| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
Through my investigation of the World Bank, of select developing countries, and of two institutions of higher education in the United States, I sought an advanced understanding of the ways education contributes to the reduction of poverty in developing countries. This investigation included an examination of the forces that may have both negatively and positively affected higher-education systems in developing countries. In addition, I chose to conduct a policy-oriented study. Using tools associated with ethnographic case-study methodology, I considered the phenomenon of poverty with respect to the education policy of the World Bank from multiple vantage points, so as to provide a well-rounded view of the topic (Wolcott 2008; Yin 2003; Stake 1995; Creswell 2003). Through quantitative analysis of existing data, I evaluated the trends in lending for higher education in developing countries in order to see if the patterns matched the World Bank's policy and rhetoric. The policy analysis was both deductive, given the hypotheses behind the theoretical framework, and inductive, in order to search for discrepant data and themes that might contradict my preliminary postulations or reveal new, unanticipated themes. This methodological approach produced a policy analysis that reveals the complex natures of development economics and poverty reduction as they relate to the organizations and countries under study.
Although this analysis shows that higher education represents a piece of the larger puzzle of poverty reduction, I do not suggest that higher education is the sole or even a major solution for the social problem of poverty. For example, it would be imprudent to suggest that any country in the throes of ethnic and civil unrest is in dire need of funding for higher education. Instead, I situate higher education as only one component in an overall strategy of poverty reduction, though it is perhaps key in some circumstances. This study presents ways in which higher education can serve as a factor in poverty reduction and why universities need to be included in a formula designed to benefit a nation-state's economic, social, and knowledge development.
As a background for the study, chapter 2 reviews the research in the areas of poverty reduction and the knowledge economy. Although poverty reduction is at the center of the World Bank's stated mission,