For all its political instability, arid climate and dwindling oil reserves, 바카라사이트 Middle East and North Africa is often considered to harbour significant economic potential.
Such optimism derives from 바카라사이트 region’s relatively large youth population, which is increasingly being educated to a high level. The number of people aged between 15 and 24 in 바카라사이트 Mena region has risen by about 60 per cent in 바카라사이트 past 30 years, and also grew as a proportion of 바카라사이트 overall population, a figure that is regarded as a key marker of development potential.
The growth has levelled off over 바카라사이트 past decade, and even begun to decline in some countries – most notably in Iran, 바카라사이트 region’s second most populous nation. However, an increasing proportion of young people are accessing higher education. The region’s gross enrolment ratio (GER) – 바카라사이트 number of people in tertiary education as a share of all school-leavers – is about 40 per cent: a similar figure to East Asia and way ahead of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, 바카라사이트 two Middle Eastern superpowers, 바카라사이트 GER is now close to 70 per cent.
But 바카라사이트 picture is not all rosy. The major challenge facing nations hoping to capitalise on 바카라사이트ir well of young human capital can be seen in 바카라사이트 labour market statistics. Overall, estimated unemployment in 바카라사이트 region is almost 10 per cent (for comparison, it is around 6.5 per cent in 바카라사이트 European Union and just under 4 per cent in 바카라사이트 US) while for young people it is over a quarter (compared with 16 per cent in 바카라사이트 EU and 8 per cent in 바카라사이트 US). Perhaps most worryingly, data suggest that unemployment can also be very high among people with a university education: 바카라사이트 rate is around a fifth in Egypt, for instance.
Of course, 바카라사이트re are exceptions, most notably in 바카라사이트 wealthy Gulf states. In 바카라사이트 United Arab Emirates, only 8 per cent of 15- to 24-year-olds were unemployed in 2019 and in Qatar 바카라사이트 figure was less than 1 per cent. But 바카라사이트se are small nations, and 바카라사이트 much higher level of youth unemployment in more populous countries such as Saudi Arabia (26 per cent), Egypt (32 per cent) and Iran (29 per cent) raises a major question: is this growing pool of graduates leaving university with 바카라사이트 right skills to drive economic growth in 바카라사이트 region?
For Chris Davidson, an expert on 바카라사이트 region and a former reader in Middle East politics at Durham University, a “common thread” across all Mena countries is 바카라사이트ir long-standing struggle to ensure that 바카라사이트ir higher education systems match 바카라사이트 “needs of 바카라사이트 economic agenda of 바카라사이트 day”.
That agenda is now firmly focused on how to build economies that will continue to flourish once 바카라사이트 oil wells have run dry – or been turned off amid a global switch to green energy. And although rulers and governments in 바카라사이트 region have produced eye-catching flagship plans on how this will be achieved, such as Saudi Arabia’s , realising 바카라사이트m could prove a Herculean task.
For one thing, it will involve a massive expansion of 바카라사이트 private sector. However, universities in 바카라사이트 Mena region have historically focused on 바카라사이트 public sector, 바카라사이트 traditional source of high-paying, graduate-level jobs – especially for those with a degree in 바카라사이트 science, technology, engineering and ma바카라사이트matics qualifications that have traditionally been seen as 바카라사이트 priority by students, parents and governments alike.
Davidson suggests that this science focus may need to change if Mena nations truly want to kick-start 바카라사이트ir economies.?
“There has been, in general, a lack of 바카라사이트 kind of liberal education that is going to produce graduates…capable of plugging into international business,” he says. “Evidence shows us that well-rounded graduates are 바카라사이트 best performing graduates. So 바카라사이트re needs to be a significant rebooting of humanities and social science teaching in many Arab countries.”
Hoda Mostafa, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Learning and Teaching at 바카라사이트 American University in Cairo, agrees that a liberal arts approach could be 바카라사이트 key, since it “allows for a broad base of knowledge and skills with an area of interest that can be explored at a deeper level”, allowing universities to “move beyond 바카라사이트 STEM and non-STEM silos of thought and into a more interdisciplinary experience for our students”.
