Students will identify a recent international and comparative higher education issue and provide a 2-4-page double-spaced proposal. No matter which format (empirical paper or literature review) you will choose, your proposal should provide background, importance and purposes of the study, problem statement, brief literature review, research question(s), and proposed methods.
To identify such a topic, students are encouraged to read more recent 5-years’ journals and check websites listed in the section “USEFUL RESOURCES”
USEFUL RESOURCES
Key international Organizations and Datasets,
1). UNESCO
2). OECD– PISA, Education at a Glance
3). World Bank–WDI
4). IIE (Institute for International Education)
The purpose of this paper is to apply your multi-nation understanding of educational systems to address one particular issue or problem. Student may choose either cross-country comparison or single-country study format. For the cross-country comparison study, for example, you may select the issue of higher education financing—which is a common challenge for many different countries—so that you could compare different practices across countries and draw relevant theories and data to support your argument.
Students may also focus on a particular issue or problem of a single country for in-depth study while placing the country in the world setting. In such case, students should articulate the uniqueness of the country that distinguish itself from other countries as well as the connection of the focal country with others. For example, if you study China’s higher education finance, you could discuss the uniqueness of its education financing structure and argue how the financing higher education in other countries may have influenced China.
Either cross-country comparison or single-country study can use either empirical research (quantitative or qualitative) format or literature review format. Students, in consultation with the professor, will determine the scope, or a theme/focus of their papers to conduct thematic cross-country analysis. I will guide you step-by-step, providing feedback and developing outlines and drafts of the paper.
