This qualitative study aims to explore how faculty members at Cambodian universities conceive their academic identities, engage in different types of scholarly roles and perceive the organisation of the academic career system. It offers the following highlights: i). Cambodian academics develop their identities in relation to three forms: disciplinary, functional and social; ii). With an obvious dominance of the roles of teacher, Cambodian academics, in general, are more of a disciplinary knowledge transmitter or conserver, rather than a knowledge producer. […]

STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education is attracting increasing public interest and policy attention and being promoted at different educational levels in Cambodia. The study seeks to identify factors associated with Cambodian university freshmen’s choice of STEM major and how significant associations differ by gender and university location. The study draws on primary data collected from a survey of 2,016 freshmen at 15 universities across Cambodia. Binary logistic regression was applied to detect correlates of major choice (dichotomized into STEM […]

Numerous studies have identified the importance of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem in stimulating and sustaining innovation and entrepreneurship. Local entrepreneurial ecosystems are made up of both formal and informal institutions, which include legal, economic, institutional, political, social and cultural factors. As well as providing various supports, including funding and incubation programs, higher education institutions create a space at the soft skills level that inspires entrepreneurial spirit and influences entrepreneurial orientation. Yet, although some studies have explored the development of the […]

This article focuses on the intricate nature of scaling practices in social enterprise organizations (SEOs). The research is based on case study methodology in two different institutional environments, the Netherlands and Cambodia. Comparing and contrasting these cases, the article raises questions about ways in which the institutional environments affect scaling practices. Whilst Dutch and Cambodian SEOs upscale to address market deficiencies in dissimilar institutional environments, the dominant strategy in both cases is to scale for depth impact. Under neoliberal market […]

Cambodian higher education finance is archaic and inappropriate for creating a robust and responsive higher education system. The customary practice of line item budgeting is also obsolete. Many countries in the region have long moved towards block grants and some have recently incorporated performance-based funding. In Cambodia, bureaucratic financial management has created many loopholes and obstacles, including slow disbursement of funds, excessive and rigid regulation, and ineffective and efficient use of resources. However, any move towards new funding modalities must […]

Compared with those of its more advanced ASEAN peers, Cambodia’s higher education system is still in its infancy. Its higher education governance, financing and financial management are neither sophisticated nor robust enough to deliver high-quality, relevant higher education to the society and economy. Higher education institutions have mushroomed amid inadequate regulation, supervision and support to meet national needs. The current legal framework for higher education has perpetuated an inefficient, fragmented and reactive regulatory regime. Similarly, the development of the subsector […]