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11911. International Higher Education Scholarships and Fellowships for Social Justice: The Role of Foundations

Author:
Selma Talha-Jebril and Mirka Martel
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
International Higher Education Scholarships and Fellowships for Social Justice: The Role of Foundations explores philanthropy's role in funding international scholarship and fellowship programs committed to reducing long-standing disparities in higher education. The research paper addresses a gap in the literature regarding U.S. and non-U.S. foundations that have funded international scholarship and fellowship programs that focus on social justice, namely equity and access. The research paper is framed by the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) and the IFP Alumni Tracking Study, administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). It brings in the perspectives of IFP and other scholarship and fellowship programs for social justice. The findings indicate four elements that contributed to growing interest in funding international higher education programs: (1) The push from multilateral agencies such as the U.N. and World Bank; (2) The rise of personal wealth during the past two decades; (3) The growing global youth population and access to higher education; and (4) The increasing liberal government policies encourage non-state actors to contribute and play a more significant role in the field of higher education. The research paper reveals that higher education scholarship and fellowship programs with common agendas – whether between donors and academic institutions or between government and international partners – often lead to sustainable partnerships and better program outcomes because they are supported by more than one entity and are grounded in common goals and visions.
Topic:
Social Justice, Higher Education, Philanthropy, Scholarships, and Fellowships
Political Geography:
Global Focus

11912. A Commitment to Building a Global Generation: The Five-Year Impact of IIE’s Generation Study Abroad Initiative

Author:
Lindsay Calvert and Jodi Sanger
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
In 2014, IIE launched the Generation Study Abroad (GSA), a five-year initiative to mobilize resources and commitments with the goal of increasing and diversifying the number of U.S. students studying abroad by the end of the decade. IIE created a concerted effort and space for partners to join Generation Study Abroad by committing to bold, ambitious actions in support of study abroad on their campuses or at their organizations. The campaign became a global movement, forming the 800+ strong GSA Commitment Partner network representing a variety of U.S.-based and international partners, including national governments, higher education institutions (HEIs), study abroad organizations, education associations, and more. In 2020, IIE took stock of Generation Study Abroad with the final annual progress survey for GSA Commitment Partners. The survey tracked progress toward goals, best practices, and the implementation of effective activities and resources for the network. The report highlights key programmatic efforts and partner achievements framed by an analysis of data collected over the life of the initiative. In addition to evaluating the impact of this initiative, it offers an opportunity to continue building on the momentum of study abroad growth from 2019.
Topic:
Globalization, Youth, Higher Education, and Study Abroad
Political Geography:
Global Focus

11913. COVID-19 Effects on US Higher Education Campuses Report 4

Author:
Mirka Martel and Julie Baer
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
The fourth report in IIE’s COVID-19 Snapshot Survey Series analyzes the international education field one year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the effects on international student enrollment and U.S. study abroad for the 2021/22 academic year.
Topic:
Higher Education, COVID-19, and Study Abroad
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

11914. International Student Mobility Flows and COVID-19 Realities

Author:
Leah Mason
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
The flow of international students crossing borders to pursue educational opportunities has been significantly affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic, causing higher education systems worldwide to consider the context and realities of global academic mobility before and after the health crisis. This joint paper by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and IC3 analyzes significant international student mobility trends before the COVID‐19 pandemic, the role of the United States and other host countries in offering international students academic opportunities, and the increased competitiveness among countries to attract international students. The paper will provide an overview of the global mobility flows to and from major world regions in the 2019/2020 academic year. The paper will then consider the effects of COVID‐19 on global student mobility and how the pandemic has comparatively affected international students and the countries that serve as their hosts.
Topic:
Mobility, Higher Education, Students, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

11915. Economic Value of Peace 2021: Measuring the global economic impact of violence and conflict

Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
The comprehensive methodology includes 18 indicators covering the direct and indirect costs of violence, and the expenditures to contain and prevent violence. The model also includes a multiplier for the direct costs to account for the additional economic activity resulting from a redirection of these costs to more productive pursuits. The economic impact of violence provides an empirical basis to better understand the economic benefits resulting from improvements in peace. Estimates are provided for 163 countries and independent territories, covering over 99.5 per cent of the global population. It uses the best available data to calculate the overall impact. However, not all categories of violence have reliable data, therefore preventing their inclusion in the model. Some examples of costs excluded from the model are counter-terrorism and intelligence agency expenditures, insurance costs, lost business opportunities and family violence. As such, the estimates presented in this report are considered highly conservative. In 2019, the economic impact of violence decreased by $64 billion from the previous year. This was the equivalent of a 0.4 per cent decrease and was largely driven by reductions in Armed Conflict. This fall predominantly occurred in the Middle East and North Africa region and was driven by fewer terror attacks, conflict deaths, and population displacement costs. This is a continued reversal of previous periods where between 2012 and 2017, the global economic impact of violence rose by 12.2 per cent to peak at $14.8 trillion. This is the second consecutive year of improvement.
Topic:
Political Violence, Terrorism, Peacekeeping, Violence, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

