Aigerim Sekerbayeva

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.

The Lima Declaration established the basis for inclusive and sustainable industrial development, emphasizing industry as a driver of progress. This study aims to analyze the sustainable industrial development of the regions of Western Kazakhstan. Using a comparative approach and Sustainable Development Goal framework, an economic-static analysis was performed on data from the Bureau of National Statistics and the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010, 2015, and 2019–2022 to evaluate the state and trends of structural shifts in the sectors forming the gross regional product, as well as the development dynamics of the manufacturing industry. The study revealed that the technological structure of industry in Western Kazakhstan is dominated by the IV technological paradigm (76–82%). The manufacturing industry accounts for 11.79% of gross domestic product and is characterized by a low share of gross value added of medium- and high-tech industries in the gross regional product (0.24–1.45%). Despite the steady growth of manufacturing development indicators, only the Aktobe region demonstrates high potential for sustainable industrial development, while the West Kazakhstan and Mangystau regions have medium potential, and the Atyrau region has low potential. In these regions, sectors such as mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical and chemical production, electrical equipment, computers, and electronic and optical products have significant development potential. An important direction in sustainable industrial development in these regions could be establishing strict environmental standards, the digital transformation of mining enterprises, the transition to low-carbon sources, increasing intellectual potential, and human capital development.

Acknowledgments
This study is supported by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (BR21882122 “Sustainable development of natural-economic and socio-economic systems of the West Kazakhstan region in the context of green growth: comprehensive analysis, concept, forecast estimates and scenarios”).