Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Arabian Gulf States: Opportunities, Aspirations, and Challenges

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.

Abdellatif Sellami is the Director of the Education Research Center, the College of Education, Qatar University. Previously, he served as a research faculty at the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI), Qatar University. Prior to joining Qatar University, he had served as an Educational Programs Manager in Education City, Qatar Foundation. He has published journal articles and book chapters in the areas of K-12 education, higher education, STEM, critical discourse analysis, and language and identity. He has a published book titled Introduction to the art of debating (2014, Bloomsbury Press (in Arabic). Currently, he is involved in a number of large-scale research projects on STEM, K-12 education, higher education, socio-cultural impacts of FIFA 2022 in Qatar, and, more recently, the effect of online (remote) learning during the Corona virus.

Khalid Arar, PhD, is a Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the School Improvement Doctoral Program, College of Education, Texas State University, the United States, and an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Leadership in Education and Middle-East regional editor of Journal of Education Administration and History. For the past two decades, he conducted studies in the Middle East, Europe, USA, and North America on the issues of equity, diversity, and social justice in K-12 and higher education. His recent books include Migrants, Refugees and Global Challenges in Higher Education (Peter Lang Publishing, with Kussai Haj-Yehia, David Ross, and Yasar Kondakci); Education, Immigration and Migration: Policy, Leadership and Praxis for a Changing World (Emerald Publishing, with Jeffrey Brooks & Ira Bogotch); Turbulence, Empowerment and Marginalization in International Education Governance Systems (Emerald Publishing, with Alison Taysum), and School Leadership for Refugees’ Education (Routledge).

Rania Sawalhi completed her PhD at the University of Warwick (UK) in Educational Leadership. She has worked as director of strategic planning and development of educational projects and currently, Dr. Sawalhi works in Qatar Career Development Center, Qatar Foundation. She has also launched Educational Leadership Lab and Educational Leadership e-platforms. She was awarded ICSEI/JPCC 2020 Innovation award and Shaikh Faisal Award - second place postgraduate study category 2019, and was on of study UK award finalists 2019-Qatar. Rania is also co-founder of WomenEdMENA, Co-coordinator ELN-ICSEI.