Analysis of the Organization of Psychological Services in Central Asian Universities: Results of an Expert Survey

Аннотация

The article focuses on analyzing the issues related to the organization of psychological services in universities across Central Asia, based on the results of an expert survey conducted in 2024. The objective of the study was to conduct an in-depth examination of the current state and needs for psychological support for students and staff at universities in the region. The main focus is on assessing the necessity of establishing specialized psychological services, defining their functions and priorities, and identifying barriers hindering their effective functioning. Experts from universities in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan participated in the survey. Keywords: Psychological service; expert survey; psychological difficulties; students; functions of psychological services; organizational issues; information technology; online counseling. collection opportunities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Introduction: In 2024, an expert survey was conducted owing to low response rates, and the complete lack of to further investigate issues related to psychological availability of specialists from Turkmenistan and support in the higher education system of Central Asia. Tajikistan due to the high level of opacity in their Specialists from universities in Uzbekistan and other educational systems. The sample mainly consisted of countries of the region were invited to answer a series specialists who received their psychological education of questions concerning the organization of in Uzbekistan (80.5%), although there were some psychological services in universities and the representatives from other countries as well. The psychological challenges faced by students and staff. gender and age structure of respondents showed a Data collection took place from August to November predominance of young women under the age of 34 2024 using a special web form via Google Forms. (73.2%). The majority of the participants held faculty The experts' opinions were provided by staff members positions. The scale of institutions varied from small to from the psychological support departments of large national universities. Despite its limited universities, as well as by faculty members with geographical coverage, the sample is sufficiently large psychological specialization. In selecting potential and representative to reflect the current issues of experts, it was considered that a professional psychological support in Uzbek universities, though psychologist, even if not directly working in a caution is necessary when extrapolating results to the university's psychological service, is still competent to entire region. The study evaluated the state and assess key issues and needs in psychological support. challenges of psychological support in Central Asian The study sample, which focused on examining the universities. The main focus was on the need for systems of psychological support in Central Asian specialized psychological services, practical experience universities, was primarily represented by Uzbekistan, in their activities, their functions, organizational issues, reflecting the country’s larger organizational capacity in and the problems faced by students and staff. The this research. Of the 41 surveys distributed, 37 were results showed that the average rating of the need to completed by experts from Uzbekistan, which made up create psychological services was 5.2 on a seven-point the majority of the sample. This is due to limited data scale, indicating high interest in such services. A American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research 26 https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajsshr American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141) particularly strong need was observed among experts development of psychological services, the core role from public universities. Regardless of whether lies in providing psychological support and guidance. psychological services existed in the universities, However, the ways of implementing these functions experts rated their necessity equally highly, may vary depending on the strategies and methods highlighting the importance of this issue. Experts were used. In resource-limited environments, technology- also asked open-ended questions regarding existing based forms of work gain importance. Experts rated the psychological services and programs in their demand for such forms of support for students and universities. It was found that most universities only staff using the seven-point scale. The results have a staff psychologist, a position introduced as part highlighted two main directions of using information of recent reforms. However, respondents were unable technology, which were considered the most to name successful programs or criteria for evaluating promising: the use of video communication for the effectiveness of these services. These results individual and group counseling. This aligns with global indicate a lack of development a