Fieldwork Reflections: Internationalisation in Uzbekistan’s higher education development

Fieldwork Reflections: Internationalisation in Uzbekistan’s higher education development

Uzbekistan has undergone significant reforms over the last three years. The education sector is one area experiencing change. The government of Uzbekistan appears to have given a ‘green light’ to universities to boost their international cooperation. However, as I observed on a recent field trip, internationalisation of higher education is progressing slowly as the universities have neither the incentive to reform nor a clear understanding of how to introduce international standards to governance and teaching processes. The sector is still highly centralised around the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education, which appears to have a very limited interpretation of ‘internationalisation’.  

University staff at senior levels seem to favour establishing research and education collaborations with overseas universities.  However, lecturers are skeptical about such changes and consider them another ‘burden’ with arduous reporting obligations.  The universities are run in the old governance style and reaching Ministry officials is difficult even through networks. A former government official remarked that the sector is not open for academic research. Though the government has welcomed the American Council for International Education’s initiatives for fostering international partnerships of Uzbek universities, this network is quite small and involves a few select universities. Though official narratives call for wider reform of the tertiary sector, internationalisation of higher education appears to be a stopgap measure for Uzbek higher education development. This presentation will demonstrate my encounters with the representatives of the sector during recent fieldwork in Tashkent.   

Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva is a PhD candidate at CAIS, with lectureship experience in the tertiary education sector in Uzbekistan (2007-2011), and experience at the UN and Diplomatic Missions.  Dilnoza is an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).  She has an MA in International Studies from the University of Tsukuba, Japan; and a BA in teaching English as a Foreign Language from the Uzbekistan State World Languages University.  Dilnoza’s MA thesis on Uzbekistan’s education sector received an ‘Outstanding Thesis Award’ from the University of Tsukuba. Dilnoza was a Visiting Research Fellow in the Central Asia Program of Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University in 2019.  Her research interests include:  the politics of higher education in authoritarian states; the internationalisation of tertiary education; Uzbekistan’s higher education policy; and nation-building through higher education. 
 

Date & time

Fri 19 Jun 2020, 11am–12.30pm

Speakers

Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva - CAIS HDR Scholar

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