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The aim of this research is to shed light on the role the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MoHE) plays in private Jordanian universities (PJUs). Private universities in developing countries struggle with their financial resources. There is an argument that a decision to adopt a new approach for the financing and management of Jordanian higher education (HE) has been taken because both funding and ownership belong to private sources. However, the MoHE plays a role in the Jordanian context.

This study explains the relations between the MoHE and PJUs and describes the PJUs’ managerial context. It is based on the prior research related to HE and budgeting. A total of 16 budget preparers at 11 universities and a further three in the MoHE were interviewed. The research also uses observation to obtain direct knowledge of the research phenomena. It uses archival documents, guidelines and reports to accomplish the study’s objective.

This research presents an overview for private HE across the world with particular concentration being paid to the role of the MoHE in PJUs by presenting the regulations and laws related to HE in Jordan. It proves that the MoHE uses a budgeting formula to significantly increase its control over the private HE sector. Simultaneously, no government subsidies or tax exemptions (such as those given to public universities) have been made available to private universities. The results indicate that the MoHE controls the private universities by using accreditation tools, such as their budgets.

Jordan has a unique situation in terms of the relationship between its MoHE and Jordanian universities.

Purpose of paper: A growing number of studies of the issues of budget process and budget participation have recently emerged in management accounting literature. This paper extends this literature by explaining budget process and budget participation. This research explores the budget process in JPUs, studies the level of budget participation in these universities, and highlights the views and perceptions of budget preparers about the government budget format.

Design/methodology/approach: Nineteen interviews were conducted in 11 universities in Jordan and in the Ministry of Higher Education during 2008.

Findings: The data suggest that the budget usage varies between JPUs, and budget participation in some universities is not consistent where management is centralized. Although respondents understand the importance of budget usage, most of them are dissatisfied with the ministry budget format.

Research implications: The influence of budget participation on the university's overall performance and on performance of head of department may consider one of the important topics to be researched in the future. While, studying the impact of the ministry budget format on the university performance, the reverse impact and relation might be of vital interest to verify the government's expectation about the universities’ compliance and to highlight the importance of implementing a unique standard for all Jordanian universities.

Originality/value of paper: This study contributes to the literature as prior studies have researched budget process and participation in commercial companies in developed countries; this study combines the budget process, participation level while researching the governmental budget format in HEIs in a developing country.

The purpose of this paper is to review the development of quality assurance (QA) processes in higher education in Afghanistan and chart and assess the current achievements and challenges. Drawing on fieldwork, documentary research and secondary sources, the analysis seeks to integrate these elements into an integrated overall analysis of the phenomenon of QA in Afghan higher education, including its evolution over time, with some attention given to the implications for future development.

The methodology is based on field study, conducted by one of the authors, interviews with the Ministry of Higher Education officials by the second author, collection and analysis of policy documents and review of relevant literature.

Key findings reveal some tensions between stated policies regarding QA in Afghan higher education: limited finance, growing levels of insecurity and limited capacity within the Ministry of Higher Education, including staff training. Some barriers within higher education institutions are also pointed out in both public and private higher educational institutions.

Implications of the research are that although further funding is needed to institute QA in higher education institutions, both public and private, this is unlikely in the current circumstances, with donor funds limited and commitments not always fulfilled. Anti-corruption measures will continue to be important, and declining security, in some provinces more than others, will likely limit the effective implementation of QA measures.

Given current conditions in Afghanistan, there are clear practical limits to what can be achieved in strengthening QA in higher education. The undoubted enthusiasm of the people, however, means that the situation must be addressed as far as possible. Greater engagement with regional QA networks, more training for QA assessors and greater regulation of the burgeoning private sector would go a long way to bring about improvement, as would ongoing efforts to rein in corruption.

An important move regarding direct social implications would be to maintain and strengthen moves to engage more women in higher education, including higher proportions of (senior) female administrative and academic staff. Although barriers to women’s empowerment are by no means restricted to the higher education sector, it should show the lead in both enrolment and employment.

