National, Regional and Global Perspectives of Higher Education and Science Policies in the Arab Region

Promoting Case-Based Learning in Business Higher Education in the Middle East and North Africa Region

“…Moreover, most public universities rely heavily on adjunct faculty who are contracted to teach only specific courses, which limits their full-time engagement in academia (Abdessalem, 2011; El-Araby, 2011). Meager salaries prevent faculty from fully devoting themselves to teaching and/or research (Nour, 2011). Public higher education institutions have no incentives to deliver high-quality education (Assaad et al, 2016), resulting in teaching activities that are still rudimentary with almost no innovations in teaching philosophy and delivery methods.…”

“…While the underlying reasons may differ from one country to another, there is agreement among researchers and practitioners that providing quality education still stands as one of the main challenges that higher education institutions are facing across MENA (Acedo, 2011; Assaad et al, 2016; El-Araby, 2011; El Hassan, 2013; Galal et al, 2008; Heyneman, 1997; Iqbal & Kiendrebeogo, 2015; Nour, 2011; Salehi-Isfahani, 2013), which, in turn, is widening the mismatch between the labor market needs and the quality of university graduates. This represents a serious challenge for MENA countries since human capital is one of the longest-lived assets in the economy, and, therefore, errors in producing the right human resources are extremely costly (Assaad et al, 2018).…”

Economic Systems of Innovation in the Arab Region

“…28 Moreover, similar, to typically less developed countries, systems of innovation in the Arab region are inhibited by the deficient socioeconomic infrastructure; weaker institutional frameworks; low levels of interaction; weak formal institutional, legal, and regulatory frameworks; low levels of interaction among firms as well as among different type of organizations (e.g., firms, universities, technology service providers), and a limited number of innovative enterprises. Nour (2011c) indicates that it is worth noting that in the Arab countries, there are several common features and also other diversified features of science policies. 29 The and Waast UNESCO reports (2006) are useful sources for qualifying them.…”

“…UNESCO, 2004), the Gulf, Maghreb, and Mashreq (UNESCO, 2010), and in the Gulf or the Mediterranean (cf. Nour, 2003Nour, , 2011c. Moreover, different from the existing studies in the Arab literature that use the classification of the Arab countries according to the structure of the economy to discuss economic and development issues in the Arab region (cf.…”

The Specifics of Teaching Social Work at Universities in Arab Countries

“…As for teaching social work, the problem of education in Arab communities has been revealed in the scientific literature relatively recently. At the same time, the authors note the discrepancy between the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean concerning the interaction of research and higher education policy (Nour, 2011). Arab and Islamic foundations supporting research are a very recent phenomenon; therefore, their number is limited, and basic institutional traditions are still developing in social work and social policy.…”