The research aims to conduct an analytical overview of advanced international practices in identifying gender imbalances in scientific research activities to develop recommendations for Kazakhstan. In the article, the authors examine advanced foreign strategies and approaches, including the establishment of a goal-setting system, policies, and monitoring support programs (i.e., preferential hiring policies, professional development, and incentives for gender equality research). The study analyzes the strategic directions and advanced practices of foreign countries based on the use of the STEM and Gender Advancement indicator matrix, as well as conducting a bibliographic analysis using the VosViewer soſtware. The bibliographic analysis identified the following cluster networks: “Science and Research,” “Gender Inequality,” and “Employment and Gender Segregation.” The research work investigates advanced practices from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Germany, Canada, Australia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Algeria in addressing gender imbalances in the scientific environment. Among the identified practices are mentoring programs, quota allocations, improved research funding, and legislative changes. During the analysis, advanced practices were identified for potential adaptation to Kazakhstan’s conditions in the future.

The study was aimed at conducting a comprehensive analysis of academic mobility and its economic impact on the employment of university graduates. Materials and methods: correlation coefficients were calculated in the work, and the chi-square statistical test was used to check the presence of a relationship between qualitative variables. Logistic regression has been exploited to identify the cause-and-effect relationships. Field research was also taken into account by including an expert survey of 47 students (72.3% bachelors, 23.4% masters and 4.3% doctoral students) of SCU, who underwent academic mobility in foreign countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Romania, Turkey, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Great Britain, Austria, Hungary, etc.). Results of the study: The research applied quanti-tative and qualitative methods of analysis, and a survey among students made it possible to identify many advantages of academic mobility. SWOT analysis of academic mobility in Kazakhstani universities was used to identify weaknesses, strengths with the primary preferences of students to improve their competencies and skills, which in the future will allow them to find a placement and influence their competitiveness. Discussion and conclusion: The calculation of the correlation coefficients used and the chi-square test revealed that the presence of a relationship between the dependent variable and other questions of the questionnaire that were given in the work assisted to detect pairwise relationships and build a multivariate logistic model. The resulting model allows us to summarise that it can be used in predicting academic mobility in respect with employment opportunities.

Despite empirical and theoretical research, there is still disagreement over the quality of higher education, and findings about these links are still far from universal. As a result of the review of the literature, it was found that the quality of higher education can be influenced by various model characteristics and data sets, assessment methods. In addition, an overview of current research areas and trends in developed countries with a high quality of education was made. This study aims to review scientific papers to identify key concepts and topics in the field of Higher Education. Also, the purpose of the article is to identify gaps in this topic for future research. Bibliometric analysis of literature was carried out using the R-package Biblioshiny tool. The sample includes 181 publications from the Scopus database. The articles are analyzed in relation to annual scientific products, the most important sources, organizations, compliance network and thematic mapping and evolution to understand trends within the quality of higher education. As a result of the analysis, the main factors affecting the quality of higher education were identified. The study shows that bibliometric analysis is important for the detailed presentation of theoretical literature and the development of an integrated theoretical basis for the quality of higher education. This review provides guidelines for entering this interdisciplinary field.

The growing importance of the carbon footprint of products in international competition will intensify the search for new approaches to the decarbonization of countries with economies in transition. The article summarizes the results achieved by Kazakhstan in overcoming the difficulties of implementing a “green” approach and finding effective ways to decarbonize the economy. The methodological basis of the study is based on a systematic approach to assessing the sustainability of Kazakhstan’s development and summarizing the world experience of transition to a low-carbon economy. The authors focus on the current problems of the industry in the context of creating a circular economy based on renewable resources. The influence of the transformation of the energy system on the country’s economy is shown. It is substantiated that the decline in commodity prices in the world markets and the dependence of the economy on energy have a negative impact on both the fuel and energy complex and related industries. It has been established that one of the effective ways to strengthen the position of Kazakhstan in international value chains is the implementation of a proactive strategy for the decarbonization of industry, taking into account national interests. Given that the country continues to demonstrate relatively high levels of energy intensity on a global scale, the progress of the extractive industries requires government assistance and intensified public-private partnerships.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, highlight the importance of resilience and sustainability in achieving goals such as good health and well-being (SDG 3), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), and climate action (SDG 13). Addressing these challenges and promoting a supportive work environment through interventions such as team-building events, recognition of employees’ efforts, and providing opportunities for skills development can contribute to the resilience and sustainability of Kazakhstani organizations. This study aimed to explore resilience and sustainability in the workplace in higher education in Kazakhstan from the perspective of managing and academic staff. Interviews were conducted with ten respondents from different universities in Almaty city, Kazakhstan, to identify individual and organizational factors that contribute to resilience and sustainability in the workplace. The findings revealed that teamwork, working environment, work process, functioning, and leadership were critical organizational factors impacting resilience and sustainability. Academic staff emphasized the importance of corporate spirit, solidarity, and teambuilding while managing staff highlighted the need for a clear allocation of tasks and responsibilities. Challenges such as unequal task distribution and a shortage of competent specialists were identified, which can impede work progress and affect productivity. The study suggests that contextually relevant strategies and interventions should be developed to promote positive organizational behavior and overall progress toward sustainable development goals in Kazakhstan, taking into consideration the unique cultural, social, and economic factors that influence the workplace dynamics in the country.

