Context and challenges of education for rural development. A bibliometric review

Abstract

The lack of education tailored to the specific characteristics and needs of rural areas hinders the development of their communities. In these areas, educational levels tend to be lower due to various socioeconomic, structural, and cultural factors specific to the rural environment. The objective of this study is to analyze the scientific approach to the contributions of education to sustainable rural development, to assess the state of the art. It was based on a quantitative study, through a systematic review of scientific publications in the Scopus database, using a bibliometric mapping methodology. Bibliometrix software was used. The search criteria were established as follows: scientific articles found in the Scopus database, publications in English and Spanish, with a publication range from 1994 to 2023. Studies in the areas of education, agriculture, and rural development were selected. The units of analysis included: scientific output, average citation, prominent sources and authors, affiliations, impact by H-index, output by country, relevant references and keywords, and international collaboration. The bibliometric analysis between 1994 and 2023 reveals moderate growth of 2.42% per year, with 53 documents published, including 50 articles and 3 book chapters. International collaboration is significant, with a co-authorship rate of 37.74% and an average of 3.21 co-authors per document. Publications maintain an average impact of 9.62 years and 17.36 citations per document, although citation trends show variations, with peaks in 1997 (87 citations) and 2013 (68 citations). This shows sustained interest, but with room for further research. The observed trend suggests that studies focus on aspects related to rural development, agriculture, the economy, and socioeconomic conditions and their links to education.