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J. Jung et al. (eds.), Researching Higher Education in Asia, Higher Education in
Asia: Quality, Excellence and Governance, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4989-7_19
Chapter 19
The Regeneration Aspects for Higher
Education Research in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia
Abdulrahman M. Abouammoh
Abstract The higher education in Saudi Arabia has been one of the fastest growing
education systems in the world over the past decade. A rapid expansion on a geo-
graphical and quantitative level has provoked many challenges in Saudi higher edu-
cation. Government and education planners have exerted various efforts to overcome
the major challenges it faces. Research by postgraduate students and professional
researchers at specialised institutions has grown rapidly in this area. This chapter
reviews the main characteristics of the Saudi higher education system. It also pres-
ents the key challenges facing the system, in particular, challenges associated with
the fast growth in development taking place in the country. The processes required
to overcome the various hurdles and obstacles in Saudi higher education, in turn,
made the system very fertile ground for research and investigation. This chapter also
analyses the foremost issues published in higher education research, and in particu-
lar emphasises the regenerative aspects of this field of research. It also indicates the
possible wide range of research needed to explore the Saudi higher education sys-
tem in more detail and to discover alternative solutions to the challenges it faces and
propose possible recommendations. Towards the end of this chapter, some main
platforms of the Saudi research community in higher education are pointed out, and
their major activities are briefly reviewed.
Introduction
The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia) has realised that
higher education has an indispensable role to play in social development, economic
prosperity, knowledge production and sustainable development (Abouammoh et al.
A.M. Abouammoh (*)
Department of Statistics and O. R., King Saud University, P. O. Box 2455,
Dareyya Campus, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
e-mail: [email protected]