Higher Education Revolutions In The Gulf

Over the past quarter century, the people of the Arabian Peninsula have witnessed a revolutionary transformation in higher education. In 1990, there were fewer than ten public universities that offered their Arabic-language curricula in sex-segregated settings to national citizens only. In 2015, there are more than one hundred public, semi-public, and private colleges and universities. Most of these institutions are open to expatriates and national citizens; a few offer gender integrated instruction; and the language of instruction is much more likely to be in English than Arabic. Higher Education Revolutions in the Gulf explores the reasons behind this dramatic growth. It examines the causes of the sharp shift in educational practices and analyses how these new systems of higher education are regulated, evaluating the extent to which the new universities and colleges are improving quality. Questioning whether these educational changes can be sustained, the book explores how the new curricula and language policies are aligned with official visions of the future. Written by leading scholars in the field, it draws upon their considerable experiences of teaching and doing research in the Arabian Gulf, as well as their different disciplinary backgrounds (linguistics and economics), to provide a holistic and historically informed account of the emergence and viability of the Arabian Peninsula’s higher education revolutions. Offering a comprehensive, critical assessment of education in the Gulf Arab states, this book represents a significant contribution to the field and will be of interest to students and scholars of Middle East and Gulf Studies, and essential for those focused on higher education.

Nowhere in the world is university education expanding as rapidly as in the six-member state of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In two generations the region has gone from having the Middle East's least educated population to boasting a younger generation whose educational achievements are approaching Oraginisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards. This unique study, with contributions by key decision makers, charts this dramatic development, exploring the challenges faced and placing accomplishments within the social, economic and political context of the region.

This edited volume contributes a novel understanding of the past, present and future of higher education across the six countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Against the backdrop of intense political, ideological and epistemological disruptions across the Arabian Gulf Region over the last two decades, this volume adopts critical comparative perspectives in order to chart the history, present-day and future realities of higher education in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. By focusing on dynamics relating to neoliberalism, and using the notions of ‘tensionality’ and ‘locality’ to situate topics such as curricula, policies, practices, the volume engages with current discourses, controversies and themes such as the internationalization and marketization of higher education in these countries. In doing so, the book offers a theoretical framework to enable greater understanding of the contemporary functioning of higher education in the Arabian Gulf Region. This text will benefit scholars, academics and students in the fields of higher education and international and comparative education more broadly. Those involved with educational policy and politics, and Middle Eastern studies in general, will also benefit from this volume.

This book takes a closer look at the relation between current issues and trends in higher education and scientific research in the Arab World and in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE). This thoroughly researched text traces the development of higher education in the GCC area as it continues to be positioned in an intersection of international and local factors. The text further articulates the pivotal political and cultural influences that act as real and perceived barriers towards the advancement of key fields. The chapters analyze the current policy trends, structures, and coping alternatives in addressing higher education challenges, whilst also providing comparative first-hand texts with the other Arab states in the region. By drawing focus on the GCC area, the text identifies the crucial factors that hamper learning and research performance. The book serves as an invaluable discussion on the implications for policy makers and HEIs in relation to the eponymous regions and other Arab states in the GCC area. Enhancing understanding of the scope, scale, and complexity of higher education and scientific research in the GCC area, the book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of educational policy, comparative and international education and higher education.

This book addresses issues surrounding writing centers in the Arabian Gulf region. Including a foreword by Professor Ken Hyland, it brings together a number of thought-provoking chapters on the history, concept, and ground realities coupled with critical comparative discussions of writing centres in the region. The book begins by offering critical historical accounts of writing centers in the Gulf countries, before moving onto empirical research and reports on pedagogical practices that vividly capture the on-the-ground realities faced and experienced by different actors. These accounts serve to highlight how the writing centers vary between countries, as well as how they differ from the more well-known writing centers in the US and the UK. Finally, the book explores what sort of commonalities and differences the current trend of writing centres is producing within and between the six countries of the Arabian Gulf. This book will be highly relevant to those involved with writing centres along with directors, policymakers, researchers and teacher educators in the fields of Education and Sociology, particularly those with an interest in the Arabian Gulf area.

This Handbook covers a wide range of historical perspectives, realities, research and practice of internationalization of higher education (IHE) in the global south and makes comparisons to IHE issues in the global north. Drawing on the expertise of 32 academics and policy makers based in and originating from four key regions of focus: Sub-Saharan Africa; North Africa and the Middle East; Asia Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean. Across 24 chapters the editors and contributors provide a diverse and unparalleled expose of the status and future aspirations of institutions and nations in relation to IHE. This is the first comprehensive analysis of this growing field and expands the scope of research in the field of comparative and international education in terms of theory and policy development. Includes 36 chapters written by: Hadiza Kere Abdulrahman, Salem Abodher, Giovanni Anzola-Pardo, Aref Al Attari, Norzaini Azman, Teklu Abate Bekele, Abdellah Benahnia, Andrés Bernasconi, Daniela Craciun, Hans de Wit, Futao Huang, Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila, Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, Javier González, Gifty Oforiwaa Gyamera, Xiao HAN, Mohamed Salah Harzallah, Bola Ibrahim, Annette Insanally, Sunwoong Kim, Aliya Kuzhabekov, Kamel Mansi, Simon McGrath, Francisco Marmolejo, Georgiana Mihut, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Ibrahim Ogachi Oanda, Bandele Olusola Oyewole, Rakgadi Phatlane, Francisca Puyol, Laura E. Rumbley, Chika T Sehoole, Wenqin SHEN, Luz Inmaculada Madera Soriano, Wondwosen Tamrat, Juliet Thondhlana, Julie Vardhan, Chang Da Wan, Anthony Welch, Ayenachew A. Woldegiyorgis, Renée Zicman.

This book will be of value to those in the West and in the Middle East with an interest in the contemporary state of the higher educational system in the region and in comparative education in general. It concentrates on the Gulf, but the problems of control, development, curriculum and purpose in higher education are general throughout the Middle East. Its contributors are mainly academics working in universities in the Gulf region. Higher Education in the Gulf stresses the need for engagement with the problems of the Gulf States as developing countries and the roles which practical, locally-based research can play in promoting balanced, self-reliant development. For too long, work in the West relating to the Gulf has concentrated on oil, military and political issues, and this book looks beyond these to the neglected areas of social, cultural and human capital aspects of modernisation. It is deliberately intended to suggest and promote research.

This authoritative edited volume examines the drivers of higher education in the Gulf region. It offers insightful analyses and examines contemporary pedagogical, management, strategic, and relevant issues on quality education that confront higher education institutions. Written by higher education specialists, curriculum developers, and policy makers from diverse international backgrounds, the book analyses issues affecting the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, with a particular focus on Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is divided into regional and non-regional drivers and considers drivers as potent enablers of a management system and educational structure at the intersection of quality education and quality management in higher education. Chapters include discussion of organisational, management, and policy issues including strategic innovation, internationalisation, quality assurance, and global rankings of higher education institutes. The book includes discussion of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning policies, practices, and programmes. This book will serve as an essential reference for quality management in higher education institutions in the Gulf, and will be highly relevant reading for academics, researchers, and students of higher education, education management, and quality education in the Gulf region.