ISE 2022 Achievements Report

The date of this years Graduation ceremony is approaching, and we would like to sum up the
results of the academic year:

– This year we rebranded and became the International School of Economics. Our values
remain the same – synergy, leadership, creating opportunities, responsibility and proactiveness
– but we set new goals and objectives for ourselves, and continue to integrate into the global
educational space. Our programs are accredited by international professional accreditation
agencies (ACCA, CFA, CIMA, ICAEW, GARP), and this academic year, the German-based
agency for quality assurance and quality development in higher education FIBAA extended the
accreditation of our existing programs and accredited new ones.

– Our students consistently demonstrate a high level of employment – 65% of our final year
students are already employed, and every fourth student of the undergraduate programs
“Accounting”, “Finance” and “Economics” has received an offer from at least one of the “Big
Four” companies. We constantly work to improve the quality of internships and job placements
for our students – this year the number of internships and jobs in the quasi-public sector has
tripled, and it almost doubled in the public sector, industry and the Big Four.

– The employment of our graduates confirms the rating of the National Chamber of
Entrepreneurs and the Ministry of Education and Science “Atameken”. This year, our programs
“Finance”, “Economics”, “Accounting” and “Management” have taken leading positions.

– Recognition of our programs by professional accreditation agencies improves the position of
our students in the labor market. The academic partnership with ACCA allows our students to
participate in the Accelerate program, under which students receive a scholarship for exemption
of nine out of fourteen ACCA exams on their way to this prestigious internationally recognized
accounting qualification. This year, 15 ISE students have registered for this program. 22
students participated in CIMA Business Game 2022, a case championship organized by the
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Ten grants have been awarded to
undergraduate and graduate students to take the first level of the CFA exam, one of the world’s
most recognized certifications for financial industry professionals.

– The ISE Career Center has launched coaching and mentoring programs for students. As part
of this program, experienced professionals will help students in determining their career goals,
share their experiences and talk about ways to develop in the corporate sector.

– Our students Dilnaz Nurysh, Amina Kapysheva, Aigerim Tursynbek became EY Ambassadors, and Zhanerke Uderbay became a KPMG Ambassador.

– Nurbolat Zhanuzak, the “Economics” program student, won the “Tauelsizdik urpaktary” (“The generations of the Independence”) grant for talented youth. This newly launched award supports new and existing initiatives of young people aimed at forming a community of active creative youth.

All this allows our students to strengthen their position in the labor market even before receiving a degree.

– This year, 10 students departed for Germany for a double degree program with the Hof
University of Applied Sciences. These students will receive two diplomas from M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University and Hof University of Applied Sciences. 28 students took part in the academic mobility program and were able to study a semester at our partner universities in Europe and Asia.

– We are also pleased to announce that this year we have launched a new format of
cooperation between universities – the Top Up Program, together with our long-term partner,
SolBridge International School of Business, Woosong University, South Korea.

– We are actively working to strengthen our research capacity. During the year, the ISE has
organized and conducted 14 open public online lectures as a part of the School’s Dean’s
Lecture Series and Let’s Talk Research projects. The lectures were delivered by the ISE
lecturers and invited guests from the international academy and industry and were attended by
over 700 attendees.

– Our colleagues, assistant professor Dr. Azat Aytuar, teaching professor Aibek Sagynaev and
senior lecturer Yelzhas Kadyr won the Grant from the National Bank of the Republic of
Kazakhstan. The grant is provided to stimulate research in the field of monetary policy, financial
stability and other areas of the National Bank’s activity. The topic of the study is “The analysis of
the effectiveness of measures for import substitution and diversification”.

– Dr. Saule Kemelbayeva, Dean of the International School of Economics, acted as an expert in
the project of the Information and Analytical Center under the Ministry of Education and
Science. The study examines the economic returns to adult skills, literacy, numeracy and
problem-solving, in Kazakhstan using the OECD data; it was found that, unlike in other
countries, returns to skills are neither economically nor statistically significant. The results were
published in the journal of the Academy of Public Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

– Our professors have published articles in international peer-reviewed journals such as
Education Economics, Higher Education, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Open Public
Health Journal, Journal of Eurasian Studies, Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public
Policy. Research topics of our colleagues include but are not limited to, labor and education
economics, international economics and trade, comparative regionalism, the political economy
of financial capitalism, neoliberalism, international development and social and economic
inequality, civic engagement and civil society development, public sector reform and economic
policy. Also, our colleagues actively published and spoke in international and local media, in
particular, in Forbes, Council on Foreign Relations, NBCnews.com, TRTWorld.com,
TimesHigherEducation.com, TheLoop.ECPR.eu, Vlast.kz, Steppe, Khabar, Informburo.kz.

– Our colleagues took part in foreign internships at the Danish National Research Foundations
Center of Excellence in International Courts at the University of Copenhagen, OSCE Program
Office in Bishkek, OSCE Academy Bishkek, University of Groningen, and others.
– This year, our colleagues invited more than 100 guest speakers – industry professionals to
their lectures, and the Applied Diplomacy course for our students majoring in International
Relations consisted entirely of guest lectures by diplomats and ambassadors. We thank our
colleagues for the opportunity to learn first-hand insights provided to our students! Also, this
year, for the second time, associate professor Iqbolzhon Qoraboyev in a partnership with
Universitas Airlangga (Indonesia) and United Nations University UNU-CRIS (Belgium), held a
summer school on comparative regionalism. The topic of this years school was the future of regionalism after the COVID-19 pandemic.

– We are also working to strengthen the research skills of our students. Bachelor’s theses
explored such issues as obstacles to doing business in Kazakhstan, impact of economic factors
on prices in the real estate market, effect of trade liberalization on the economy of Kazakhstan,
perspectives for the green finance development, banking industry stock returns, evaluation of
bank lending practices and credit management, HRM practices during the COVID-19, staff
motivation in various industries in Kazakhstan, cashless transactions and their impact on
consumer behavior, the returns on education by industry in Kazakhstan, sustainable marketing
and the effect of eco-labels on consumer preferences. This year, our Masters students covered such topics as the role of Islamic banking, the impact of changes in oil prices on the economic development of Kazakhstan, the impact of mergers and acquisitions on company efficiency, and determinants of sustainable competitiveness of the economy in the global competitiveness index. The best papers will be published in our Student Research Review.

We express our gratitude to our colleagues, students and partners for their dedication and
contribution! We have achieved these results thanks to the teamwork and personal involvement
of everyone.