, A*. (2018). The Role of Conferences in Doctoral Student Socialization. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 9(2),181-196. https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-D-18-0001

Kuzhabekova, A., Lee, J. (2018). Relocation decision of international faculty in Kazakhstan. Journal of Studies in International Education, 22 (5), 414 – 433. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315318773147