Missions impossible : higher education and policymaking in the Arab world / John Waterbury.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Waterbury, John, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Higher education and state.

Education, Higher--Arab countries.

Education, Higher.

Universities and colleges--Arab countries.

Universities and colleges.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (337 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cairo, Egypt ; New York : The American University in Cairo Press, [2020]

Summary:

A rigorous examination of higher education policymaking in the Arab world None of the momentous challenges Arab universities face is unique either in kind or degree. Other societies exhibit some of the same pathologies-insufficient resources, high drop-out rates, feeble contributions to research and development, inappropriate skill formation for existing job markets, weak research incentive structures, weak institutional autonomy, and co-optation into the political order. But, it may be that the concentration of these pathologies and their depth is what sets the Arab world apart. Missions Impossible seeks to explain the process of policymaking in higher education in the Arab world, a process that is shaped by the region's politics of autocratic rule. Higher education in the Arab world is directly linked to crises in economic growth, social inequality and, as a result, regime survival. If unsuccessful, higher education could be the catalyst to regime collapse. If successful, it could be the catalyst to sustained growth and innovation-but that, too, could unleash forces that the region's autocrats are unable to control. Leaders are risk-averse and therefore implement policies that tame the universities politically but in the process sap their capabilities for innovation and knowledge creation. The result is sub-optimal and, argues John Waterbury in this thought-provoking study, unsustainable. Skillfully integrating international debates on higher education with rich and empirically informed analysis of the governance and finance of higher education in the Arab world today, Missions Impossible explores and dissects the manifold dilemmas that lie at the heart of educational reform and examines possible paths forward.

Contents:

|a Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Preface: Brainstorming Arab Higher Education

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 Orders of Magnitude

2 The Modern Flagship Universities of the Arab World

3 Politics and the University

4 Excellence in Higher Education: Enabler and Enabled

5 Governance: Why Does It Matter?

6 Reform in Tight Places

7 Innovation and Critical Linkages

8 Feeding the Beast: Financing Tertiary Education

9 Living in the Beast: Neither Ivory nor a Tower

Conclusion: Gradual or Disruptive Change?

Appendix to Chapter 1

Interviews

Notes

References

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781649030085

1649030088

9781649030078

164903007X

OCLC:

1201429307