Why are there so few world-class universities in the Middle East and North Africa?

Abstract

This article explains why there are so few world-class universities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region today. It first summarises the systemic exogenous economic, political and social problems facing all countries in the region, and the impact of these on the development of their higher education sectors in recent times. Then, with reference to the Times Higher Education and Webometrics rankings of the world’s leading universities, the article describes several endogenous explanations for the absence of world-class universities in the 19 countries of the MENA region. These include the lack of strategic investment in research and teaching in local universities; the absence of intellectual freedom and the constraints imposed on the free expression of ideas in all MENA universities; the failure of universities in the region to encourage, monitor and reward high-quality and high-impact research (and teaching) in the natural and social sciences, the humanities and the liberal arts; and the anti-scientific mind-sets of local ruling political elites, many Islamic theologians, and those who are responsible for the oversight and administration of universities in the region. The limitations of this exploratory study and suggestions for future research are then described. The article concludes by explaining why it is highly unlikely that the political and educational leadership of countries in the MENA region will initiate the institutional higher education reforms that would be required to build world-class research-teaching universities in the foreseeable future.