The Past, Present, and Future of Higher Education in the Arabian Gulf Region: Critical Comparative Perspectives

286 Pages·2022·4.971 MB·English

by  Awad Ibrahim, Osman Z. Barnawi

The Past, Present, and Future of
Higher Education in the Arabian
Gulf Region
This edited volume contributes a novel understanding of the past, pres-
ent 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 epistemo-
logical disruptions across the Arabian Gulf Region over the last two dec-
ades, 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, contro-
versies and themes such as the internationalization and marketization of
higher education in these countries. In doing so, the book offers a theo-
retical 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.
Awad Ibrahim is Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of
Ottawa, Canada.
Osman Z. Barnawi is Professor at the Royal Commission Colleges and
Institutes, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
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The Past, Present,
and Future of Higher
Education in the Arabian
Gulf Region
Critical Comparative Perspectives in a
Neoliberal Era
Edited by
Awad Ibrahim and Osman Z. Barnawi
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
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business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Awad Ibrahim and
Osman Z. Barnawi; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Awad Ibrahim and Osman Z. Barnawi to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ibrahim, Awad, editor. | Barnawi, Osman Z., editor.
Title: The past, present, and future of higher education in the Arabian
Gulf region : critical comparative perspectives in a neoliberal era /
edited by Awad Ibrahim & Osman Barnawi.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Series: Routledge research
in higher education | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022007355 | ISBN 9780367503512 (hardback) | ISBN
9781032315805 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003049609 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Education, Higher--Persian Gulf Region. | Educational
change--Persian Gulf Region. | Education and globalization--Persian
Gulf Region.
Classification: LCC LA1431.4 .P37 2023 | DDC 378.53--dc23/eng/20220322
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022007355
ISBN: 978-0-367-50351-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-31580-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-04960-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003049609
Typeset in Baskerville
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables x
Editors xii
List of Contributors xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: The Pulse of Higher Education
in the Arabian Gulf 1
AWAD IBRAHIM AND OSMAN Z. BARNAWI
PART 1
Critical Historical Archaeology of Higher Education
in the GCC 11
1 Seven Decades of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia:
A Foucauldian Genealogy 13
ABDULLAH ALSHAKHI
2 The History of Higher Education in Kuwait 30
ABBAS AL-SHAMMARI
3 A Historical Archaeology of Higher Education in the
Sultanate of Oman: A Critical Social and Education
Policy Perspective 47
ALI M. AL-ISSA AND NOOR AL-NAJJAR
vi Contents
4 History of Higher Education in Qatar: A Genealogy 72
WAFAA MORSY AND AWAD IBRAHIM
5 The Coming of Age in UAE Higher Education:
The March of the Young Nation to a Postmodern Era 85
NEGMELDIN OMER ALSHEIKH
6 Higher Education in Bahrain: Current Trends,
Successes, Challenges and Future Possibilities 100
PAUL MACLEOD
PART 2
Higher Education in the Arabian Gulf Region Today 115
7 Development of Higher Education in Bahrain 117
AIZHAN SHOMOTOVA AND TATIANA KARABCHUK
8 Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: A Vehicle for
Global Promotion and Advancement 143
SULAIMAN JENKINS
9 Development of the Higher Education in the UAE:
Challenges and Current Achievements 159
AIZHAN SHOMOTOVA AND TATIANA KARABCHUK
10 Negotiating between Cultural and Academic Values:
Undergraduate Education Choices and Divisions
in the State of Qatar 185
SARA HILLMAN
11 Development of the Higher Education System in
Kuwait 206
AIZHAN SHOMOTOVA AND TATIANA KARABCHUK
12 Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman Today 225
FATMA AL KAF AND ALI M. AL-ISSA
Contents vii
PART 3
Comparing, Contrasting and Projecting a Future of Higher
Education in the Arabian Gulf 251
13 Epilogue: The Pulse of the Development of Higher
Education across the Gulf Countries in the Era
of Neoliberalism: Conclusion, Limitations and Future
Prospects 253
HABIB BOUAGADA
Index 261
Figures
1.1 Kings of Saudi Arabia 17
7.1 Number of students by level of education, type of
institution, and sex for the academic year 2013/2014 120
7.2 The percentage of the population age 25 and over
who attained or completed bachelor’s, master’s or
doctoral degrees in Bahrain from 2016 to 2018 122
7.3 Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary education in Bahrain
from 2011 to 2019 123
7.4 Number of students admitted to the University
of Bahrain within the last ten years 123
7.5 Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary education in GCC
countries (except UAE with no available data)
from 2014 to 2019 124
7.6 Total Ministry of Education budget expenditures
in Bahrain dinars from 2010 to 2019 125
7.7 Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)
as a percentage of GDP in 2014 126
7.8 Pupil-teacher ratio in tertiary institutions in GCC
countries from 2010 to 2018 (except Kuwait with
no available data) 130
7.9 Total accumulated number of authors indexed
by Scopus from 2016 to 2020 133
7.10 Publications by subject area in Bahrain of total
scholarly output based on Scopus from 2016 to 2020 134
7.11 Total scholarly output indexed by Scopus from 2016 to
2020 across all higher education institutions in Bahrain 134
7.A1 Percentage of female academic staff in higher education
institutions in Bahrain from 2012 to 2018 137
9.1 Number of higher education institutions among
the GCC countries, 2016–2017 161
Figures ix
9.2 Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary education in GCC
countries from 2010 to 2018 161
9.3 Government expenditures on education as percentage
of GDP in the UAE, 2010–2018 163
9.4 Adult literacy rate, population total (% of people,
aged 15 and over can read and write) in the
GCC countries, 2017 165
9.5 Number of students in higher education institutions
in the UAE by sector and gender, 2012–2017 168
9.6 Number of citations by universities in the UAE, 2017 177
11.1 Student enrollment in tertiary education
(% gross and % female) in Kuwait from 2014 to 2019 210
11.2 Gross enrollment ratio for tertiary education,
both sexes for GCC countries from 2015 to 2020 210
11.3 Percentage of enrollment in tertiary education in private
institutions (%) in GCC countries from 2015 to 2020 211
11.4 Number of registered students in public and
private colleges and universities by nationality,
gender in the first semester of academic years 211
11.5 Students on scholarships abroad (registered and
admitted and ongoing) of higher education by gender
and country from 2015/2016 to 2019/2020 212
11.6 Total number of postgraduate students registered
in the first semester at Kuwait University (full time
and part time) from 2013/2014 to 2019/2020 213
11.7 Government expenditure on education as a percentage
of GDP (%) in Kuwait from 2015 to 2020 214
11.8 Academic staff in Kuwait University public colleges and
private colleges and universities by nationality and gender
in the first semester of 2013–2014 and 2018–2019 in Kuwait 215
11.9 Publications by subject area in Kuwait of total scholarly
output based on Scopus from 2016 to 2020 219
12.1 Conceptual framework for the enhancement
of skill building and quality assurance 243