Public normative climate for educational equity and inclusive education in Kazakhstan: Evidence from an adult CAPI survey

Positioned as a contribution to the sociology of education, this study examines the macro-level public normative climate relevant to educational equity and inclusive education in Kazakhstan. It focuses on public support for equal starting opportunities, civic interethnic inclusion, legal universalism, and social guarantees as contextual orientations that may legitimize equity-oriented educational policy. The empirical focus is therefore public legitimacy rather than direct evidence of inclusive classroom practice. The study draws on original individual-level data from an unweighted adult CAPI survey with national territorial coverage conducted in Kazakhstan between 10 May and 5 June 2025. Data were collected through a standardized tablet-based questionnaire administered in Russian or Kazakh. The analysis combines descriptive profile analysis with McNemar’s test, effect-size estimates, rank correlations, and unweighted logistic regression models interpreted as adjusted association diagnostics. The findings indicate that apparent consensus is conditional. Joint soft support for the two-component core reaches 91.5%, whereas joint strong support for equal starting opportunities and civic interethnic inclusion is 62.7%. A further 23.2% strongly support only one component, while 14.1% express no strong support for either. Adjusted associations with education, settlement type, ethnicity, and subjective financial status are modest but socially patterned. These findings identify the macro-level legitimacy conditions under which inclusive and equity-oriented educational policies may be interpreted, accepted, or contested. Implications for teacher education, school climate, inclusive pedagogy, anti-bullying, disability support, and culturally responsive communication are presented as directions for future research and policy hypotheses rather than as direct empirical conclusions.