Degrees of Dignity: Arab Higher Education in the Global Era
© 2021
Presenting an analyses of higher education in eight countries in the Arab Middle East and North Africa, Degrees of Dignity works to dismantle narratives of crisis and assert approaches to institutional reform. Drawing on policy documents, media narratives, interviews, and personal experiences, Elizabeth Buckner explores how apolitical external reform models become contested and modified by local actors in ways that are simultaneously complicated, surprising, and even inspiring.
Degrees of Dignity documents how the global discourses of neoliberalism have legitimized specific policy models for higher education reform in the Arab world, including quality assurance, privatization, and internationalization. Through a multi-level and comparative analysis, this book examines how policy models are implemented, with often complex results, in countries throughout the region.
Ultimately, Degrees of Dignity calls on the field of higher education development to rethink current approaches to higher education reform: rather than viewing the Arab world as a site for intervention, it argues that the Arab world can act as a source for insight on resilient higher education systems.
Product Details
- World Rights
- Page Count: 288 pages
- Dimensions: 6.0in x 1.0in x 9.0in
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Author Information
Elizabeth Buckner is an assistant professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. -
Table of contents
Tables
Figures1. Introduction
Higher Education and the Arab State in the Global Era
The Limits of Technical Approaches
A Multi-Level and Comparative Approach
The Global Arena in Education and Development
Reconstituting the Local
Local Contestation, Power, and Privilege
Data and Analysis
Organization of the Book
Degrees of Dignity: Towards A New Narrative
References2. The University and the Arab World
Introduction
Early Models of Islamic Higher Education
The European Influence
Independence and Nation-Building
The Global Era
Overview of Higher Education Systems
Egypt and the Levant (Syria, Jordan and Lebanon)
Francophone North Africa (Morocco and Tunisia)
The Arab Gulf States (Qatar and the UAE)
Global Models, Localized Approaches
References3. Sorting Students, Determining Fates
Introduction
Access for All
The Exit Exam as Meritocracy
Criticisms of Centralized and Exam-Based Admissions
The Social Consequences of Exams
Private Tutoring
The Implications of Cheating
Thwarted Ambitions
‘Exceptions’ and the Political Calculus of Admissions in Jordan
Privatizing Pathways
Higher Education in the Arab Gulf States
Paying for Access in Lebanon’s Privatized System
Higher Education Admissions and State Legitimacy
References4. The Question of Quality
Introduction
The Global Race for Quality
The Crisis
The Technical Approach to Quality
Quality Assurance as Solution
The World Bank and the Knowledge Economy
Europeanization in North Africa
Relying on External Advice in the Arab Gulf
The Limits of Quality Assurance
Quality and The Linguistic Hierarchy
Reconsidering Higher Education and the Labor Market
Reconsidering the Credential
Redefining Excellence as Both Political and Personal
References5. Privatizing the Public Good
Introduction
The Growth of Private Higher Education
Apolitical Privatization
The Right to Free Public Higher Education
Selective Public Sector Subsidies
“Selling Degrees”
Exacerbating Inequalities
The Private Sector and The Public Good?
References6. Internationalizing the National University
Introduction
The Internationalization Imperative
People on the Move: Student and Scholarly Mobility
Bilateral Scholarship Programs
International Students
Provider Mobility: Importing Excellence
Internationalization as a National Project
References7. Between Knowledge and Truth
Introduction
The University and the Knowledge Society
“Far from Innovative”
Academic Researchers as Knowledge Producers
Ignoring the Structural Realities
Investing in Science and Research Production
National Science Policy Regimes
“Publications Have Soared” in Qatar
The Doha Institute’s “Different Approach”
The Hollow Discourse of Productivity
Academic Freedom
Between Knowledge and Truth
ReferencesConclusion: Rethinking Higher Education and Development
Re-politicizing Development
Learning from, not about, the Arab World
References
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Subjects and Courses