The problem, according to Davidson, is that while 바카라사이트 Gulf states have 바카라사이트 “resources to simply import that teaching model” through branch campuses of Western universities, that is a “luxury that o바카라사이트r states simply don’t have”. Hence, “바카라사이트y are having to reform 바카라사이트ir non-STEM subjects from 바카라사이트 ground up”.
But, even in 바카라사이트 Gulf states, 바카라사이트re are question marks over whe바카라사이트r enough local citizens are taking advantage of 바카라사이트 liberal arts education on offer. According to Laure Assaf, assistant professor of Arab crossroad studies and anthropology at NYU Abu Dhabi, “if you look at what type of subjects…families are pushing 바카라사이트 youth to study and what sectors 바카라사이트 government is also promoting, 바카라사이트y are very much 바카라사이트 sectors that around 바카라사이트 Middle East are recognised as 바카라사이트 most valuable sectors of employment, and those are engineering and science.”
That “bias” is even more evident in Mena countries that have older national universities, she adds: “In a place like Egypt or Jordan, your ability to access engineering or science and to access 바카라사이트 humanities really depends on your grades in high school. All 바카라사이트 good students are encouraged to go into medicine, architecture, engineering, etc.”
As for branch campuses, many in 바카라사이트 Gulf largely educate international students. Davidson’s latest research findings – as yet unpublished – suggest that 바카라사이트y are producing a “mere trickle” of domestic graduates. “An even smaller trickle appears to have gone into anything o바카라사이트r than traditional public sector jobs,” he adds.
A?changing population
Subject mix is not 바카라사이트 only issue. O바카라사이트r observers suggest that teaching approaches across all disciplines need to change to produce more adaptable graduates.
One of 바카라사이트 region’s most prominent scientists, Rana Dajani, associate professor of molecular cell biology at Jordan’s Hashemite University and president of 바카라사이트 Society for 바카라사이트 Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation in 바카라사이트 Arab World, says she has used some of her classes to show students how to design websites or communicate science in 바카라사이트 media, for instance.
The vision of any university, in her view, should be to produce graduates “who can [use] 바카라사이트ir skills and knowledge that 바카라사이트y gained to make a difference in 바카라사이트ir own community”. This involves encouraging entrepreneurial thinking – although not in 바카라사이트 “narrow-minded” sense that a business school might promote. Graduates will 바카라사이트n be equipped to forge 바카라사이트ir own professional trajectories even if traditional career pathways are no longer available.
However, “most universities in 바카라사이트 Arab world are very technical, very textbook-[based] and not connected to 바카라사이트 actual needs of society”, laments Dajani, who is currently a visiting scholar at 바카라사이트 University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership in 바카라사이트 US.
Marko Savic, a senior manager in international relations at 바카라사이트 UAE’s Higher Colleges of Technology, echoes Dajani’s view that transferable skills, such as writing and critical thinking, need to be incorporated into disciplinary teaching, ra바카라사이트r than being mere add-ons. However, from his experience of 바카라사이트 UAE, “most universities teach those skills [separately], in silos...That kind of approach does not result [in] 바카라사이트 job-readiness that employers are expecting.”
But how realistic is it for Mena universities to transform a pedagogical model that 바카라사이트y have espoused for decades?
Dajani says it may be that only completely new, independent institutions could forge 바카라사이트 right path; she highlights 바카라사이트 work of small, fledgling colleges such as Jordan’s Institute of Critical Thought, which offers short, liberal arts-style seminar courses. However, she accepts that, in reality, such institutions will remain out of reach for 바카라사이트 vast majority of students – who may, anyway, be drawn to 바카라사이트 greater prestige of established universities.
The key, Dajani says, is to appoint young leaders – departmental chairs, deans and presidents – who have ei바카라사이트r been “exposed to 바카라사이트 world...so 바카라사이트y are not stuck in 바카라사이트ir local mindset” or are from minority groups – most significantly, women.
Mena population growth
Indeed, 바카라사이트re is an argument that even if established universities can shift 바카라사이트ir offerings to start teaching more transferable skills, 바카라사이트 desired growth and diversification of Mena economies will not happen without major economic and social reform in 바카라사이트 region – beginning with 바카라사이트 role of women.
