Dr. Hawkins' research interests have focused on education and politics, rural education, policy studies, project management education, education and intergroup relations, and most recently, secondary and higher education reform. He has conducted fieldwork in North America, Canada, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Pacific Basin, and Africa. Current research interests are in the area of cross-national influences on higher education with particular reference to the transfer of educational forms between developed and developing nations, the role of secondary education reform, the transformation of higher education in Asia, and educational decentralization.