While QA in higher education is a major focus of higher education literature, there are less research studies on QA measures in developing country contexts and even less on fragile states such as Afghanistan. But for the country to prosper, good quality higher education is vital, and a study of the implementation of QA measures is an important contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dominant conceptualisation of quality in Afghanistan’s higher education strategic planning and policies, and consider the implications a broader conceptualisation of quality might have within Afghanistan’s conflict-affected context.

Drawing on data from document analysis and semi-structured interviews, the author identifies the dominant policy conceptualisation of quality.

The dominant conceptualisation of quality in Afghanistan’s higher education policy documents aligns with the sector’s primary policy purpose of promoting economic growth. However, quality assurance processes were developed with significant input from international actors, and replicate global norms for quality assurance. Whilst this is important for validity and legitimacy, at the same time it can be delegitimising for local stakeholders, and can limit opportunities for conceptualisations of quality which genuinely engage with the particularities of Afghanistan’s broader conflict-affected social context.

Introducing conceptualisations of quality in Afghanistan’s higher education policy which de-centre economic growth, and rather re-position social goals of cohesion and political sustainability as a central understanding of quality higher education, opens possibilities for the sector’s contribution towards national development.

There is limited published research into conceptualisations of quality within low-income and conflict-affected higher education contexts in general, and Afghanistan in particular. This paper intends to extend a critical conversation about the non-economic dividends a quality higher education sector can offer in such contexts.

Being born as a woman and trying to establish oneself in a patriarchal male-dominated society has never been easy. Irrespective of boundaries and geographical context the glass ceiling has always been there, only the degree of its resistance may have varied. The cleavage of inequality is visible in all areas of life and the education sector has not remained untouched. Even today, there lies an imbalance between gender in the educational organizations both as enrolled students, faculty members, or staff. In many countries, women have been able to overcome the bias, with ample support from the policy-makers who ensures reservation and equal representation of both. There have been less fortunate ones in countries that are yet to play their part on gender equity and equal representation owing to socio-economic or cultural issues. Afghanistan has witnessed a raging war for the last 40 odd years which has affected the country’s wellbeing and more so of women. Restricted mobility, imposition of laws to stop educating women, security threats, and untimely ending of the life of women who strive to achieve their position has pushed the plight of women behind by hundreds of years. Regressive culture has stopped women from accessing education resulting in deep-rooted inequalities and the disadvantageous position of women in society, exposing their vulnerabilities.

This study uses a combination of qualitative interviews and an autoethnographical data to gain insights into the challenges faced by women in higher education institutions in Afghanistan. It also examines the roles such women are playing in their various professions. Thirteen women shared their experiences and how they were empowered through education to realize their potentials. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis to reveal their interpretation about leadership and education as an agency for social upward mobility among Afghan women. The study was done before the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, situation has considerably changed since then with most of the post-redundant and non-existent or not open for women.

Malaysian public and private universities have faced unprecedented challenges due to multiple government policies in the short and medium term – coupled with economic uncertainty, budget cuts, and the entrepreneurial university (EU) agenda. This pressure is aimed to both public and private universities in accordance with the third mission of the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2015–2025 and ranking agencies by effectively engaging with the community and business, generating income in the process of tackling fundraising. The purpose of this study is to fill that gap by exploring the perspectives of those who are part of the Entrepreneurship Architecture implementation, as intermediaries of knowledge exchange and the impact of interaction by embedding Artificial Intelligence (AI) in achieving the mission of Entrepreneurship University by the government. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop a new model for internal parties in public universities as a guide for policy development and strategies to achieve the EU agenda. The Entrepreneurship Architecture Model will be used to identify the existing determinants, the AI infrastructure, and how the demographic factors, e.g., staff and related universities, support the model.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of intercultural communication competence (ICC) of international students living in Malaysia. This study considered the culture-general factors of integrated model of ICC (IMICC) established from the West with an addition of empathy and further addressed these influencers on the international students from a Malaysian university. It is proposed that empathy, sensation seeking, ethnocentrism, attitude and motivation have a direct influence on ICC.

