The Quality of Engineering Education in the BRIC Countries

Posted: 14 Jul 2013

See all articles by Prashant Kumar Loyalka

Prashant Kumar Loyalka

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Martin Carnoy

Stanford University; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Isak Froumin

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Rafiq K. Dossani

Stanford University

Jandhyala Tilak

National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA)

Po Yang

Peking University

Date Written: July 13, 2013

Abstract

A huge increase in engineering graduates from the BRIC countries in recent decades potentially threatens the competitiveness of developed countries in producing high value-added products and services, while also holding great promise for substantially increasing the level of global basic and applied innovation. The key question is whether the quality of these new BRIC engineers will be high enough to actualize this potential. The objective of our study is to assess the evolving capacity of BRIC higher education systems to produce qualified engineering graduates. To meet this objective, we compare developments in the quality of undergraduate engineering programs across elite and non-elite higher education tiers within and across each BRIC country. To assess and compare the quality of engineering education across the BRIC countries, we use multiple sources of primary and secondary data gathered from each BRIC country from 2008-2011. In combination with this, we utilize a production function approach that focuses on key input-, process- and outcome-based indicators associated with the quality of education programs. Our analysis suggests that in all four countries, a minority of engineering students receives high quality training in elite institutions while the majority of students receive low quality training in non-elite institutions. Our analysis also shows how the BRIC countries vary in their capacity to improve the quality of engineering education.

Keywords: higher education, engineering, BRIC, Brazil, China, India, Russia, quality

Suggested Citation

Loyalka, Prashant and Carnoy, Martin and Froumin, Isak and Dossani, Rafiq K. and Tilak, Jandhyala and Yang, Po, The Quality of Engineering Education in the BRIC Countries (July 13, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2293331

Prashant Loyalka (Contact Author)

Stanford University - Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Martin Carnoy

Stanford University ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States
650-725-1254 (Phone)

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Isak Froumin

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Rafiq K. Dossani

Stanford University ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States
650-725-4237 (Phone)
650-723-6530 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://stanford.edu/~dossani1

Jandhyala Tilak

National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) ( email )

17-B Sri Aurobindo Marg
New Delhi, 11 00 16
India

Po Yang

Peking University ( email )

No. 38 Xueyuan Road
Haidian District
Beijing, Beijing 100871
China

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