Programme - Seminar on Demographic Training in the Third Millennium

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Seminar on Demographic Training in the Third Millennium

Rabat, May 15-18 2001
Co-organised by the IUSSP Working Group on Teaching and INSEA

Programme

Introduction by Graziella Caselli
The scientific scope of the IUSSP WG on "Teaching" should be to encourage activities aimed at defining new guidelines for teaching demography in the future. The new contents of demography should be clearly listed, making some differentiation according to the target group, future demographers on the one hand, and others who, in the course of their working career, need to apply some demographic know-how.

At the outset the WG set a number of targets. These included organising a seminar to provoke discussion and glean proposals for the teaching of demography in the future, and embrace the many different geographical realities present throughout the globe. The seminar took place in Rabat, in May 2001, with 18 invited papers and 3 spontaneous papers. The material offered was of enormous interest, albeit somewhat heterogeneous. The possibility of making this available on the IUSSP web site not only provides the opportunity of a wider distribution of the material in question, but also of informing the broader demographic community of the actual contents of the discussion contained in the four days of the Seminar. The papers are presented as they appeared on the scientific programme, proceeded by a synthesis of their contents and the subsequent discussion. As is the IUSSP tradition, this was prepared by a young demographer.

Each author is responsible for the content of their paper, that were not submitted to the referee process.

Regarding the contents of the Seminar let me briefly recall the underpinning three issues: Demographic training: past, present and future; Needs/demands for demographers in the future; What should we teach? Elements of a training strategy. This follows on naturally from the activity of the WG to date, and set the tone of the programme before us.

I. Demographic Training: Past, Present and Future
The objective of the papers on this topic is to present the evolution of training programmes in different parts of the world with an emphasis on the past and the present. For each major region, the presentations should focus on: the initial historical context that generated training programmes and particularly the needs assessments that justified such programmes and the type of demographers needed by society, the changes in training programmes throughout the years (and the reasons for theses changes), and finally an assessment of the current situation. The idea was to have regional perspectives on: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East, Europe, North America/Australia/New Zealand. Despite the best intentions, unfortunately, the regional panorama remains incomplete. This is far too varied, even taking the major geographical divisions usually defined by a single country.

The papers presented in this wide review included:
1. Demographic Training in Africa: past, present and future - Alex Ezeh and Ann Blanc
2. India's expanding horizon of demographic training, teaching and research - evolution of population sciences - Ashish Bose
3. Mexico in the context of demographic training in Latin America - Manuel Ordorica
4. Demographic training in Egypt and the Middle East - Hesham Makhlouf
5. Demographic training: Europe - Frans Willekens
6. Specialist and generalist goals: changing emphases in demographic training in North America and Australasia - Donald Rowland

II. Needs/Demands for Demographers in the Future
This part aims at exploring the demand for demographers in the future. The following questions are some examples of aspects that should be considered: How are needs defined? Who should define these needs: employers, former graduates, PUBLIC sector, private sector, international organisations, etc.? What are future directions: applied vs. fundamental, substantive vs. technical, etc.? A separate analysis was foreseen for the developing and developed countries. a further paper was included offering a global overview. The papers are as follows:

Developing world
The "uganda approach" made easy: a universal guide to assessing current population and development training needs" - Stephen C. Baldwin.

Industrialised world
10. Global perspective *** - Carlson Elwood

III. What Should We Teach? Elements of a Training Strategy
Given the specific needs defined in previous sessions, the following papers focused on training programmes. Here, attention should be paid to different types of training profiles (e.g. professional vs. research) and geared to specific target groups such as students in demography, students in other disciplines, non-demographers dealing with population projects, etc. Programmes should also distinguish between short-term and long-term training. In particular, for different geographical areas the topics refer to:

Family/fertility/nuptiality
11. Elements of demographic teaching strategy in the field of family, fertility and nuptiality: Japan and Asia - Shigemi Kono and Noriko Tsuya
12. Teaching the fundamentals of demography: a models-based approach to family and fertility - Thomas Burch
13. Nuptiality, fertility and family structures in sub-saharan Africa: a framework for teaching - Thérèse Locoh

Health/morbidity/mortality
14. Incorporating health into demographic training - Noreen Goldman

Migration/urbanisation/globalisation
15. Emerging topics: globalisation and international migration - Alan Simmons and Victor Piché

Ageing
16. Teaching demography of ageing - Antonio Golini

Gender
17. Mainstreaming gender in demographic training: benefits and constraints - Harriet Presser and Maitreyi Das

Population and development
18. Population and sustainable development in the post-icpd context - Mohammed Mazouz
19. Is there a framework for teaching demography? - Simone Wajnman

To conclude, a discussion was organised on the spontaneous papers presented by Sulaiman Bah and Armindo Miranda, illustrating specific examples of new tools used in teaching demography: internet, simulation models, problem-solving approaches, etc. Another discussion was held on the presentations by the rapporteurs of the earlier sessions, followed by a general discussion.

A number of papers included in the third section "What Should We Teach? Elements of a Training Strategy" will be published in a special issue on teaching by the journal Genus.

List of Papers Presented (in alphabetical order by main author).

Sulaiman BAH
Tailoring demographic training in a transitional country: The case of South Africa

Ashish BOSE
India's expanding horizon of demographic training, teaching and research - evolution of population sciences

Elwood CARLSON
Training of Demographers in Global Perspective

Alex EZEH and Ann BLANC
Demographic Training in Africa: past, present and future

Stephen C. BALDWIN
The "uganda approach" made easy: a universal guide to assessing current population and development training needs

Thomas BuRCH
Teaching the fundamentals of demography: a models-based approach to family and fertility

Noreen GOLDMAN
Incorporating health into demographic training

Antonio GOLINI
Teaching demography of ageing

Shigemi KONO and Noriko TSuYA
Elements of demographic teaching strategy in the field of family, fertility and nuptiality: Japan and Asia

Thérèse LOCOH
Nuptiality, fertility and family structures in sub-saharan Africa: a framework for teaching

Hesham MAKHLOuF
Demographic training in Egypt and the Middle East

Mohammed MAZOuZ
Population and sustainable development in the post-icpd context

Manuel ORDOROICA
Mexico in the context of demographic training in Latin America

Harriet PRESSER and Maitreyi DAS
Mainstreaming gender in demographic training: benefits and constraints

Donald ROWLAND
Specialist and generalist goals: changing emphases in demographic training in North America and Australasia

Alan SIMMONS and Victor PICHE
Emerging topics: globalisation and international migration

Simone WAJNMAN
Is there a framework for teaching demography?

Frans WILLEKENS
Demographic training: Europe

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