Abstract
This chapter addresses the characteristics generally associated with a ‘world-class university’ and then evaluates a range of initiatives being employed to motivate Saudi universities to achieve world-class status in teaching and research. The authors argue that university rankings have received too much emphasis in Saudi Arabia and that it needs to focus more closely on what is useful in the rankings and use those ideas to improve its higher education system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Academic Ranking of World Class Universities. (2010). http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp. Accessed 30 Mar 2011
Altbach, P. G. (2004, January–February). The costs and benefits of world class universities. Academe, 90(1), 20–23.
Altbach, P. G. (2011, Winter). Rankings season is here. International Higher Education, 62, 2–5.
Altbach, P. G., & Balán, J. (Eds.). (2007). World-class worldwide: Transforming research universities in Asia and Latin America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Altbach, P. G., & Salmi, J. (2011). The road to excellence: The making of world-class research universities. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Douglass, J. A. (2010). From chaos to order and back? A revisionist reflection on the California master plan for higher education. Berkeley: Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley.
Hazelkorn, E. (2011). Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Liu, N. C., Wang, Q., & Cheng, Y. (Eds.). (2011). Paths to a world-class universities: Lessons from practices and experiences. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Salmi, J. (2009). The challenge of establishing world-class universities. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Task Force on Higher Education and Society. (2000). Higher education in developing countries: Peril and promise. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Tayeb, O., & Damanhouri, Z. A. (2011). Transformation toward a world-class university: Action and prospects in the case of King Abdulaziz University. In N. C. Liu, Q. Wang, & J. Cheng (Eds.), Paths to a world-class universities: Lessons from practices and experiences (pp.275–282). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Webometrics. http://www.webometrics.info/top100_continent.asp?cont=aw. Accessed 30 Oct 2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mazi, A., Altbach, P.G. (2013). Dreams and Realities: The World-Class Idea and Saudi Arabian Higher Education. In: Smith, L., Abouammoh, A. (eds) Higher Education in Saudi Arabia. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 40. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6321-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6321-0_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6320-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6321-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)