Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher Education in Central Asia Blog (est. 2011)

  • Managing your career… is a book of the year!

    I’m delighted to let you know that Managing your career in higher education administration has been chosen by industry publication Times Higher Education as one of its books of 2014. See picture (from p87 of the print version)! More information about the book can be found at http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/managing-your-career-in-higher-education-administration-michelle-gander/?isb=9781137328328. That’s a fantastic early Christmas present! Thank you very… Read more

  • Student recruitment in Central Asia

    When you think of university outreach/access projects in Central Asia, you tend to think of initiatives by universities in richer countries in Europe or East/South East Asia to recruit students to study in those richer countries. More successful and popular efforts tend to be underwritten by the offer to fund the study through a scholarship.… Read more

  • Skills and employability in Tajikistan

    The World Bank has recently published The skills road: skills for employability in Tajikistan (full citation at the end of this post). The report argues that Generating more productive employment is arguably the most critical challenge [for the government, against a backdrop of relative political and economic stability]. This finding comes from an extensive household survey undertaken in Tajikistan… Read more

  • Reforms in Tajik higher education: report on World Bank funded project

    Here’s the critical quote from this World Bank press release reporting on the end of a five year Russian government funded project: …improved education is fundamental to alleviating poverty and improving economic competitiveness So says their Tajikistan country project manager Patricia Veevers-Carter. The purpose of the project was to introduce a standard university admissions test… Read more

  • Managing your career in higher education administration: book review

    A very positive review of my recent co-authored book Managing your career in higher education administration is out today on WonkHE, a well-read and regarded website for those working in higher education. The review, available at www.wonkhe.com/2014/10/24/managing-your-career-in-higher-education, notes that the book is the first of its kind, and concludes by saying that ours is: …a really useful book for anyone… Read more

  • Culture and communication from China to Kyrgyzstan

    Chinese newspaper Shanghai Daily reports today on the rise of the Confucius Institute [en] in Kyrgyzstan. Confucius Institutes are non profit-making organisations connected to the Chinese Ministry of Education aiming to promote Chinese language and culture, somewhat akin to the British Council from the UK or the Goethe Instituts from Germany. There are around 500 Confucius Institutes around the world after the first… Read more