BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Leadership in Education
The Role of Student Self-Government in Universities in Shaping Managerial Potential: A Study of the Development of Leadership and Organizational Skills in Kazakhstan
Provisionally accepted
- 1Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
- 2Astana International University, Astana, Kazakhstan
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This study investigates the role of student self-government in developing managerial potential among university students in Kazakhstan through a quasi-experimental design. The research assessed how structured participation in self-government affects leadership qualities, organizational skills, and self-efficacy. Two comparable student cohorts were observed over one academic year: an experimental group (n = 90) that participated in a structured self-government program and a control group (n = 78) that followed the standard curriculum. Both groups completed identical pre-and post-intervention assessments using validated psychometric instruments measuring motivation, self-esteem, achievement drive, and psycho-emotional well-being. Statistical analyses revealed that the experimental group showed significant improvements in self-orientation, self-esteem, and psycho-emotional indicators (Cohen's d ≈ 0.4–0.6), whereas the control group exhibited no meaningful change. These results demonstrate that systematic engagement in student self-government can moderately enhance managerial potential through experiential leadership practice. The findings underscore the educational value of structured self-governance initiatives for fostering managerial and leadership competencies in higher education.
Keywords: Quasi-experiment, Student self-government, Managerial potential, leadershipdevelopment, Organizational skills, higher education, Kazakhstan, Management potential
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 30 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shalabayev, Xembayeva, Antikeyeva, Kudarova and Kayumova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Saule Xembayeva, ksembayeva.s@teachers.tou.edu.kz
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