A quantitative research methodology was considered to address the relationship between the variables of this study. Data were collected through a survey by visiting different parts of the university campus. A total of 388 international students took part in the study voluntarily. Data were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and structural equation modeling-analysis of a moment structures (SEM-AMOS).

The findings revealed that empathy, sensation seeking and attitude are the antecedents of ICC. However, ethnocentrism and motivation do not influence ICC significantly.

Through the findings of this study, a series of training sessions can be conducted by Malaysia (host country training) and sender countries (home country training) to educate international students regarding ICC. Furthermore, ministry of higher education (MoHE) Malaysia and higher education institutes (HEIs) can improve their infrastructure and services in terms of hosting and accommodating more international students by considering the findings of this study. These approaches could help international students to adjust in a new cultural setting of Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to elicit perceptions of senior officers on the overall financial sustainability of their institutions; and, second, to examine senior officers’ perceptions on important revenue diversification and cost management practices.

The study employed a questionnaire survey with senior academic and administrative staff of the 20 public universities in Malaysia. In total, 275 questionnaires were distributed and 69 were returned, yielding a response rate of 25.09 per cent. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the general perceptions of the survey respondents on public university financial sustainability issues.

The study suggests that respondents are receptive of the financial sustainability challenges faced by their institutions. Respondents agree that increasing tuition fees may not be a feasible revenue enhancement strategy for public universities. Instead, all respondents agree that full utilisation of resources will be a key strategy that the universities can apply.

This study contributes to the limited research on the financial sustainability of public universities in developing countries. Findings of the study have implications for the financial management and governance of public universities in Malaysia and other countries facing similar fiscal challenges. The findings of the study also provide important empirical evidence for future work in the area.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate students’ views on the on-the-campus entrepreneurship programs in Malaysian polytechnics. Participation in the entrepreneurship programs is able to stimulate an interest in entrepreneurship, and improve the knowledge, skills, and entrepreneurial experience of its students.

This study adopted a survey method designed in the form of an objective-oriented program evaluation. Questionnaires were used to identify the students’ level of assessments of the instructional dimensions. This study explored the differences in evaluation based on gender, specializations, and courses attended.

The results showed moderately high level of evaluation. The analysis of gender differences shows that gender did not affect students’ views on the instructional dimension. However, students’ specialization and courses attended are associated with significant differences in the level of evaluation.

This research is limited to only five Malaysian polytechnics. The study was looking into the instructional dimension of the entrepreneurship programs. Further research should include the assessment of the institutional side of the programs.

The evaluation results provide important recommendations to improve some practical aspects of the entrepreneurial activities. The polytechnics’ departments can focus on the actual content as well as on the learning experience to implement conducive, positive, and supportive practices that could lead to a maximum participation rate among students.

Increase the number of students involved in entrepreneurship.

There have been no discussions or evaluation of the entrepreneurship programs conducted in Malaysian polytechnics in terms of objective-oriented evaluation. This paper attempts to fill the current gap.

This chapter provides an in-depth examination of the quality assurance process in the higher education system of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in terms of standards, processes, and procedures. More specifically, the chapter aims to examine the impact of the quality assurance process on the quality development of education in Iraq and Kurdistan Region, as well as identify the challenges that staff (top management and faculty members) face at various higher education institutions therein. For this purpose, a qualitative/quantitative analysis was conducted, which involved reviewing existing official policies, reports, and forms; interviewing top officials (presidents, vice-presidents, quality assurance directors) at a few higher education institutions (public and private); and developing a survey questionnaire that detected the perspective of top officials and faculty members regarding the level of impact quality assurance has had on the development of higher education. A total of 284 university staff members were surveyed from different universities in Iraq and Kurdistan. A total of 29 universities from Iraq and Kurdistan were represented in the survey. The respondents came from a variety of colleges and departments at public and private universities, with 79% of respondents coming from public universities. Study results demonstrate that quality assurance has contributed significantly to the improvement of university staff performance. There are a number of recommendations made within this chapter for educational leaders, which could lead to the further development of quality practices and the upgrading of the higher education system.