The article reports the results of an interview-based study exploring how international PhD holders re-integrate into the research environment in Kazakhstan. One of the main results consistent with prior studies is that returning scholars face poor access to international and domestic scholarly societies. Interaction with external peers is problematic due to insufficient funding available for conference participation. Lack of communication with the domestic scholarly community is related to its inaccessibility for junior researchers, as well as to its propensity to operate as an informal network of senior scholars controlling the protectionist distribution of funding and exerting influence on administrative and policy decision-making in academia. To counteract the informal networks, returning scholars get organized into alternative informal networks aimed at information exchange, mutual support and lobbying of interests. This transformative activity of junior scholars cannot be explained with the dominant structural theories in the existing research. An alternative Agency Theory interpretation is considered.

中文翻译：

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从国外留学归国并转学：来自哈萨克斯坦的外国博士学位持有者的故事

本文报道了一项基于访谈的研究结果，探讨了国际博士学位持有者如何重新融入哈萨克斯坦的研究环境。与先前研究一致的主要结果之一是，回国学者面临进入国际和国内学术社团的困难。由于没有足够的资金来参加会议，与外部同行的互动存在问题。与国内学术界缺乏沟通，这与初级研究人员无法进入以及其作为高级学者的非正式网络运作的倾向有关，该网络控制着保护主义的资金分配，并对学术界的行政和政策决策产生影响。为了抵制非正式的网络，归国学者被组织到旨在交流信息，相互支持和利益游说的替代性非正式网络中。初级学者的这种变革活动无法用现有研究中的主导结构理论来解释。考虑了替代的代理理论解释。