Prestige, status, and esteem of educational occupation in Kazakhstan: temporal, regional and gender analysis of payroll data

Since gaining independence after the dissolution of the USSR, the education system in Kazakhstan has undergone significant reformations. Retention of highly qualified teachers is crucial for successful reforms. However, educational occupation that employs almost one million people, the majority of the workforce (26.5%) in the economy, is one of the lowest paying sectors. Low pay causes unpopularity of teaching profession among youth, aging and high feminization of the personnel, harms prestige, status and esteem of teachers and thus intensifies turnover and makes retention of qualified teachers a difficult task. This study proposes to use temporal, spatial and gender three-tiers payroll data to analyze prestige, status, and esteem of educational occupation in Kazakhstan. It argues that while improving a social package is important, fundamental reforms of the payment system in education are likely to be the most effective measure to improve the prestige and status of teachers.