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Three universities in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: the struggle against corruption and for social cohesion

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Abstract

Universities may contribute to a nation’s social cohesion through both direct and indirect means. In their syllabi they may include techniques necessary for understanding complex social problems. Faculty may model good behaviour in terms of listening and understanding points of view that may contradict their own. University administrators may illustrate ways to lead honourably, which can enhance the chances for achieving consensus with respect to future dilemmas. This project assessed typical areas of university tension, including academic freedom, equity of participation and academic honesty. Three different universities were chosen as sites for faculty interviews—a foreign private university in Kyrgyzstan, a flagship state university in Georgia, and a regional teacher training college recently upgraded to university status in Northeast Kazakhstan. Results suggest that the single most important arena wherein universities can influence social cohesion in these countries is the manner by which they address education corruption. The paper reproduces the statements of those faculty members who participate in corruption as well as those who refuse to participate. It concludes with some predictions about the future of the relationship of higher education to social cohesion.

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Notes

  1. There are four categories of organizations that might affect social cohesion: profit-making organizations, not-for-profit voluntary organizations, governmental organizations; and schools and universities (Heyneman 2004c).

  2. Rectors are not elected by the faculty, but appointed by the government and moved regularly.

  3. In fact we joked that I should show him around the university since, after four visits to Usk Kamenogorsk, I might know more about where things were than he did.

  4. In regional languages the common term is “nationality”. I choose to use the term “ethnicity” so as to not confuse group membership with national citizenship.

  5. The difference can be expressed with specific terminology: “Kazkah” pertains to the ethnic group; “Kazakhstani” pertains to all citizens in the territory of Kazakhstan.

  6. References refer to Tape and Minute number.

  7. The exception: the principle of equality of opportunity.

  8. The tendency of corruption being worse in subjects with the highest labour market demand appears to be common elsewhere (Heyneman et al. 2008; Teixeira and Roacha 2006; Hrabak et al. 2004; Kerkvliet 1994; Nowell and Laufer 1997).

  9. In a corruption ranking, a student survey in Kyrgyzstan has listed foreign universities (Turkish and American) as being more honest than any local university (Heyneman et al. 2008).

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  1. International Education Policy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA

    Stephen P. Heyneman

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Correspondence to Stephen P. Heyneman.

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Heyneman, S.P. Three universities in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: the struggle against corruption and for social cohesion. Prospects 37, 305–318 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-008-9037-2

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