State of business statistics education in MENA region

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the state of undergraduate business statistics education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and assess its alignment with the best practices in equipping business graduates with the knowledge and skills demanded by the labor market. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 108 instructors from 80 business schools in 17 MENA countries was conducted to gauge information on the delivery of business statistics courses. The survey results were benchmarked to a proposed framework for best practices in business statistics education. Findings The gap analysis identified deficiencies in the delivery of business statistics education in the region as compared to international best practices. This study revealed a need to revise statistics education as part of a comprehensive reform of business education with the aim to meet international quality standards in business education. Research limitations/implications The study relied on the self-reported responses of business statistics instructors in MENA. One hundred eight questionnaires were completed, corresponding to a response rate of 40 per cent. Moreover, the study did not measure the effectiveness of teaching and learning in business statistics courses. Practical implications Recommendations from the study are intended to guide business statistics instructors in improving the quality of business statistics education through adopting more effective ways to enhance student learning experience and graduate employability. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind to investigate and assess the business statistics education in the MENA region.

Generic Skills Development in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and Graduate Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Atef and Balushi (2017) found that developing generic skills are important for students in understanding the wide range of available employment opportunities and the relevance of generic skills in developing new career paths not previously considered, whereas Mirza and Karolak (2019) found that students perceived that higher education was not adequately preparing them with these skills. The final study, Hijazi and Zoubeidi (2017), reported that a lack of unified best practices in higher education in the GCC and MENA region compared to international best practices led to gaps in the quality of graduates transitioning to employment, with the skills needed for the economy. In the context of the functional approach, employability promotion skills focus on increasing participation of higher education institutions in accrediting students' employability skills through certification and recognition mechanisms.…”

“…All reviewed studies, except the study by El-Saharty et al (2020), were descriptive studies that used convenience sampling and, therefore, our systematic review faced the difficulty to generalize the combined findings. Furthermore, these studies were conducted in five different countries or two regions: Bahrain ( (Hijazi & Zoubeidi, 2017). Due to different education systems across countries and regions, the characteristics of student structure in the classroom, instructors, and employers add to setting variability.…”

Building skills for the future of work: Students’ perspectives on emerging jobs in the Data and AI Cluster through artificial intelligence in education

“…This is because quantitative skills, such as statistical analysis, are essential in supporting problem-solving abilities and enhancing the decision-making process [74,75] . Thus, statistics plays a vital role in helping individuals develop the necessary skills and competencies required to succeed in business [76] .…”

Reforming Undergraduate Statistics Education in the Arab World in the Era of Information

“…On the other hand, the availability of textbooks and statistical software packages represented a notable obstacle for the non-GCC programs, particularly those delivered in Arabic and French. Although providing textbooks written in the Arabic language is an advantage, the quality of such textbooks in business and science remains a concern (Hijazi and Zoubeidi 2017). The limited resources and the high cost of statistical software packages presented further challenges to the non-GCC statistics programs.…”

“…Despite the remarkable progress in statistics education in Western countries, the role and importance of statistics have yet to be fully recognized in the Arab world. So far, little attention has been paid to evaluating the statistics education in Arab universities, as only a few attempts have been made to investigate business statistics education (e.g., Naccache 2012;Hijazi 2016;Hijazi and Zoubeidi 2017). This study, therefore, is the first of its kind to investigate and assess the content, quality, and delivery of the undergraduate statistics programs in Arab universities, mainly to increase the understanding about the general practice and teaching of statistics in the region, together with providing the required support for higher education reform in the region.…”