Arab universities told to focus on tackling graduate unemployment

Universities in the Arab region “need to take seriously” high levels of graduate unemployment, a conference heard.

Karim Seghir, chancellor of Ajman University in the United Arab Emirates, told the Times Higher Education Arab Universities Summit that unemployment and the need to serve local communities were “priorities” for universities.

“[The youth] unemployment rate in the Arab region is the highest in the world, at 25 per cent, and 40 per cent of university graduates are unemployed. It’s a big responsibility for universities, and it has to be taken very seriously,” he said.

Addressing this requires long-term investment and planning, Dr Seghir continued. “It’s not enough to have a couple of initiatives. It needs a paradigm shift. This is a top priority,” he told the event, held at the University of Dubai.

The “chronic issue” within the region’s sector was the absence of mechanisms for “bridging the gap” between institutions and the private sector, both in providing opportunities for students and shaping teaching, he said.

“We talk about it a lot, but I think it needs more serious work to make sure that the private sector and companies are involved in every aspect of the learning that we provide to our students and in research and community service,” Dr Seghir said.

Stating that “employment is a very important measure to judge the quality of education”, Rihab Khalifa, the commissioner for academic accreditation at the UAE’s Ministry of Education, argued that universities needed to better equip students with the skills to adapt to evolving work and social environments.

“One of the key things we need to think about in terms of employability is to not just ensure students are able to have a job immediately, but that they are equipped to have the skills…given how things are changing, to [continue to] be employed as things change,” Professor Khalifa said.

She added that a modular approach to studies was integral to keeping up with advancements in technology and rapidly changing environments, as well as providing greater mentorship and “making sure that there’s a closer relationship between those who are learning and those who are providing the context of learning”.

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“This idea of moving from teacher- to student-centric learning has been discussed for some time, and I think that we should really emphasise that. That also means more collaboration between industry, regulators, and collaboration between the students themselves,” Professor Khalifa said.

For universities to produce employable students, they needed to understand their “localised environments” and the challenges facing communities, the summit heard.

Dr Seghir said he believed that globalised approaches to higher education have not always best served the region, “because each region has its specific needs, its specific opportunities as well as challenges”.

If universities were to focus more on regional challenges and on “being able to serve your local community”, Professor Khalifa said, their graduates would be more employable.

“If you cannot learn what your local context means and how things can be made better there, you’re likely not able to contribute to a wider context that you’re not that familiar with,” she said.

Universities must prove their worth beyond providing knowledge or “risk becoming obsolete” as technology advances, she added.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com