Appropriateness of the international accreditation frameworks of engineering education to the academic engineering programs in Saudi Arabia: A comparative study

Abstract

This paper focuses on the globalization of engineering education which has become a major preoccupation of engineering departments everywhere. There is a lack of literature on the global recognition requirements of Saudi engineering education. Most of the papers published in the field of accreditation of Saudi engineering education focused on reporting the individual experiences of some engineering programs or on identifying the challenges facing these programs when seeking national or international accreditation. This paper examines and explores the main milestones in the path towards the global recognition of engineering education in Saudi Arabia. The only way such recognition can be achieved, however, is through membership in a handful of accreditation frameworks such as the Washington Accord (WA) and the European Accredited Engineer (EUR-ACE). The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1) to take stock of the accreditation status of engineering program in Saudi Arabia, 2) to compare the requirements, rules, and procedures of WA and EUR-ACE to determine which organization best serves the Saudi engineering programs' desire to achieve international recognition, and finally 3) make some recommendations on actions the national accreditation agencies could take to become members of WA. Even though this paper focuses on engineering education in Saudi Arabia, it applies equally to other countries looking to meet the highest quality standards in engineering education and seeking to ensure the international mobility of their graduates.