Promoting Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development of Higher Education in Afghanistan

• In Event: Institutionalizing policies in higher education

Proposal

1. Objectives or purposes
Entrepreneurial activities are viable forms of cost sharing to Higher Education (Altbach, Reisberg & Rumbley, 2009). Akinyemi (2013) affirms that entrepreneurial activities, besides looking for innovative ways of generating funds, also focus on academic excellence, especially when the results of research and innovative ideas are sold to development organizations. Some of these activities are: university and industry partnerships for providing research services, selling of specialized marketable teaching or scholarships, commercializing research discoveries, establishing or renting university facilities such as libraries, laboratories, guesthouses, and/or petrol stations (Altbach, Reisberg & Rumbley, 2009; World Bank, 2010; Ahmad, 2015). Despite several advantages of entrepreneurial activities to ensure sustainable improvement in the higher education institutions, there are debates among scholars and practitioners about the degree of universities involvement in market-like endeavors (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004). This exploratory research examined what entrepreneurial activities can be implemented in the face of current policies, procedures, weak university and industry relationships and technological constraint to not only increase but also sustain funding through the recently granted partial financial autonomy to public universities in Afghanistan.

2. Conceptual Framework
Given the higher education is an “organized field” (Berger & Milem, 2000), I used the organizational theory that can provide an provide an influential underpinning to the design and implementation of policies, procedures, and processes for the supplementation revenues in public HEIs in Afghanistan through introducing and implementing Entrepreneurial activities. The key five dimensions of the framework which led to important questions and informed decision-making at different levels include Bureaucratic, Collegial, Political, Symbolic and Systemic (Blanco & Berger, 2014).

3. Analytical methods, research design, or modes of inquiry
This study uses a research design that is based on a modified version of the social analysis framework developed by the World Bank that has been used to inform the study of the institutional, political, and social dimensions of policy design and implementation in numerous countries (Holland, 2007). This framework provides a basis for researching multiple dimensions of policy at three levels: macro-level, meso-level, and micro-level. Each nested level of analysis provides its own contribution to a more comprehensive understanding of a particular policy or policy reform in a particular country. More specifically:
• The macro-level focuses on “the significance of the historical context, political-ideological climate, political-institutional culture, and economic and social makeup of countries engaging in policy reform” (Holland, 2007, p. 31).
• The meso-level enables “our understanding of the rules and incentives that govern the implementation of policy reform, transmitted through price-based incentives and less predictable organizational cultures and social norms” (Holland, 2007, p. 31).
• The micro-level facilitates the “analysis of the distributional impacts of policy reform” (Holland, 2007, p. 31)

4. Data sources or evidence
There were two main data sources for this study; literature reviews and related policies and documents, and individual interviews. I have reviewed all relevant documents and literature to better understand the history, objectives, policies, structure, and institutional capacity for introducing and implementing entrepreneurial activities in the Afghan public institution. Subsequently, I conducted semi-structured interviews with fifteen people including senior officials from the Afghan government and the Ministry of Higher Education, leadership and faculty from select public universities, and representatives of international donors and organizations.

5. Results and/or conclusions
The study findings show that there are two types of revenues that Afghan universities can make through entrepreneurial activities. First, the revenue that possibly can be given back to the universities through implementing various activities such as conducting research, offering short courses and workshops, providing architectural design, and delivering agricultural and veterinary services. Second, is the money that will not be transferred to the universities such as fees from dormitories, auditorium and/or sports fields because they are governmental properties or assets.

The study discovered that there is a great potential for generating an abundance of supplemental revenues from entrepreneurial activities. Similar to China and Russia, the Afghan public HEIs should extend entrepreneurial activities to the farms, especially those owned by public institutions (Johnstone, Arora & Experton, 1998). They can also conduct research and consultancy services, as Ghanaian universities (Johnstone, Arora & Experton, 1998). Some other entrepreneurial activities that can be adopted in the context of Afghanistan could be renting campus physical assets (e.g., halls, dorms, cafeterias, and sports facilities). Johnstone (1998) also believes in the time of fiscal austerity (similar to what is experienced by Afghan public HEIs), generating income from entrepreneurial activities is both unavoidable and indispensable.

The other several additional advantages to entrepreneurship include introducing students to relevant skills and experiences, linking universities with the business partners, assisting students with work placement, improving viable money flow to universities and reducing governmental dependency, and eventually enhancing the quality of HE in the country. However, to have strong partnerships between universities and industries, the Afghan HEIs need to be supported in providing training to faculty members how to do research, making some policy reforms, and improving their technological capabilities.

This study concludes that MoHE should work with the Afghan government and other stakeholders to garner full autonomy to public universities as a means of delegating authority in a clearly defined context. Besides, as the first step, MoHE needs to define the required policies, procedures, mechanisms, and processes to implement entrepreneurial activities. The practicability of entrepreneurial activities needs to be further explored and verified.

6. Significance of the study to the field of comparative and international education
Introducing and implementing entrepreneurial activities in higher education is not limited to Afghanistan but is a global phenomenon. Thus, the findings from this study will not only be beneficial for higher education in Afghanistan but will speak to many developing, transitioning and developed countries.

Author

• Hassan Aslami, University of Massachusetts