Future workforce formation: relationship between the emotional well-being and readiness for external assessment of academic achievements among the school students (an evidence from Kazakhstan)

This study examines the critical intersection between emotional well-being, educational assessment, and future workforce development in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's educational system serves as the primary pipeline for developing human capital necessary for economic advancement, with standardized testing mechanisms like the Unified National Testing (UNT) functioning as gateway mechanisms determining access to higher education and subsequent labor market opportunities. With Generation Z students (born 1997-2012) currently comprising the majority of test-takers, their psychological readiness for assessment directly impacts Kazakhstan's future workforce composition, sectoral distribution, and economic competitiveness. This research addresses critical gaps in understanding psychological factors affecting standardized testing performance within Kazakhstan's unique educational and cultural context during 2022-2023, with particular focus on the high-stakes Unified National Testing (UNT) system. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed, collecting data from 1,247 students across 28 schools in 14 regions of Kazakhstan. Quantitative instruments included the Student Emotional Well-being Inventory and Assessment Readiness Profile. We found out significant correlations emerged between emotional well-being and assessment performance. Students with higher emotional well-being demonstrated 34% greater resilience to test anxiety and 28% improved performance on standardized assessments. Contrary to expectations, rural students showed higher anxiety management capacity than urban students. Structural equation modeling identified self-efficacy as the primary mediator between emotional well-being and assessment outcomes. The findings revealed concerning longitudinal patterns with emotional well-being declining throughout the academic year despite improvements in assessment readiness. Intervention analysis demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral techniques and integrated approaches were most effective for enhancing emotional well-being and assessment readiness. Regional variations persisted even after controlling for socioeconomic factors, suggesting geographical location represents an independent influence on assessment-related psychological factors. This research provides the first comprehensive empirical investigation of emotional well-being's role in assessment readiness within Kazakhstan's educational system, introducing a novel conceptual framework that integrates psychological, institutional, and regional factors to explain assessment outcomes. The identification of rural protective factors challenges conventional assumptions about educational resource distribution.