Women Education And Development In The Arab Gulf Countries

Women’s education only became an element of modernization when the Gulf countries experienced the oil revolution. However, these rulers launched a revolution of their own by developing modern social infrastructure, mostly before independence. Rulers in the region accepted the notion of women’s education as a pre-requisite for development, and male elites wanted compatible educated partners. However, women’s integration in the labor market was another matter. The state had to contend with a common traditional culture, which was opposed to the mixing of the sexes or the diversion of women’s energies away from domestic and maternal duties. Higher education, which was normally offered on a co-educational basis and sometimes meant study abroad, provoked opposition. >With the exception of Saudi Arabia, there are no legal barriers to integrating women in the economy on a large scale. However, there are cultural issues that work against women’s employment, like the lack of incentive to work in a welfare system. The drive to end the dependence on foreign labor is often countered by the pro-birth policies of countries. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to advancing women’s participation in the labor market has been their absence from advisory councils and parliaments. Thus, the world of political decision-making still seems closed to women, who must rely on the commitment and reformist zeal of some enlightened rulers.

In this groundbreaking work, the author provides a close examination of the relationship between gender and education in the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) and reveals that women’s participation and achievement in education is rapidly outpacing that of men’s. Ridge refers to this situation as a “reverse gender divide” and examines the roots and causes of this imbalance, as well as implications for the future. Based on timely material that is largely unavailable to other scholars, the book further describes how GCC countries, in their desire to be perceived as modern nation states, have enacted and embraced education policies that leave no space for local policymakers to acknowledge boys’ deficits and challenges. In addition to the important implications for educational policy and practice, the author also explores wider social and political issues, such as the impact on the workforce and future sustainable development in the region. "This book offers a refreshing perspective on education in the Gulf States. Reframing the conversation about gender equity in education, Natasha Ridge studies how teachers and schools contribute to the growing educational marginalization of young boys in the Middle East. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the region and in deeply understanding the centrality of gender equity as a goal of modern education." —Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education "Focusing on the resource-rich monarchy states of the Arabian Gulf, Natasha Ridge makes a compelling and nuanced case that the international discourse on gender and education has overlooked the growing academic marginalization of boys. Analyzing relevant political, economic, and social factors, she provides a critically important study that dispels myths, examines the impacts of gender-related educational disparity, and offers thought-provoking suggestions relevant in the Gulf countries and beyond." —Ann Austin, professor, Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, Michigan State University "This volume provides a well-researched and insightful examination of gender differences in school achievement and retention in the Gulf States. It makes a timely and important contribution as it debunks widely held misconceptions and adds nuance to our understanding of the dynamics of education and employment in the region. This volume in a ‘must-read’ both for those concerned with gender issues in education and those interested in the social and economic development of the Middle East." —David W. Chapman, professor, University of Minnesota Natasha Ridge is the executive director of the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research based in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE. She has also been an educational consultant for the World Bank, UNICEF, and USAID in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

This annotated guide of English-language material on education in the Arab world includes books, journal articles, national and international reports and documents and Ph.D. dissertations. The author opens with an introductory essay on the development of education in the Arab Gulf states and an analysis of current issues in educational research. Chapters cover the social context of education; educational systems and structures; country reports on educational developments between 1950 and 1980; religion and education; education at the pre-college level; and higher education with special attention to systems and institutions, curriculum and evaluation, management, students in national and foreign universities, research, sciences, and technology. The book also examines women's education; teachers and teacher education; educational planning; manpower and education; educational guidance and counseling; special education; literacy and adult education; and educational media and instructional technology. Author and subject indexes are provided.

The six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have achieved substantial development progress in recent decades, as is evidenced by their high rankings within the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index (HDI). Despite these achievements, however, the process of development in the GCC states still faces numerous challenges, the most significant of which relate to national human resources. Indeed, it is fair to say that the success of ongoing development efforts in the GCC states will largely be decided by how they manage, employ and develop their human capital. This book comprises a valuable collection of the papers presented at the ECSSR 14th Annual Conference, “Human Resources and Development in the Arabian Gulf,” held in Abu Dhabi on February 2–4, 2009. The papers contained herein represent a contemporary examination of: the different development strategies available to the GCC states; the challenges facing human resource development in the GCC countries; the problems facing GCC labor markets; opportunities and potential for investment in human capital; the many obstacles to sustainable development in the Gulf; and other relevant topics.

The UAE sits astride an uncomfortble dilemma in terms of national development and international profile. It seeks to be a regional and global power, both economically and politically, and to achieve this it needs to diversify and become less reliant on a workforce that is made up predominantly of expatriates, many of whom are employed because they have a level of education unavailable among the general citizenry. Alongside a rapid growth in public services and private commerce, education is a stated national priority, with the Ministry of Education setting out in its vision that education should achieve “enduring development for the community.” The UAE higher education sector is growing at an astonishing rate. However, the apparent dilemma results from the call for a rapid growth in educational provision, alongside the desire to produce a functioning and accessible education system in a relatively short time-frame. The UAE is a ‘consumer’ of educational practice, a nation that has a history of buying in the educational models and expertise it requires, as opposed to the lengthier, but possibly better suited, process of building an indigenous education system from the ground up. Developing a truly indigenous and new system to fit the needs of neophyte states – although laborious, expensive and problematic – does allow a nation to mold specifically the needs of the country with the educational systems developed. However, the UAE, through the model of ‘borrowing’ systems and expertise, was able to ‘kick-start’ the development of education in the country, greatly decreasing the time needed to establish formal educational structures. Such a situation may open up questions as to the suitability and efficacy of a predominantly imported educational provision for the indigenous population. The UAE, as a relatively new and emerging economy, has the funds and support of the national leadership to actively pursue and seek educational systems and practices that will advance development and competitiveness. To exam how globalized structures influence education in the UAE and beyond, there needs to be an understanding and awareness of the context in which the education sector functions today. As global economic forces and the labor needs of societies change, then accountability, control and governance of education becomes a contested area of public policy. However, what can be seen is that education is gaining in prominence in the public policy arena, with governments and politicians realizing that in order to be globally competitive, education must produce a skilled and efficient national workforce, placing education firmly in the realm of human capital theory and policy.

The Middle East was the region least impacted in the 2008 crisis, has investment systems markedly different to the West, is largely governed by Islamic Shari’a, and has varying forms of governance and institutional organization, which are not understood by many, nor how these systems shape entrepreneurial and industrial development. While the Middle East as a region has seen a small growth in entrepreneurship for women, and business scholarship on the Middle East has grown, there is no text in English that has brought critical insights from the Middle East together in a single volume. In examining women’s entrepreneurship in the Middle East, this book aims to challenge Global North assumptions about the disempowering impacts of Islamic Shari’a and governance. Referring to the constraints of Islam on women’s subjectivity and agency greatly misunderstands religious identity, of both men and women, and the way in which public administration and private sector institutions are organized in very different ways to Western regions. This timely text expands and adds new insights to the theorizations of women’s entrepreneurship in the Middle East, through unravelling spatialized themes, and incorporates contemporary themes including: an Islamic science reading of women, work and venturing; changing families and entrepreneurship development; women managing social crises; Islamization, governance and women; Islamic feminist activisms and entrepreneurship; representations of women’s entrepreneurship on social media; and women’s collectives leading entrepreneurship via Facebook entrepreneurship. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of entrepreneurship, gender, work and organizations.

This much-needed book explores Arab women's share in employment and their contribution to national economic development. It documents the patterns and trends of female employment and highlights the determinants of labour force participation in a number of countries.