Dr LENG Phirom

Former Unit Head

Dr LENG Phirom joined CDRI as a research fellow in March 2016. He holds a PhD in Comparative and International Higher Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Canada. Before joining CDRI, he was a visiting scholar at the Southern University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC) in Shenzhen, China, helping with the establishment of the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI) – a UNESCO Category 2 Institute whose mandate is to support the expansion and improvement of ICT in higher education in developing countries. His research interests include comparative education, internationalization and governance of higher education, science education, and innovation and policy research.

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LENG Phirom


International Publications

This paper investigates the correlation between international experience in China and the self-perceived employability of Cambodian students using an explanatory mixed-methods approach. The findings suggest a positive correlation between international experience and students’ self-perceived employability, with technical knowledge and skills acquisi...

Edited Books

The emergence of global knowledge societies makes it necessary for Cambodian Post-Secondary Education and Training (PSET) system to: accelerate its knowledge-creation function, leading to academic excellence and intellectual prowess; cultivate vocational value, professional quality, and workplace learning habits in its students; build a robust...

Working Papers 127

This qualitative study examines the development of STEM programs in Cambodian higher education, using as its theoretical framework Chesky and Wolfmeyer’s (2015) concept of an integrative STEM education, which highlights the intersections between purpose, pedagogy and content. The teaching of STEM in Cambodia remains discipline-based, dominated by t...

International Publications

STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education is attracting increasing public interest and policy attention and being promoted at different educational levels in Cambodia. The study seeks to identify factors associated with Cambodian university freshmen’s choice of STEM major and how significant associations differ by gender and un...


The “Higher Education Policy Research & Influencing in Cambodia” was one of the major programmes implemented by the Education Unit of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI). Receiving financial support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the three-year programme aimed to produce independent, objective, hi...