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Faced with increasing pressure to generate more of their own budgets, universities in low and middle income countries are increasingly banding together as country and regional-level networks to bid on and subsequently implement externally funded development projects (a pattern already seen in high income countries). While working as a network may offer a competitive advantage in bidding on international contracts, it also introduces a new set of dynamics in cross border collaboration among higher education institutions. This paper examines the dynamics of university networks, drawing on the experience of one regional and four country-level networks in South East Asia which were created to promote better national preparation and response to pandemic threats. Findings suggest that, in many universities, university efforts to work through networks is a source of considerable controversy as it pushes institutions and individuals into new roles and often conflicts with existing institution-level incentive systems.

Faced with escalating demand for instructional staff to serve the expanding undergraduate enrolments, many middle income countries in Southeast Asia are investing heavily in expanding their provision of graduate education. An attractive secondary benefit is that graduate programmes contribute to a local university-based research capacity that governments believe will result in a positive economic return to the country. This paper presents the results of a case study of the dynamics associated with growth of graduate education in the two countries that lead the region in the development of graduate education, Malaysia and Thailand. The study further elaborates the reasons that higher education institutions in these two countries are expanding their graduate-level programmes, how the growth of graduate education is affecting the professional lives of the faculty members and administrators leading those programmes, and elaborates institutional-level issues associated with this expansion.

International university rankings are a widely used measure of higher education excellence. Since publication rates are an important element in most ranking systems, pushing faculty to increase their publication in top-tier international journals is viewed by many government and university officials as an important strategy for improving ratings and thus gaining international recognition. This study examined the manner in which public universities in Malaysia have created and aligned incentives in an effort to encourage faculty members to increase their publication rate in top-tier international journals. The study is grounded in principal-agent theory and utilized data from 47 interviews conducted with faculty members from across four public universities in Malaysia. Findings suggest that while university administrators' aspirations for higher international rankings are high, administrators are limited in the incentives they can utilize in effecting the change they seek. Their levers of influence over faculty work are limited in the Malaysian context.

Corruption in higher education is the focus of growing international concern among governments, educators, students, and other stakeholders. Those working in higher education institutions now face a unique convergence of pressures that is creating a heightened threat to the integrity of the higher education enterprise worldwide. This paper draws on recent measures of the perceived magnitude of corruption, studies of respondents' direct experience with corruption, and case studies of specific instances of corruption to illustrate the nature and extent of corruption in higher education. The authors suggest that the impact of corrupt practices in higher education can have a wider negative influence to the extent that it breaks the link between personal effort and anticipation of reward. The risk is that employees and students come to believe that personal success comes, not through merit and hard work, but through cutting corners.

This paper examines the sources of satisfaction and frustration among Malaysian academics across three types of higher education institutions (HEIs)--public research university, public comprehensive university and private non-profit university. Based on interview with 67 academics across six HEIs, there is a clear pattern and relationship between the sources of satisfaction and frustration and the types of institutions these academics were affiliated. The major sources of satisfaction are related to the nature of academic work, which includes supervising, mentoring, teaching and interacting with students, as well as conducting research and disseminating knowledge through publication. However, the major sources of frustration are predominantly related to the governance of higher education, resulting from unrealistic expectations, lack of transparency of the promotion and reward system, and a strong bureaucratic culture. The understanding of satisfaction and frustration has helped us to understand issues of morale, retention and, possibly, productivity of academics across these HEIs, and in turn, the understanding of these issues about academics has implications in understanding the governing structure of HEIs. Although this study is limited only to HEIs in Malaysia, the findings have wider implications in contributing to the understanding of governance and academic culture in the broader context of higher education.

Government and development organizations are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship training programmes as a means of assisting those caught in poverty to develop the skills needed to find or create employment. Drawing on case studies from East Africa, this article argues that while such programmes offer a potentially useful strategy for enabling youth to access and create employment opportunities, they are, in and of themselves, an insufficient strategy for sustained improvement in the livelihood of participants. The article presents a model of contextual factors that it argues have broader applicability and relevance than the models currently in wide use. Without sufficient attention to those factors, the shift toward entrepreneurship training as an approach to poverty alleviation may place undue burdens and unachievable expectations on the very youth such programmes are designed to support.

