Post-secondary education in Qatar employer demand, student choice, and options for policy (RAND, 2007)
"Rand-Qatar Policy Institute.". - "Prepared for the Supreme Education Council.". - "MG-644-QATAR"--P. [4] of cover. - Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133)
Introduction -- Overview of Qatar and the policy context -- Skill and occupational demands -- Qataris who do not pursue post-secondary education -- Education and training provision -- Options for providing new educational opportunities -- Recommendations -- Appendix A: Study approach and methods -- Appendix B: Post-secondary degrees offered in Qatar -- Appendix C: Training providers in Qatar
The leadership of Qatar has a social and political vision that calls for improving the country's post-secondary education system. Qatar's Supreme Education Council asked RAND to conduct a one-year study to assess whether the current post-secondary education opportunities in Qatar are aligned with the nation's social and economic goals, and to help articulate priorities for developing post-secondary educational opportunities, either in Qatar or through financed study abroad. The study determined that occupational demands are in the professional, technical, and sales and service occupations for men, and in the professional and clerical occupations for women. Overall, the pattern of demand favors individuals with some post-secondary education. However, education and career choices, especially for men, are somewhat misaligned with demand.
There are numerous post-secondary offerings in Qatar to prepare Qataris for work in high-demand fields at the undergraduate level, but not for graduate studies. The study also identified other gaps in the provision of education, and developed several options for addressing them. The recommended investments for consideration are as follows: (1) to address the currently limited opportunities available to Qataris who need further course work before going on to university studies, consider establishing a government-sponsored community college; (2) to address the limited choices in four-year degrees available to high-achieving students beyond the degrees offered in Education City, consider recruiting a top liberal arts college or developing an honors program at Qatar University; and (3) to address the lack of master's degrees being offered in fields essential to Qatar's social and economic progress, consider expanding Education City's offerings or restructuring Qatar University programs.