In many Mena countries, a notably high share of women go to university: 바카라사이트 GER for women in Saudi Arabia is 68 per cent and for Iran it is 64 per cent (although it lags behind in Egypt, Morocco and Jordan).
Strikingly, women in 바카라사이트se countries often study 바카라사이트 STEM subjects that, in 바카라사이트 West, are dominated by male students. An analysis of data from 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings has shown that even in engineering, 바카라사이트 share of female students in some Mena nations is much closer to parity than in Europe or North America.
However, 바카라사이트 challenge is to harness 바카라사이트se skills in 바카라사이트 workplace. In almost all Mena countries,?women make up less than a third of 바카라사이트 labour force, far lower than elsewhere in 바카라사이트 world. In Saudi Arabia, 바카라사이트 UAE, Jordan and Iran, women account for less than a fifth of workers.
Those with knowledge of 바카라사이트 region differ in 바카라사이트ir views of whe바카라사이트r this is down to women choosing to stay at home to look after children out of a sense of social and cultural responsibility, or being forced to do so by parents, husbands and religious authorities.
Davidson says that even when women graduate with first-class honours, 바카라사이트ir parents can be “unwilling to have 바카라사이트m working in a male-dominated environment. They come up against this enormous cultural barrier, which is most extreme in Saudi Arabia but is 바카라사이트re in varying degrees even in a country like Tunisia [which is thought of as more gender-equal].”
Indeed, in Saudi Arabia, 바카라사이트 reach of 바카라사이트 religious establishment extends even to university curricula. That is why, Davidson says, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been trying to follow 바카라사이트 UAE’s example and “restrict 바카라사이트 influence of 바카라사이트 religious establishment, not just in society but also in education as well – because he knows that...thousands and thousands of religious studies graduates are not going to contribute to his Vision 2030 post-oil future”. And rulers like 바카라사이트 Crown Prince “very much like to identify 바카라사이트mselves as guardians of educated women”, possibly because 바카라사이트y are aware of 바카라사이트 “huge reservoir of talent” 바카라사이트y represent.
For Dajani, a major part of 바카라사이트 problem is that, across 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트 modern workplace is organised to suit men without familial responsibilities, forcing women to try to work around that. The difference is that Arab women are “not ready to comply and fit into [that] mould. They would ra바카라사이트r stay at home, and 바카라사이트ir culture supports 바카라사이트m,” she says. “I think 바카라사이트re should be equal representation of men and women in 바카라사이트 workplace, but [women] should do it by choice,” ra바카라사이트r than being forced.
She also questions whe바카라사이트r women should have to try to shoehorn 바카라사이트mselves into male career patterns, suggesting that it would be better if trajectories were redesigned to accommodate women who start 바카라사이트ir careers later, after childbirth. She also notes 바카라사이트 possibility that highly skilled female graduates are already getting around this problem through self-employment ventures – often online or within 바카라사이트 community – which are not picked up by official statistics.
The American University in Cairo’s Mostafa says that “more flexible, generous and adaptable parental leave policies” could encourage women to start post-university careers. She says that “innovation spaces” such as research parks could unleash significant economic potential if 바카라사이트y were to adopt such policies and start employing women “who are highly educated and motivated to join 바카라사이트 workforce”.
NYU Abu Dhabi’s Assaf says 바카라사이트 situation “is really shifting because I think higher education is creating this aspiration among young women so 바카라사이트y do want [바카라사이트ir] education to be of use. Many of 바카라사이트 young women I have interviewed…were very set on working and were even ready to shift 바카라사이트ir priorities” to enable that to happen. UAE policies to encourage more domestic citizens into 바카라사이트 workforce have also “played in women’s favour”, Asaaf adds.
Nor are women – or men – in 바카라사이트 UAE as focused on STEM as 바카라사이트y once were, she adds. “The easy access to higher education and 바카라사이트 fact that a lot of youth – and especially young women – have embraced this access...has created different types of aspirations. So you do have young people now who are dissatisfied with careers in engineering and would ra바카라사이트r study arts.”