Cross-border university networks have recently been advocated as an effective strategy for addressing national and regional development needs while simultaneously strengthening the capacity of the participating institutions. While university-to-university partnerships generally involve two institutions collaborating to accomplish a particular activity, university networks typically involve a larger number of institutions and focus on a broader set of activities organised around a particular issue or goal. They can take on activities which would exceed the capacity of individual institutions and the intention often is to establish a longer-term, more sustainable set of relationships than are typical in university-to-university twinning arrangements. This paper synthesises key lessons which have emerged from three recent efforts of establishing multi-university networks, one in Africa and two in Asia. Their experience suggests that such networks can be a useful mechanism for promoting a social and educational agenda while at the same time strengthening the capacity of participating universities. However, findings also suggest that success is not guaranteed. While university networks can expand resources and capabilities, they also increase operational complexity. The authors' analysis of the advantages and constraints encountered in the development and implementation of university networks aims to offer guidance to those pursuing this mechanism as a means of strengthening higher education and achieving broad development goals.

As many countries expand their higher education systems, they must attract, support, and retain qualified academic staff. This paper focuses on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a case study of a nation drawing on large numbers of mostly expatriate faculty working in short-term academic appointments. The paper begins by considering the national context within which expatriate faculty work in the UAE. Then, using a published conceptual framework highlighting key elements of academic work, the paper examines defining aspects of the work experience of expatriate faculty in the UAE, including work expectations (teaching, research, and service); equity (compensation, incentives, and benefits); autonomy, academic freedom, and flexibility; collegiality and institutional involvement; and professional growth. The discussion considers the implications of these elements of academic work for the satisfaction, motivation, and institutional commitment of the expatriate faculty members. The sample of 29 expatriate faculty studied is drawn from the population of full-time instructors at three public and three semi-public institutions in the UAE who teach in education or media, humanities and social sciences, science or engineering, and business or economics. The discussion of findings highlights satisfactions and concerns, as well as the relationship of work experiences with organizational commitment. The nature of academic work in many countries is shifting toward temporary and short-term contract-based appointments. Thus, analysis of the experiences of expatriate academic staff working within the UAE, where the majority of faculty members are in short-term positions, raises issues relevant to those in other countries where the non-permanent academic workforce is increasing. Additionally, issues considered are of interest to those who study the academic career and the factors shaping it.

Jones ABSTRACT: Across Oman, girls outnumber and outperform boys at the secondary school level. While welcoming girls' success, the government is concerned that low male achievement may have negative consequences on national competitiveness and economic growth. One reason posited for this discrepancy in achievement is differences in the nature and quality of instruction that students receive, which is attributed in part to differences in who teaches male and female students. Drawing on data from a tracer study of 625 Omani teachers, this study investigated gender differences in how Omani teachers view their careers, and it offers an analysis of ways to encourage the retention of Omani teachers in the teaching force.

This study reports findings of a tracer that investigated differences in the profile and subsequent experiences of scholarship recipients in Uganda who were able to complete the lower secondary school cycle (O level) without interruption (N = 174) and those that dropped out before completing their O-level cycle (N = 51), thereby losing their scholarship. Findings indicate that the scholarship programme had important positive impacts on all participants, even if they were unable to complete their O level. Moreover, scholarships had a multiplier effect; they had positive impacts on recipients' siblings, parents, and neighbours. When scholarship recipients did drop out, the most prevalent causes were poverty, pregnancy, and poor performance. However, even the modest amounts of education these dropouts received changed the course of their lives in positive ways.

The growing influence of the Bologna Process on higher education around the world has raised concerns about the applicability of this set of reforms in diverse cultural contexts. Ukraine provides an instructive case study highlighting the dynamics occurring at the convergence of the new framework with a state-centred model of higher education. The goal of this study was to examine the professional identity of faculty at one Ukrainian university and their perceptions regarding the implementation of Bologna at their institution. We found that instructional and institutional innovations were successfully implemented only to the extent that they were integrated with the existing pattern of values and beliefs held by faculty. These findings provide insight for how other countries may approach Bologna compatibility in the presence of social and cultural forces divergent from those in which the Bologna process originated.

