Dina Razakova

Having a university degree provides only a slight advantage over those without higher education, making other factors crucial in determining a graduate’s employment prospects. This study aims to analyze the factors that affect the employment of university graduates and define opportunities for public administration and university management in Kazakhstan. A logistic regression model based on primary data was used to examine the impact of the availability of practical experience and jobs in their specialty, social connections, technology development, and entrepreneurship on the likelihood of employment. The survey was conducted in 2022 and involved 300 graduates of the 2020–2021 academic year from all regions of Kazakhstan. Findings show that personal connections (F3) and technology and entrepreneurship (F4) positively impact graduates’ job prospects. However, lack of experience (F1) and the limited number of job offers (F2) reduce employment likelihood. If a graduate responds with 3 points for F1, 7 for F2, 7 for F3, and 1 for F4, they are less likely to secure a job in their specialty within a year of graduation. The main practical value of this study is that university career centers can use this model to predict the likelihood of graduates being employed. Providing a sophisticated online platform and different analytics-driven career services, open access to administrative data on the labor market, and new programs for students’ job experience and entrepreneurship will prepare university graduates for a dynamic labor market and reduce the mismatch between education and employment needs.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Healthcare reforms in transitional economies frequently prioritize administrative performance indicators; however, citizen evaluations often diverge significantly from these official metrics. To explore this discrepancy, this study investigates the extent to which reported healthcare improvements in Kazakhstan align with actual patient experiences, examining how geographic and socioeconomic factors shape the performance–perception gap. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the paper integrates documentary analysis of policy materials (2019–2024), regional health statistics (2019–2023), and a nationwide stratified survey (n = 1,940) conducted across all 20 regions of Kazakhstan in 2024.
Results demonstrate a persistent, statistically significant divergence between official gains, such as increased life expectancy and infrastructure modernization, and public sentiment. Specifically, only 28.35% of respondents report high service quality (7.73% very high + 20.62% high), and just 28.7% express satisfaction levels above the neutral midpoint. Regression and ANOVA analyses confirm that disparities in access and affordability are systematically patterned by age, income, and urban-rural residence (p < 0.05). This gap is most pronounced in resource-constrained regions, where administrative progress in financing and digitalization has not translated into improved patient experiences. Further analysis identifies waiting times, transparency deficits, and perceived inequity as the primary drivers of this divergence. Based on these findings, the study concludes that existing evaluative methods are inadequate, suggesting that integrating standardized administrative metrics with regionally disaggregated citizen feedback is essential to align governance interventions with public expectations for the 2026 healthcare development horizon.