Higher education institutions in the Arab States: A study of objectives and their achievement

Abstract

Throughout the world, pressure on resources and emphasis on greater accountability has resulted in higher education institutions' making efforts to define their objectives and to measure their success in achieving them. This paper describes research carried out into this subject in a number of Middle Eastern universities. The methodology employed was based on previous U.S. studies but modified to fit the Middle Eastern context. The results showed that there were significant differences in the ranking of objectives between different universities although not between different academic constituencies. Another important result of the study was the apparently poor performance on highly rated objectives of student intellectual development and progress in research.