11916. Global Peace Index 2021: Measuring peace in a complex world

Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This is the 15th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. This report presents the most comprehensive datadriven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies. The GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarisation. This year’s results show that the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.07 per cent. This is the ninth deterioration in peacefulness in the last thirteen years, with 87 countries improving, and 73 recording deteriorations; however, the change in score is the second smallest in the history of the index. The 2021 GPI reveals a world in which the conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade have begun to abate, only to be replaced with a new wave of tension and uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising tensions between many of the major powers.
Topic:
Peacekeeping, Global Security, Violence, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

11917. Business & Peace 2021

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
Rather than asking what businesses can do for peace, this study differentiates itself by focusing on what peace can offer businesses. The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) sees this as an important, but missing step in business analysis. In order for the private sector to engage with peacebuilding, investors first need to see the benefits of peace to their investment decisions. This work shows that economic performance can be predicted by movements in the same socio-economic developmental factors that affect peacefulness. These conditions are known as Positive Peace. The global economic impact of violence was $14.4 trillion in 2020. This is broadly equivalent to the entire economy of China. If humanity were to reduce violence by ten per cent per annum, the savings of $1.4 trillion would broadly equate to adding an economy the size of Russia’s or Brazil’s every year to the global fold. The burden of violence on an economy is self-evident. However, this report focusses on the converse perspective: countries that improve their underlying conditions, as gauged by IEP’s measures of peace, create the potential for a significant peace dividend for business.
Topic:
Economics, International Political Economy, Business, Peace, and International Business
Political Geography:
Global Focus

11918. Mexico Peace Index 2021: Identifying and measuring the factors that drive peace

Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
The 2021 report is the eighth edition of the Mexico Peace Index (MPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). It provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico, including trends, analysis and estimates of the economic impact of violence on the country. The MPI is based on the Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness, produced by IEP every year since 2007. Mexico’s peacefulness improved by 3.5 percent in 2020. After four years of successive deteriorations, this marks a change in trend following the sharp increases in violence recorded between 2015 and 2018. This change can be traced to well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Homicide and firearms crime rates peaked in July 2018 and have since been gradually declining. Other crime rates began to fall in mid-2019, which also preceded the pandemic. While improvements were occurring prior to the onset of COVID-19, further reductions in specific types of violence in 2020 followed the implementation of public health measures and stay-at-home orders. Crimes typically associated with people’s everyday movements — such as robberies, assaults, kidnappings and extortion — all recorded notable improvements in 2020.
Topic:
Crime, Economics, Violence, and Peace
Political Geography:
Mexico

11919. Labour Reforms in the Indian State of Rajasthan: a boon or a bane?

Author:
Sourabh Paul and Diti Goswami
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University
Abstract:
The authors examine the impact of labour law deregulations in the Indian state of Rajasthan on plant employment and performance. In 2014, after a long time, Rajasthan was the first Indian state that introduced labour reforms in the Industrial Disputes Act (1947), the Factories Act (1948), the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act (1970), and the Apprentices Act (1961). Exploiting this unique quasi-natural experiment, the authors apply a difference-in-difference framework using the Annual Survey of Industries longitudinal data of India’s manufacturing establishments. Their results show that reforms had an unintended consequence of the decline in labour use. Also, worryingly, the flexibility resulted in a disproportionate decline in the directly employed worker. Evidence suggests that the reforms positively impact the value-added and productivity of the establishments. The strength of these effects varies depending on the underlying industry and reform structure. These findings prove robust to a set of specifications.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Reform, Employment, and Regulation
Political Geography:
India

11920. Can a Machine Learn Democracy?

Author:
Rajendran Narayanan, Sakina Dhorajiwala, and Chakradhar Buddha
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University
Abstract:
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) provides up to 100 days of work in a year for every rural household at a minimum wage. The Act has several landmark worker-centric provisions. For the implementation of MGNREGA, for the first time in the country, a transaction-based Management Information System (MIS) has been made available in the public domain; a feather in the cap of transparency. However, there are several critical questions to be examined in this regard. Our main focus in this article is to explore the tensions between technocracy and democratic values/participation in the context of MGNREGA and its associated MIS. We use our action research on information-based interventions in several states to examine whether the MGNREGA MIS incorporates democratic values, whether it has been inclusive or if it has widened the existing inequities. We use specific examples to illustrate how such an information system has been used to subvert the legal rights of workers. We underscore that technological interventions, with a compassionate human-centred design are potentially powerful tools for transparency, accountability, and grievance redressal. However, technology alone can neither enhance participatory democracy nor reduce socio-economic inequalities.
Topic:
Economics, Science and Technology, Labor Issues, Democracy, Employment, and Artificial Intelligence
Political Geography:
India