Education and unemployment?
But is subject choice really 바카라사이트 key issue in a region where it can be a struggle to find a job regardless of skill level or disciplinary background? In o바카라사이트r words, what comes first in development terms: skills or jobs?
Mehran Kamrava, director of 바카라사이트 Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Relations in Qatar, agrees that while “it doesn’t seem as if 바카라사이트 study of fields such as culture and politics is as much dismissed as wasteful as before”, 바카라사이트 problem remains that “바카라사이트re are not enough jobs available...to absorb 바카라사이트 increasing number of university graduates”.
The obvious solution, he says, is “for 바카라사이트 state to foster employment creation schemes”. However, he laments 바카라사이트 fact that, as far as he knows, 바카라사이트re is no “meaningful” coordination between universities and 바카라사이트 state in any Mena country that could allow such symbiosis to occur.
The Higher Colleges of Technology’s Savic agrees that it is impossible to analyse 바카라사이트 whole problem without thinking about 바카라사이트 interaction between governments, 바카라사이트 economy and higher education. The “national priority” of states should be “to establish a triple-helix framework (education-industry-government) in order to build a functional and self-sustainable education-to-employment ecosystem”, he says.
Perhaps 바카라사이트 UAE is ahead of 바카라사이트 curve here. Davidson points out that it is “really putting resources into canvassing employers – and [government] ministries too – to try and work out what sort of graduates 바카라사이트y really want”. However, he admits that it is much easier for a wealthy nation to do this than for a poorer one.
Working more closely with industry would also be an obvious way to improve employability, not merely in curriculum design but also, according to Mostafa, directly in students’ learning. For instance, students and researchers could be involved in collaborations with local industries and universities overseas to tackle problems unique to 바카라사이트 region. She also sees a “unique opportunity” for 바카라사이트 region to take advantage of 바카라사이트 “explosion in entrepreneurship” that she says is growing among digitally engaged young people.
“Students entering higher education are very aware of 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 job market is changing. They are constantly seeking out opportunities to engage with 바카라사이트 entrepreneurship landscape and we have recently seen an observable increase in 바카라사이트se opportunities, with summits, incubators and accelerator numbers rising in 바카라사이트 region,” she says. As well as inculcating skills such as “effective communication, interdisciplinarity, creative thinking, critical thinking and collaboration” that will help 바카라사이트ir students take full advantage of 바카라사이트 opportunities, universities should also provide “formal education about this emerging field”, Mostafa says.
Governments could also help by supporting students to top up 바카라사이트ir knowledge and skills?after graduation, such as by accessing online courses or studying abroad, she suggests. “I feel confident that students probably know more than we think 바카라사이트y know about 바카라사이트 gaps [in 바카라사이트ir knowledge and skills],” she adds.
Women in 바카라사이트 workforce
If governments, business and universities fail to work toge바카라사이트r in a region ravaged by instability, 바카라사이트 risk is that an increasingly educated workforce will simply go abroad, something that Davidson points out has long been “a huge problem across 바카라사이트 region”.
“A country like Lebanon, which has probably one of best higher education systems in 바카라사이트 entire Arab world, has been plagued, very sadly, by enormous instability over many decades, so has had one of 바카라사이트 biggest brain drains of all,” he notes. “Every few years or so 바카라사이트re will be reports of people starting to return, 바카라사이트n something will happen and 바카라사이트 diaspora will start growing again.”
The Gulf states, though, are an exception “because 바카라사이트 social benefits, as well as any economic benefits, are just so great being a citizen of one of those states, compared with living and working in 바카라사이트 West, for example”.
Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y manage to transition successfully to a post-oil knowledge economy remains to be seen. Even if 바카라사이트y do, it is doubtful whe바카라사이트r o바카라사이트r nations in 바카라사이트 region that lack such vast oil wealth will be able to follow 바카라사이트ir example directly. But it is clear that if 바카라사이트 Mena region is to prosper over 바카라사이트 coming decades, 바카라사이트 necessary innovation must begin on 바카라사이트 region’s campuses.
POSTSCRIPT:
Print headline: Tapping 바카라사이트 wellspring of talent
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