Sponsored study abroad and civic engagement in Kyrgyzstan
Citation
Jailobaeva, K. and Baialieva, M. (2020) ‘Sponsored study abroad and civic engagement in Kyrgyzstan’, Journal of Civil Society, 16(3), pp. 234–242. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2020.1794169.
Abstract
The article explores whether study abroad programmes sponsored by
multilateral and bilateral development organizations and private
philanthropic foundations promote civic engagement of their
alumni upon their return to their home country. The article focuses
on the case of Kyrgyzstan, which has had a number of international
study abroad scholarship programmes since its independence from
the Soviet Union in 1991. The research was exploratory and utilized
in-depth interviews for collecting data.
In agreement with the literature, the research found that the
alumni of scholarship programmes had experienced changes in
their values and worldviews as a result of being exposed to a new
environment but also of having a formalized study programme that
enabled them to critically reflect on their own country and culture
and to expand their knowledge in the new context. These changes
prompted most participants in the research to be civically engaged
in the social and political issues of their society in their home
country through voluntarism. Importantly, the article expands the
literature by arguing that this civic engagement has positive
implications for the development of civil society and democratic
values and practices in Kyrgyzstan.