The development of “sustainable” finance, that is, financial instruments operating in the context of the implementation by companies of a set of environmental, social and governance principles (ESG principles), is gaining momentum in the main world markets. According to the Global Alliance for Sustainable Investments, these strategies already account for 35.9% of the total amount of invested assets. This trend is driven by a new global reality since the long-term development of the country and the company cannot be possible without resolving deepening environmental and social contradictions. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to develop recommendations acceptable to the practice of Kazakhstan based on the generalization of contemporary international experience in the development of various instruments of sustainable finance, as well as on studying institutional support measures for this process at the macroeconomic level.A review of the experience of several countries leading in the field of environmentally and socially responsible investment demonstrates both general and specific features that can be successfully implemented in Kazakhstan, which is at the initial stage of this process. The research methodology is based on a comparative analysis of public policy, regulatory framework, and national specifics of the models of the six selected countries and regions. The obtained results have corresponding practical implications in terms of sustainable finance and ESG criteria-based investing regulation advancement in Kazakhstan by foreign practices adaptation.

In Kazakhstan, the inequality of economic, social, and innovative development of regions and the population has increased in recent years. The purpose of this work is to assess the level of differences between Kazakhstan’s regions in social, economic, innovative and infrastructural inclusivity and to offer recommendations for reducing regional inequality. The methods of comparative analysis, economic and statistical, generalizations, index, matrix, typology, absolute and relative indicators of inclusiveness are used. The author’s methodological approach is applied based on the index method and ranking. The study hypothesis is that the high level of economic inequality in the regions determines the high level of differences in the sphere of social inclusion, innovation and inclusion in the sphere of infrastructure. Calculations of private and integral indices showed that the differences in social inclusivity of the regions amounted to 3.37 times; economic inclusivity – 7.45; infrastructure – 2.96; innovation – 6.67. A matrix of regional inclusive development has been formed based on the gradation of assessments. The conclusion is made about the contradictory picture in the levels of inclusiveness of economic, social and innovative development of the regions of Kazakhstan. The proposed methodology can be expanded and optimized for regions, population groups, and specific tasks in the field of inclusive growth. Recommendations have been developed to improve Kazakhstan’s regional policy, reform the tax system, and increase the budget self-sufficiency of regions in the interests of inclusive development.

