Abstract
The theoretical frameworks developed for, and applied to, the study of student transfer between higher education institutions build on evidence from Western contexts, specifically the United States. The current article contributes to understanding factors that drive student transfer in the Central Asian context, specifically that of Kazakhstan. Through inductive coding of qualitative interviews with undergraduate transfer students in Kazakhstan, this research identifies student-centred factors of social embeddedness, parental influence in higher education decision-making, evolving career choice awareness, strategies for academic success, the quality of teaching and relationship ethics with students. While these factors influencing student transfer in Kazakhstan align with the existing Western context-based literature, the data in this research offer a localized perspective on what these factors mean in the context of a contemporary Central Asian country.