Comparative and International Higher Education Policy Specialist; Focus on Central Asia
If cats did celebrations... PS Women: you don't need a cat to be successful. But you knew that already. 8th March saw the annual marking of International Women's Day (IWD), which is a formal opportunity to celebrate female success on the one hand, but also a time to lament the continued global persistence of male-dominated …
Continue reading International Women’s Day: Celebrating female success, still marching for progress
The all-female team at Kyrgyz Space Program had the idea first! As some of you know, I am an enthusiastic supporter of a brilliant initiative for girls and young women in Kyrgyzstan called the Kyrgyz Space Program. The Kyrgyz Space Program is aiming high: specifically, into space. They plan to build and launch Kyrgyzstan's first …
Continue reading Lift off! Kyrgyz Space Program launches its next phase
I'm a little late to the party on this, but then again it's never too late to find time to read a brilliant series of articles on OpenDemocracy from earlier this year on how academic research is conducted in Central Asia. Spearheaded by tireless UK/Sweden/globally based academic and activist Dr Diana T. Kudaibergenova, the series …
Continue reading Activism, academia and equality in Central Asia
With the opening up of Uzbekistan under President Mirziyoyev, I have been able to expand my blog's coverage beyond my traditional territories of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The dominant narratives for higher education in Uzbekistan over the past couple of years have been the dizzying speed of reforms and the massive drive to internationalize the …
Continue reading On the slow progress on women’s rights in Uzbekistan
Happy new year! I hope that 2019 will bring you health and happiness, and I hope that the world becomes a slightly more sensible place this year (I can hope, right?). Kicking off the year is a wonderful story about an inspiring teacher in rural Tajikistan who over the course of many years has shown …
Continue reading Empowering girls through education in Tajikistan
After a recent blog post I published on Women in higher education in Central Asia, I was approached by University World News to write more about why it is that some women in Central Asia - particularly those in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan - are doing so much better (better even than the world average) in getting to university than …
Continue reading Gender gaps in higher education across Central Asia
Did you know that as far back as the 1970s - an era when most of Europe and North America was only just waking up to the idea of mass higher education - that more women than men were enrolled in universities in the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan? And did you also know that these impressively …
Happy new year / S novim godom / Soli nav muborak to you all! Kickstarting this year's set of posts is a report from Kyrgyzstan on steps being taken - primarily by the government and a small but growing number of local NGOs - to bring greater equality to the country. The article can be …
Continue reading Steps towards gender equality in Kyrgyzstan
Emma Sabzalieva 