Evolution of the educational system and micro-psychological mechanisms: a comparative study of academic motivation and engagement in Shanghai, China and Kazakhstan

Introduction As noted in successive OECD assessment reports, global education systems are shifting from standardized assessments toward prioritizing students’ psychological wellbeing and autonomous agency. However, cross-cultural quantitative evidence regarding how these macro-policy transformations relate to students’ micro-psychological perceptions and academic behaviors remains limited. Methods Utilizing a cross-sectional survey, this study analyzed data from 1,309 university students in Shanghai, China, and Kazakhstan. Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were employed to examine the structural associations and measurement invariance among Perceived Educational Transformation (PET), Intrinsic Motivation (IM), and Learning Engagement (LE). Results The three-factor model demonstrated strict measurement invariance across both samples. SEM findings indicated that IM partially mediated a significant indirect associative mechanism the positive structural relationship between PET and LE (indirect effect = 0.098, 95% CI [0.076, 0.122]). This statistical mediating pathway was consistent across both cohorts, showing only trivial inter-group differences (all parameter Δ p > 0.05). Baseline comparisons revealed the Shanghai sample reported higher PET, yet IM and LE levels exhibited no significant quantitative differences between the two groups (Cohen’s d < 0.10). Discussion Higher perceptions of educational transformation do not linearly correspond to enhanced motivation, potentially constrained by unobserved systemic evaluation pressures. The findings suggest that autonomy-supportive educational environments are consistently associated with higher Intrinsic Motivation and academic engagement, regardless of differentiated macro-educational contexts. However, due to the cross-sectional design, these findings represent structural associations rather than directional causality.