This study investigated the career paths of 625 university graduates who prepared to be secondary school teachers in Oman, their assessment of their current work situation, and the extent to which their initial commitment to teaching was related to their subsequent career satisfaction and intention to remain in teaching. While nearly all graduates entered teaching, their decision was marked by ambivalence. Nearly half of the graduates reported being only somewhat or not at all committed to teaching as a career when they graduated. It also appears that initial commitment to teaching operates as an important lens through which teachers view their subsequent careers. Those initially more committed to teaching were more likely to be satisfied with the progress they made in their career, more likely to think that their current teaching position offered them opportunities for advancement, and more likely to want to remain in teaching than were graduates who had a lower initial commitment to teaching. The authors discuss both the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Academic staff in Ukraine face a convergence of institutional and professional pressures precipitated by a national economic crisis, projected declines in enrolment and dramatic changes to institutional procedures as institutions implement the Bologna Process. This article examines the extent to which these pressures are reshaping the way academic staff engage in their day-to-day work, their careers and their role in their university. Findings indicate that faculty are caught in a confluence of conflicting demands that elicits adaptive coping strategies and threatens to undermine national efforts to modernise Ukraine's higher education system. (Contains 3 tables and 2 notes.)

This article documents the emergence of environmental education in the curriculum discourse in Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1988, and proceeds to trace its path through a succession of curriculum documents over the subsequent two decades. As well as exploring the form environmental education takes in these documents, the way it emerges in educational priorities is also reviewed. This historical analysis highlights the political nature of the school curriculum in general, and in particular, the place of environmental education within it. It also suggests that the curriculum, by itself, provides little concrete guidance for teachers. In response, I propose that educators must look to their own community for strength and leadership in a hostile political climate.

Uganda has received considerable international attention for being the first and, to date, only African country to adopt a policy of free universal secondary education (USE). However, the policy was adopted with little attention to system capacity or involvement of secondary head teachers, even though there is considerable research documenting the importance of school leaders in promoting or blocking education reform efforts. This study investigated the extent to which Uganda secondary school leaders support USE policy, the extent they think USE is being implemented successfully, and the extent they believe they have the knowledge and skills needed in USE implementation. To understand the role of head teachers in the move to USE in Uganda, it is necessary to understand the political context in which it was adopted and the conditions under which it was implemented. (Contains 7 tables.)

Oman will soon be producing three times more college graduates than there are jobs available in the country each year, forcing graduates to seek employment outside of Oman. Their success in securing and holding employment will be based more on training and performance than might be the case if they were working in Oman. If graduates find that the quality of their college education does not adequately prepare them to compete in the international labor market, it is likely that their discontent will lead to pressure, particularly on private colleges and universities (all of which are established as for-profit enterprises), to improve the quality of their instruction. This could accentuate the tension private higher education institutions already experience between ensuring investors receive a competitive return on their investment and investing those funds in raising instructional quality. Actions that the higher education community can take to prepare for and help mitigate the impact of these tensions are discussed.

Some of the most dramatic growth in the provision of primary and secondary education over the last decade has occurred across countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Yet student achievement across MENA is lagging compared to many other parts of the world. Low quality of education is a primary concern and one of the greatest challenges facing education and government leaders across the region. This paper summarises recent evidence regarding student learning in the MENA region and draws on Galal's model of policy formulation in considering ways that governments across the Middle East might address this problem.

This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which central ministry policy initiatives result in large-scale educational change in developing countries. Specifically, Lesotho's policy of inclusive special education was examined as a case study. The study employed a multi-method approach to yield a large data-set. Results indicate that policy implementation was limited in both depth (the approaches to inclusive education in some schools) and breadth (the number of schools that have received training in inclusive education). Where implementation was present, perceived teacher knowledge and skill was a strong predictor of success and teachers had positive attitudes toward children with disabilities. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study examined the extent that a scholarship program operating in Sierra Leone and Djibouti was successful in increasing girls' persistence in basic education. Results of field studies indicated that scholarships could be appropriately targeted and delivered in ways that appear to minimize misappropriation of funds. However, the scholarships often created significant tensions between award recipients and non-recipients and among their families that frequently isolated recipient girls and led to their harassment by non-recipients. These findings are interpreted within the context of the larger debate about the relative merit of abolishing school fees for all students or targeting scholarships for only the neediest students.

