**1. Introduction**

Quality of higher education and training of highly qualified and employable graduates are the important prerequisites of sustainable social and economic development of society [1]. Training of graduates in line with international standards can positively impact population's well-being in the long-term period. Nowadays, the HEIs must provide the high-quality student-centered learning and the ongoing adaptation of study programs and teaching methods to diverse expectations of labor market.

QA in higher education assumes, on the one hand, the process of creating conditions to promote the education quality, and, on the other hand, focus on an objective evaluation of the quality of learning outcomes and the professional competencies of students and graduates [2]. The education quality is one of the important components in the reproduction of the labor force, which contributes to the quality of the labor force and through it to the increase of the country's social and economic growth. Currently, the quality of higher education is an important issue for Kazakhstan, as the country needs highly qualified personnel capable of adapting to the changing realities of the labor market and solving complex issues to ensure sustainable social and economic development of the country. Having joined the Bologna Process in 2010, Kazakhstan introduced reform of the quality assurance system aimed at further improvement of the education system, its quality, and efficiency. As a guideline, the Bologna Declaration standards [2] were chosen. In 2011, a new version of the Kazakhstan Law "On Education" was adopted [3]. It aimed at the creation of a national quality assurance system in Kazakhstan, development of an internal quality assurance system in the HEIs, increase of the capacity of national quality assurance agencies, establishment of a network of independent local quality assurance agencies, and provision for procedures of the HEIs' accreditation. In 2012, the "Register 1″ of independent accreditation agencies was worked out.

However, at the moment, there're no effective internal quality control systems in Kazakhstani HEIs [4]. There are no clearly defined internal standards to ensure the quality of education to evaluate the educational programs and the graduates' training level [4]. The HEIs manage in accordance with outdated internal standards and quality assurance tools that aren't adapted to modern conditions and national practices [4]. Normally, the quality assurance issues are limited to documentation and document workflow. The modern education system still encounters problems of centralized management [4]. The education reform came across with evident contradictions such as outdated laws and regulations governing the educational system. The new law "On Education" dated July 4, 2018, which is the so-called Law on the Autonomy of the Higher Educational Institutions provides innovations designed to resolve the contradictions between the efforts to reform education and the old management and the rules and regulations [5]. This paper analyzes the possibility and acceptability of the European best practices to be applied in Kazakhstani HEIs considering country's local contexts and how educational reforms successful in European countries are effective in Kazakhstan. The paper provides an analysis of the QA systems of three European universities (University de Liege, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, University de Lorraine), visited in the framework of international project experts training on QA in higher education; national quality assurance system analysis of Kazakhstan, Belgium, France, and Sweden; and survey of internal QA system in three Kazakhstani universities (University of International Relations, National Agrarian University, and University of Economics, Finance and Trade). This research uses data from a survey of Kazakhstani students, faculty, and staff between March and April 2018 as one of the methods to assess the education quality. However, often the HEIs aren't interested in an objective assessment of their effectiveness [1, 4]. In this regard, in order to get more objective assessment of the education quality, an additional survey was done to determine the more real picture of the University of International Relations graduates' employability. Employability would be one of the indicators of the competitiveness and demand for graduates in the labor market and proof of the high quality of education in the HEI they have graduated. This research was also aimed at the identification of the nature of employment to analyze its gender aspects.

Now, there is a clear gap between the labor market, the market needs, and the education system. The labor market is managed by employers who dictate the labor force demand and specify the demand for HEI graduates on the labor market. In this regard, this research analyzes the actual situation with the employment of the University of International Relations graduates in order to assess how competitive our graduates are in the labor market and assess the quality of their training, conduct a gender analysis of the opportunities and conditions of

**39**

*Enhancing Quality of Higher Education and Employability in Kazakhstan: Gender Aspects*

graduates' employment in the labor market, and analyze the role of the universityemployer partnership to ensure the education quality and enhance the graduates'

Analysis of the internal QA system of Kazakhstani universities is based on a survey conducted with the staff of the Quality Assurance units and observation of three Kazakhstani universities, as well as on their self-evaluation reports provided to the accreditation commission. In all these universities, the author was engaged in the accreditation process either as an expert of the accreditation commission or as an employee who participated in the preparation of a self-evaluation report to be accredited. For the purpose of survey, the questionnaire was used to cover questions on the institutional QA, namely, whether there is a specific structure/unit in charge of the QA or major directions of the QA strategy. Is there a specific official document on a QA strategy or is it an integral part of the university's overall strategy? Describe the QA mechanisms such as commissions, indicators, and assessment procedures. What are the internal and external stakeholders involved in the QA? Describe how they participate. Check the list to set the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (hereinafter ESG).

Analysis of the national and the institutional QA systems of European universi-

One of the methods of internal evaluation of the University of International Relations effectiveness is monitoring and analysis of the quality of the educational services provided. In March–April 2018, the anonymous survey "Faculty Through the Eyes of Students" among the students and the questionnaire of faculty members "The social well-being of the academic staff" were conducted. Questionnaires "Faculty Through the Eyes of Students" had 10 questions regarding the faculty teaching competence in the following areas: the student-oriented approach, interaction with students including ethical behavior, the relevance of the material provided to students to the latest science achievements, the information relevance, and the use of innovative teaching methods and technologies. The students filled in 12,036 questionnaires about 404 faculty members, while the survey coverage was 90% of the entire teaching staff. According to the survey results, 96% of students were satisfied with the teaching quality. The average score was 4.8 points out of 5 possible. Thus, according to this internal assessment, the University of

Under the questionnaire "The Social Wellbeing of the Faculty Members," 413 questionnaires or 92% of the total staff were filled in by the faculty. A respondent might choose several answers from the set list of questions. A survey of respondents showed that 73% of the faculty members are satisfied with their work at the University of International Relations while 23% aren't. 51% of them are in favor of improving the psychological climate, and 49% think that it is necessary to improve

ties such as University de Liege (Belgium), Royal Institute of Technology KTH (Sweden), and University de Lorrain (France), which were visited under the international project training for QA experts in higher education, was done in terms of the possibilities and acceptability of application of the best European practices in Kazakhstani universities. Information provided at trainings by national QA agencies in Belgium, Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (AEQES); in France, Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (CTI) and High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES); and in Sweden, The Swedish Higher

Describe activities to confirm this standard implementation.

Education Authority (UKÄ), was used in this paper.

International Relations has a high education quality.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90340*

employability.

**2. Methods**

graduates' employment in the labor market, and analyze the role of the universityemployer partnership to ensure the education quality and enhance the graduates' employability.
