By Assel Shakuliyeva and Andrew G. Drybrough, Nazarbayev University.

The Illusion of Academic Prestige and the Reality of Career Insecurity

Academia often projects an image of prestige and intellectual fulfillment, yet many academics privately struggle with structural precarity, including job insecurity, excessive workloads, and career uncertainty (Galimberti, 2023). The increasing reliance on fixed-term contracts has entrenched precarious employment as a norm, leaving many faculty members in cycles of temporary appointments with little prospect of long-term stability (Pham, 2023). At the same time, rising administrative burdens and relentless pressure to publish have contributed to unsustainable workloads that frequently extend beyond contracted hours (Wang, 2019). These challenges, compounded by an increasingly competitive job market (OECD, 2023), force many PhD holders to seek alternative career pathways outside academia.

Despite these difficulties, PhD students remain drawn to the promise of scholarly recognition, conference presentations, and research publications, believing that completing a doctorate will naturally lead to a stable academic career (Terentev et al., 2020). However, these expectations often clash with labor market realities. Skakni’s (2018) study of 31 ethnically diverse early-career academics in Canada found that many doctoral students initially viewed PhD completion as the defining marker of success, only to later confront structural barriers and shifting employment conditions.

This uncertainty is particularly pronounced in countries with rapidly expanding doctoral education systems. Nowhere is this more evident than in China, the world’s largest producer of PhD graduates. In 2019 alone, China awarded nearly 50,000 PhDs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields—far surpassing the 33,759 awarded in the United States (US), the second-largest PhD producer (Lightfoot & Zheng, 2021).

PhD completion is treated as the defining marker of success, yet graduates often confront structural barriers and shifting employment conditions afterward. Completing a PhD does not guarantee employment. Crossing the finish line does not automatically lead to a future in academia, leaving many graduates to question what success truly means.

Kazakhstan’s Higher Education Reforms: Expansion Without Alignment? Kazakhstan’s modernization of higher education reflects global trends but exposes structural gaps. The Bolashak Scholarship Program, launched in 1997, sought to build an elite knowledge workforce by funding international study (Jonbekova et al., 2021). Yet, nearly three decades later, only 226 PhD recipients have been produced under the Bolashak program, revealing the limitations of external training in meeting national needs.

To enhance degree recognition, Kazakhstan joined the Lisbon Recognition Convention and the Bologna Process, implementing a three-cycle system (bachelor’s, master’s, PhD). In 2010, it became the 47th member of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), reinforcing its commitment to international academic standards. The establishment of Nazarbayev University (NU), positioned as a research-intensive institution, further symbolized ambitions for domestic talent cultivation (Kuzhabekova et al., 2019). This one university alone managed to produce over 100 PhD graduates between 2017-2024.

Although the expansion of doctoral education has been rapid, NU’s efforts to expand domestic doctoral education has been relatively small as most of its students are state-funded . Recognizing the need to broaden the access to doctoral education, by 2017, Kazakhstan addressed this by licensing nearly 70 higher education institutions (HEIs) to admit PhD candidates . That year, 3,603 students were enrolled in doctoral programs. Between 2021 and 2024, the number of PhD students more than doubled—from 3,603 to 7,633 (Bureau of National Statistics, 2025) (Figure 1)

Figure 1
Doctoral Student Enrollment Growth Over the Period 2021 – 2024

Source: Bureau of national Statistics (2025)

Yet, this growth masks deeper structural challenges in Kazakhstan. Despite rising enrollments, doctoral completion rates remain low, with only 27.5% of students finishing their degrees, and just 10% securing research positions (Kaliakparov, 2020). So, why don’t Kazakhstani PhD graduates smoothly transition to academia? The answer lies in structural barriers that are still heavily embedded in the higher education system of the country. Universities’ heavy reliance on state funding limits research opportunities and tenure-track positions, narrowing career prospects (Tazabek, 2018). Additionally, bureaucratic barriers further hinder early-career researchers, while institutional rigidity prevents doctoral programs from aligning with labor market demands (Kuzhabekova et al., 2019).

One major issue is the rigid employment obligations imposed on state-funded PhD graduates, who must fulfill a three-year service requirement. When this policy was first introduced in 2012, it applied exclusively to traditional PhD graduates, restricting them to employment in HEIs and research centers. The introduction of the Industrial PhD in 2021 expanded this requirement to include non-academic state organizations such as ministerial bodies and analytical centers. Subsequent reforms in 2023 and 2024 further extended placement options to vocational institutions, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS), and select state and private organizations with research departments. However, despite these expansions, there remains no distinction in employment pathways between traditional and industrial PhDs—both are funneled into the same state-controlled sectors, intensifying competition rather than fostering true diversification of career trajectories.

Moreover, private sector involvement remains minimal, meaning that state-funded PhD graduates are still largely absorbed into government-controlled institutions rather than market-driven industries. This constraint reinforces a rigid division between self-funded and state-funded PhDs, with the latter bound to predetermined career trajectories that offer little flexibility. Given that in 2017, 99% of PhD students in Kazakhstan were state-funded (Kuzhabekova, 2022), the dominance of state-controlled placements raises a deeper question: does Kazakhstan’s doctoral system truly prepare graduates for diverse career pathways, or does it simply produce PhD holders to sustain the existing state apparatus? If employment remains narrowly defined by state priorities rather than individual career aspirations, then is the true measure of success earning the PhD—or escaping the structural constraints that come with it?

References
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