This study investigates the effectiveness of Chinese international education assistance through an examination of student experience in the Chinese Government Scholarship Program, an important mechanism of Chinese foreign aid. Grounded in Pascarella's (1985) model of the impact of college on students, the study investigates participants' level of satisfaction with their higher education experience in China and their perception of the role of the scholarship program in promoting positive relationships between China and the scholarship students' home countries. Findings indicate that participants are generally satisfied with their experiences in China and are positive about the impact of the program in building friendships with their home countries. The authors discuss the implications of these findings in terms of China's emerging prominence as a provider of international development assistance.

A major concern confronting development specialists in the education sector is the sustainability of project activities and outcomes, that is, their ability to persist once external funding ends. The increased attention of international development-assistance organizations to sustainability reflects the greater recent focus on outcome-based funding. The present study investigates differences between six communities in Ghana that varied in their ability to sustain externally initiated community-participation activities beyond the life of the external development-assistance project that promoted those activities. It was hypothesized that high- and low-sustaining communities differ in eight managerial and socio-cultural dimensions suggested by earlier research to be important for sustainability of community-level activities: planning, transparency, leadership, and participation, on one hand, and, on the other, social cohesion, resources, community skills, and valuing of education. Findings indicate that leadership and social cohesion are the two most vital elements in the sustainability of organizational structures intended to promote community participation in the oversight of local schools. Other factors suggested by the model are largely subsumed under leadership, so that the model can be simplified.

Over the next decade many countries of sub-Saharan Africa will face a demand for qualified secondary school teachers that current systems for teacher recruitment, training, deployment and retention will be unable to meet. While strategies for increasing teacher supply to meet this shortage have been suggested, less attention has been given to investigating the acceptability of these potential solutions by those educators closest to the school and classroom level and who often serve as gatekeepers to policy implementation. Kingdon's multiple streams model is the framework used in this study to assess the feasibility of key strategies widely offered as possible solutions to resolve the projected teacher shortage. This study investigated the responses of 114 secondary school teachers, headteachers and education officials across six countries to policy options for increasing teacher supply. While none of the groups supported options to increase the supply through changed teacher training, there was support among all three groups for options that affected retention, including increased in-service training and distance education, more mentorship for new teachers and more opportunities for teachers to network with each other. These findings suggest that policy-makers in sub-Saharan African countries need to build political support among education stakeholders to find the most feasible and viable solutions to address the large teacher shortages through both increasing supply and retention. (Contains 8 tables and 8 notes.)

Rather than assuming New Zealand's educational sectors and institutions will be active and effective contributors to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) the authors ask instead: "Are New Zealand's school and university sectors actually in a position to respond programmatically to the UN initiative?" The paper first reviews past efforts to introduce environmental education and education for sustainable development either directly or indirectly in the New Zealand school curricula and in university courses and degrees. The sobering conclusion is that by 2004 the gains could at best only be described as partial, limited and marginal, and certainly not transformational. The paper then reports on the first year of the UNDESD related activity in New Zealand. Again, the efforts have been minimal and the impacts negligible. The New Zealand evidence suggests that until understanding of the constraints of existing educational frameworks is taken seriously, prospects are slim for anything other than rhetorical and cosmetic adjustments in educational curricula and educational outcomes. This realization means early political effort associated with the decade should be concerned less with grand visions and the content of local projects and more with removing institutional obstacles and impediments to creating a "sustainability mindset". (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: This paper aims to detail a range of collaborative programmes developed by University College London (UCL) and the London Business School (LBS). These schemes have been developed to exploit synergies between the two institutions with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship within the fields of science and technology. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports on the organization and delivery of programmes drawing upon a detailed attendance statistics for UCL participants in the programme between 2,000 and 2006. Research limitations/implications: Many of the UCL research students who have participated in these programmes are only now reaching the end of their study or research programmes. Thus, it has not, as yet, been possible to complete a longitudinal survey to consider the impact of these programmes on entrepreneurial outcomes. These analyses will be reported in subsequent papers. Practical implications: Staff and students of both institutions report great enthusiasm for these collaborative activities and the authors are now focused on their extension beyond the end of the current funding regime. It is believed that the collaborations described may form a model that can be adapted to other partnerships between science and engineering faculties and business schools. Originality/value: This scheme is original in its focus on support for post-graduate activities between two proximate yet quite separate world-class institutions with radically different student intakes, and operational/business models. It is believed that the paper presents a useful model for those seeking to implement similar collaborative programmes.

