RAND > Reports & Bookstore > (Technical) Reports > TR-478

HomeGo to RAND HomeReports and Book Store Summer Sale: All publications 40% off AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Document Information

Aligning Post-Secondary Educational Choices to Societal Needs

A New Scholarship System for Qatar

Cover: Aligning Post-Secondary Educational Choices to Societal Needs

By: Catherine H. Augustine, Cathy Krop

Qatar is experiencing unprecedented social and economic development, which is inextricably linked to increased participation in the global market. Growing employment opportunities for Qatari nationals require greater attention to post-secondary education and the development of specific high-demand skills. Since the 1970s, Qatar has complemented its in-country post-secondary-education options by supporting scholarship programs and study-abroad opportunities at the graduate and undergraduate levels, particularly for programs not available locally. However, the existing system was neither coherently designed nor consistently executed, resulting in few incentives for scholarship recipients to attend institutions that were appropriate for their and the country's needs. Therefore, RAND was asked to provide recommendations for reforming the system so that it would complement and promote Qatar's national K–12 reforms, utilize the expanding high-quality post-secondary options available in the country, and meet the labor-related, civic, and cultural needs generated from Qatar's significant economic and social development. This report summarizes the resulting evaluation of the old system and describes proposed reforms that were developed over the course of comparative assessments of countries with similar characteristics to Qatar and interviews with a wide-ranging group of stakeholders. Since the time of the study, Qatar's Supreme Education Council has adopted and adapted most of the recommendations reported here.

See Also:

Support RAND Research — Buy This Product!

Paperback Cover Price: $24.50

Discounted Web Price: $22.05

Pages: 94

ISBN/EAN: 9780833044204

Special 40% savings will be applied at checkout

Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.

Download PDF Full Document

(File size 1.0 MB, 4 minutes modem, < 1 minute broadband)

Download PDF Summary Only

(File size 0.1 MB, < 1 minute modem, < 1 minute broadband)

RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service. If you find this information valuable, please consider purchasing a paper copy of the full document to help support RAND research.

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.

Contents

Chapter One:
Introduction

Chapter Two:
Goals and Guiding Principles for Qatar's Scholarship System

Chapter Three:
Qatar's Scholarship Programs

Chapter Four:
Recommendations for New Scholarship System Programs

Chapter Five:
Scholarship System Infrastructure and Implementation

Chapter Six:
Conclusion

Appendix A:
Survey of Selected Scholarship Programs

Appendix B:
Scholarship Programs in Countries with Similarities to Qatar

Appendix C:
Sample of Interview Protocols

Appendix D:
Interviewees

The research described in this report was prepared for the Supreme Education Council and conducted within the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute and RAND Education, programs of the RAND Corporation.

This product is part of the RAND Corporation technical report series. RAND technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity.

Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

* RAND research is conducted across divisions, centers, and projects; these organizational components are represented in the "Related RAND Divisions" section above.

Stay Informed Subscribe to RSS Feeds Search RAND Publications View Cart