The U.S. is flooded with an abundance of opportunities to further our education. Even more so, higher education degrees, such as a PhD, open up countless high paying jobs and can make a world of difference for those seeking a better future. Although the U.S. make offer these opportunities, for those living in underdeveloped countries, the pathway to obtaining any sort of higher education degree seems impossible.
The European University Association’s Third Global Strategic Forum on Doctoral Education is looking for a way to change this. They have found that investments into research in developing countries have the potential to significantly improve the number of students graduation with doctorates. For example, Brazil had a 100% increase in PhD graduates between 2000 and 2009, and China had a 400% increase between 1998 and 2008.
The Secretary General of the association, Lesley Wilson, claimed that what they are looking for a “move towards a more multi-polar research landscape”. Of course, investing into the education of multiple countries means there may be some barriers, both lingual and cultural. However, the association believes that through new knowledge and the presence of new technology, those barriers can be broken. Wilson continues, “the language of knowledge societies had become global while the challenges had to be met with regard to new knowledge and innovation.”
This association now calls for a project, named the CODOC, the Cooperation on Doctoral Education between Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. The project identifies three main goals:
-Create a better global interconnectivity because of increased internationalism between countries, both developed and undeveloped
-Inspire societies to develop knowledge and high skilled human resources
-Produce an increased amount of students interested in information and communication technology. Even more so, create an interest for technology so that developing countries can use it for collaboration in a global market.
According to Wilson, they project that in 5 years, “in Africa 41% of university staff would have a PhD, compared with 33% at that time; in Asia 62% would have a PhD versus 49% at that time and Latin America 40% against the level of 31% at that time.”
Of course, all these goals of furthering education require access to education. Wilson admits that “more should be done to look at access to education and identify social and cultural barriers.” Access is key to what could be an entirely new world of opportunities for students everywhere. Without access to an institution, underdeveloped countries miss out on higher education degrees and a better future.
Technology is the key to access for these countries, as technology can move wherever students are and isn’t conditional on living situation or language barriers. By instilling and investing into a technology program that offers higher education, students from emerging economies may have the same chance to a bright future. At iQ Technologies, we have designed an online institution that can do all that. With easy-to-use features, our online education platform makes it possible for students everywhere to learn and interact with professors from other countries. We believe in education that is accessible to everyone, because everyone deserves to pursue higher education.
Read more about the article here.