Describing the Higher Education Cluster of El Salvador

Abstract

Education is of paramount importance for a country's competitive development, particularly at the higher education level, as it determines the integration of professionals into economic and social life. Furthermore, this formative stage is an ideal field for knowledge generation through scientific research and technology transfer.

A nation's competitiveness implies coordinating efforts among the various actors in society, such as the business sector, academia, and the government. The cluster model is a means for materializing this coordination, understood as a conglomeration of institutions within a territory that interact to generate productivity for the participants and for society as a whole.

The purpose of this study was to describe the configuration of El Salvador's higher education cluster, using the competitiveness diamond framework, the value chain model, and the cluster map, as well as analyzing indicators from the Global Competitiveness Index. The results show the cluster's constitution, development, and impact on El Salvador.