This paper revisits the history of environmental education in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s and draws parallels between these and current events in four countries, including Australia. It is argued that little has changed and that few environmental educators confront the inherently political nature of their work. It is concluded that environmental education activity must adopt a wider scope that includes political activity if progress is to be made.

A central premise supporting educational decentralization is that community members best understand local conditions and are best placed to make local educational decisions. A survey of 643 educators, parents, and community leaders in 18 rural Ghana communities found that all groups lacked well-formulated attitudes about school practices and community support of schools. Discusses the need for community and headmaster training in community decision making. Contains 24 references. (SV)

Asian countries have expanded basic education over the past three decades, due to declining enrollment rates, a booming economy, and supportive national-development strategies. Urgent health, environmental, population, and economic pressures are fueling a move to decentralized education systems and negatively affecting headmasters. School administration needs strengthening. (Contains 64 references.) (MLH)

Among 2,357 elementary and secondary teachers in rural ethnic-minority regions of China, teacher's use of classroom instructional time and overall professional time was strongly influenced by grade level taught and somewhat influenced at the elementary level by teacher's preservice training. Results suggest that Chinese investments in preservice teacher training influenced educational quality, but not much. (SV)

The five chapters of this theme issue examine trends and issues that will affect education in Asia over the next decade, focusing on (1) the continuing need for policy development; (2) changing educational management, especially with regard to decentralization; (3) educational finance; (4) equity issues; and (5) challenges of improving school quality. (SLD)

Discusses the Queensland Languages and Cultures Initial Teacher Education Program (LACITEP), in which 50% to 80% of the subjects taken are delivered through Japanese immersion. Notes that the promotion of second-language learning is a common aim of all immersion classrooms and provides insight into how the LACITEP Health and Physical Education course centers around student needs. (13 references) (Author/CK)

The quality of educational data in Nepal was evaluated by investigating three questions: (1) the extent of reporting error in national education data; (2) accuracy of error estimation; and (3) levels at which error is introduced. Evidence suggests that data may be more accurate than decision makers suppose. (SLD)

Reports findings from a study of the confidence expressed by ministry-level decision makers in five developing countries (i.e., Somalia, Botswana, Liberia, Yemen, and Nepal) about the quality of the national-level education data available to them and reasons for the perceived 16-40 percent error rate. (DMM)

Sponsors of education management information systems (EMIS) often underestimate EMIS's impact on other education sector activities and fail to provide individual and organizational incentives for encouraging use of improved educational data at the national level. Liberia's example illustrates the consequences of developing poor incentive structures for developing and using national data. (14 references) (MLH)

Contends that, in developing countries, attention must be paid to the quality of data going into computer-based information management systems; otherwise implementation of the system may provide only a deceptively systematic procedure for making random decisions. Examines errors, assumptions, inabilities, and omissions that threaten data quality in such settings. (DHP)

Procedures used to verify and validate the translation of tests, questionnaires, and other paper-and-pencil measurement devices for cross-cultural use are discussed. Recommendations are suggested for improving translation efforts. (MH)

Based on a year of teaching in Iran, teaching and living experiences in Iran are described. Background on the teaching assignment and on the rapid demographic and educational changes in Iran are presented. Student selection for a training course in research and evaluation is also discussed. (MLW)