The article discusses an approach to forecasting trends and development of a particular region based on a dynamic model. The purpose of the work was to understand how the method of dynamic regulation is applicable to the construction of future scenarios, assessment and analysis of the economic sphere of the regions. The following methods were used in the study: analytical, statistical, computational-analytical, dialectical, search methods, as well as such general scientific methods as deductive and inductive methods. The main method of constructing the model is the dynamic standard method. The study is based on statistical data on the economic development of the regions of Kazakhstan for the period from 2017 to 2021. The proposed approach makes it possible to quantify the growth and development rates of regional systems and to make estimates of the achievability of the set goals. In turn, understanding the current level of development of a particular system within the region allows for forecasting the development of the system and its elements. The conducted research has shown that in the studied region there is a rather unstable situation in the field of economy, which means there is a risk of increasing social vulnerability. As a continuation of the presented research, dynamic standards for characterizing the ecological and social development of the region are supposed to be calculated.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of regional differences using key economic indicators and identify regional disparities. The study used the method of multidimensional comparative analysis and the possibility of applying it to the assessment of the economic potential of the regions Kazakhstan. The assessment includes indicators divided into three groups: financial and economic conditions, business development indicators and the standard of living of residents. The level of tax collection reflects the economic activity and productivity of business in the region, the assessment of business development indicators provides valuable information about the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region and the growth rates of SMEs and industry in the region, the assessment of the standard of living of residents allows you to get an idea of the quality of life in the region. Target indicators were selected for the assessment, such as the receipt of taxes to the budget and the National Fund of Kazakhstan, GRP, the number of SMEs and its share in GDP, investments in fixed assets, retail trade, population growth, Average wages, the population with an income below the subsistence minimum. The results of the study can be used both at the state and local administrative level to develop programs and strategies aimed at reducing regional disparities, stimulating economic growth, and improving infrastructure in underdeveloped regions.

This article aims to identify ways to reduce the inequality in education between the rural and urban populations of the Almaty region. The hypothesis is put forward that the solution to the problem of inequality in education in rural areas can be solved by applying a clustering mechanism within the framework of controlled urbanization through the creation of educational development centers based on secondary schools. The research methodology includes the methods of social statistics, methods of analysis of scientific literature, methods of factor analysis, cluster analysis, and mathematical and statistical methods. The section “results and discussions” presents the analysis of the dynamics of educational coverage of graduates of rural and urban schools of the Almaty region, which revealed a catastrophic gap that threatens the region’s sustainable development prospects. The results of a cluster analysis of nine districts of the Almaty region for opportunities for the development of education according to the criteria of the existing material and technical equipment of schools, their level of digitalization, the sufficiency of funding from the local budget, and the development of the accompanying socially significant infrastructure are also presented. According to the analysis, the concept of leveling inequality in education was proposed based on identifying potential locations for creating centers for the development of education in rural areas. In the future, this study can be used for further deployment of regional programs to reduce inequality in education in rural areas.

The purpose of this work is to identify the specifics and prospects for the development of women’s entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan. The article is devoted to the problems of developing women’s entrepreneurship, the solution of which is not only a big step towards solving the problem of gender inequality but also a huge breakthrough for the economy of the whole world. Based on a literature review, the article presents the specifics of women’s entrepreneurship in the Republic of Kazakhstan, identifies the problems of women’s entrepreneurship, and assesses the prospects for its development in the digital economy. The status of gender equality and the growth of women’s entrepreneurship over a span of years are evaluated. Issues and deficiencies in this field have been acknowledged, and opportunities for the advancement of women’s entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan have been ascertained through economic and social evaluations. The study’s findings helped to identify the best strategies for encouraging women to take the initiative to launch their own businesses, which is an essential part of the contemporary labor market. The results of the study can be used both at the state and local levels to develop programs and strategies to achieve the 5th Sustainable Development Goal and gender policy in the regions of Kazakhstan.

In the context of global digitalization trends, the problem of the impact of cyberattacks on the company is significantly relevant. This article is devoted to the impact of cyberattacks on the firms’ market value since it is an indicator of firm performance. The authors used the event study methodology to study the impact of cyberattacks on the firm’s market value. In addition, linear regression analysis (OLS) was applied to study the factors influencing cumulative abnormal returns (CAR). The paper’s central hypothesis is the assumption that a cyberattack announcement is supposed to change market reaction, which is predicted to be harmful since cybercrime incidents can lead to high implicit and explicit costs. Therefore, an adverse market reaction reflects negative CAR during the event. The paper explores the effect of firm-specific and attack-specific characteristics of cyberattacks on the CAR with the data of cyberattacks for US firms from 2011 to 2020. Thus, the impact of cyberattacks on CAR by industry type and firm size was examined. Also, the type of cybercrime that is more harmful to the company was identified. The study results confirm the central hypothesis and show that cyberattacks negatively affect the firms’ market value. In addition, it was found that the market reaction to the breach is more harmful to small firms. Thus, large firms have advantages over medium and small ones in sustaining financially during cyberattacks. Additionally, the paper defines no consistent evidence that market reaction to cyberattacks depends on firm and breach types.