Arab Educational Information Network

The occupation of Iraq since 2003, terrorist attacks, dismissal of a number of faculty members in various universities, and the so-called “brain drain” have all had a major impact on scientific research. This study seeks to identify the negative repercussions of crises on scientific research in Iraq, through comparing the level of scientific and research activity of faculty members working in Iraqi universities with that of Iraqi faculty members working in Jordanian universities during the period 2006–2008.Descriptive analysis of the results of a questionnaire administered to 500 faculty members is employed. Indicators of performance of Iraqi universities for the academic year 2006/2007 are used. The most prominent finding is that the level of scientific and research activity of faculty members working in Iraqi and Jordanian universities is low, particularly in authoring, translation, dissemination of scientific research, publishing articles, supervision of graduate students, patents, participation in scientific conferences and symposia abroad, participation in research under contract for state organizations, dedication to scientific endeavor, amounting to no more than one activity per year on average. During the three-year period, 65-68% of the faculty members in and outside Iraq have not undertaken any scientific activity. Moreover, the proportion of hours devoted to scientific research by faculty members does not exceed 1.5% of total weekly hours spent on discharging university duties. (Published Abstract)