SONG Sopheak
Deputy Executive Director (Research)
Dr Song Sopheak is the Deputy Executive Director in charge of research at CDRI. Prior to this current position, he had been with CDRI’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation since 2016, first as the research fellow and then the director between 2020 and 2022. His international experience in research career includes fellowships at the Global Career Design Center of Hiroshima University, Japan; at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne, Australia; and at the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Switzerland. At CDRI, he has led several research projects on post-secondary education and training in Cambodia with focus on STEM education, workforce development, employer engagement, and technology integration in education. Dr Song Sopheak holds a PhD in Educational Science and Humanities from Hiroshima University, Japan.
Children in low-and middle-income countries often struggle to master foundational academic skills, such as reading, despite years of schooling. Quality learning materials are essential to addressing this issue. In this Learning to Improve Books Resource Operational Systems (LIBROS) study, we explore ways to enhance the primary-level book supply cha...
The global COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented disruptions to the higher education landscape worldwide. Widespread school closures, driven by the imperative of social distancing to combat the virus's spread forced a rapid and dramatic shift from traditional face-to-face instruction to online learning and teaching environments in numerous countr...
The second decade of the 21st century marks the time the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) officially directs the nation’s public sector, economy, and society to accelerate technology adoption and digital transformation. This present study aims to observe developments of such direction in Cambodian higher education (HE) sub-sector before and in re...
This study aims to investigate the characteristics of students who switch versus those who do not switch when they transition from upper secondary to higher education. The data from 1338 students randomly selected from 21 HEIs in Cambodia in 2020 found that upper secondary school students are more likely than not to switch academic majors when they...
The Royal Government of Cambodia acknowledges the vital role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in developing a high-quality workforce to better respond to labor market demand and contribute to the national development agenda. In the past decade, with support from and collaboration with development partners, the Government ha...
This study explored students’ entrepreneurial intention (EI) and identified the factors influencing EI under individual, social and educational dimensions. Using a nationally representative survey conducted in 2021 with 834 university students, we found that many students had a strong EI. From the regression analysis, we can confirm that the develo...
Entrepreneurship is crucial to advancing the economy of Cambodia and fostering the development of society. The Royal Government of Cambodia has recognised the importance of entrepreneurship and included the promotion and entrepreneurship education in multiple policies and strategy. Universities and higher education institutes have been more active...
Understanding what determines a worker’s passion for skills training has important policy implications, particularly in the current context of the fourth industrial revolution, in which knowledge is deemed obsolete within several years. The purpose of this study is to answer a specific question: are higher-ability garment workers more likely to eng...
This Systems Thinking workshop involved the implementation of eight main activities: issue prioritization, issue mapping systemigram, strategy prioritization, evidence prioritization, stakeholder and idealized evidence network mapping, evidence ecosystem relationship analysis, mapping critical success factors, and research contextualization. A...
This study intends to identify existing permeability pathways between post-secondary education and training in Cambodia and to highlight hindrances that hamper the smooth permeability between the two systems. Adopting a hybrid process, the study combines both inductive and deductive thematic analysis approaches in coding transcribed interviews at 1...
CDRI has been conducting the Moving out of Poverty (MOP) survey since 1996/1997 in 3 village household samples and this sample have been extended 11 villages across 7 provinces by 2020. CDRI surveys the same 1000 households every three years to track the poverty dynamics across the five main regions of Cambodia. This rare longitudinal dataset i...
Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) often face challenges in utilizing digital technologies despite the vital roles of these technologies in business development. In particular, female-led MSMEs are less likely to use digital technologies. Previous studies have identified several barriers to digital technology adoption such as poor i...
The Cambodia STI roadmap aims to have 50% of university graduates majoring in STEM subjects, with 40% of those graduates being women, by 2030. Despite the government's efforts to promote STEM education and careers, the number of students majoring in STEM, particularly female students, remains very low compared to other countries in the region. Stud...
The innovation and entrepreneurial activities have multiplied recently, with many new companies emerging in various industries. However, start-ups face many challenges, such as access to talent, idea, markets, and funding. Creating new idea or launching business is essential to have partners that can stimulate their thoughts and elevate both ca...
The ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation (COSTI) works to leverage Science & Technology to address common problems faced in the ASEAN region and to raise the level of scientific and technological advancement in ASEAN Member States (AMS). The work of the Committee is guided by the ASEAN Plan of Action on Science, Technology & Innova...
This is a part of the Supporting Holistic and Actionable Research in Education (SHARE), a five-year cooperative agreement with the University of Notre Dame (UND) supported by the USAID’s new Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation/Center for Education (DDI/EDU), to advance global education learning priorities to improve learning outcomes....
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about educational disruptions from pre-school to higher education in Cambodia and around the world. Although the impact of the pandemic in Cambodia was relatively low in comparison to other countries in the region and the world in 2020, and schools were able to reopen its door again in early 2021, the February 20,...
In close coordination with local governments and organizations, the project will identify gender-sensitive policies and good practices from the macro to micro level that will support the recovery process and improve resilience among vulnerable women workers and micro, small, and medium enterprises. It will facilitate policy dialogue and coordin...
Under the Capacity Building Research and Development Fund of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, United Nation Development Programme, Cambodia and the Russian Federation, the Cambodia Development Resource Institute in collaboration with the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (formerly known as the National Institute of Posts, Telecoms...
This three-year programme is supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through The Asia Foundation (TAF)’s Ponlok Chomnes Programme: Data and Dialogue for Development in Cambodia. In this programme CDRI aims at strengthening the capacity of knowledge-sector institutions to undertake quality research, informing publi...