Higher Education Revolutions in the Gulf Over the past quarter century, the people of the Arabian Peninsula have wit- nessed 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 hundreds of public, semi-public and private colleges and universities. Most of these institu- tions 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 prac- tices 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 offi- cial 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 eco- nomics), to provide a holistic and historically informed account of the emer- gence 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. Fatima Badry is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE. Her research interests include lan- guage acquisition, bilingualism, education policy and globalization and the impact of global English on Arab identity. John Willoughby is Professor of Economics at American University. After teaching at the American University of Sharjah, he has devoted his time to studying labor migration and educational issues in the GCC. Routledge advances in Middle East and Islamic studies 1 Iraqi Kurdistan 8 Beyond the Arab Disease Political development and New perspectives in politics and emergent democracy culture Gareth R. V. Stansfield Riad Nourallah 9 The Arab Diaspora 2 Egypt in the Twenty First Voices of an anguished scream Century Zahia Smail Salhi and Challenges for development Ian Richard Netton Edited by M. Riad El-Ghonemy 10 Gender and Self in Islam 3 The Christian–Muslim Frontier Etin Anwar A zone of contact, conflict or cooperation 11 Nietzsche and Islam Mario Apostolov Roy Jackson 12 The Baha’is of Iran 4 The Islamic World-System Socio- historical studies A study in polity-market Dominic Parvis Brookshaw and interaction Seena B. Fazel Masudul Alam Choudhury 13 Egypt’s Culture Wars 5 Regional Security in the Middle Politics and practice East Samia Mehrez A critical perspective 14 Islam and Human Rights in Pinar Bilgin Practice Perspectives across the Ummah 6 Political Thought in Islam Edited by Shahram Akbarzadeh A study in intellectual boundaries and Benjamin MacQueen Nelly Lahoud 15 Family in the Middle East 7 Turkey’s Kurds Ideational change in Egypt, Iran A theoretical analysis of the PKK and Tunisia and Abdullah Ocalan Edited by Kathryn M. Yount and Ali Kemal Özcan Hoda Rashad 16 Syria’s Kurds 21 Navigating Contemporary Iran History, politics and society Challenging economic, social and Jordi Tejel political perspectives Edited by Eric Hooglund and 17 Trajectories of Education in the Leif Stenberg Arab World Legacies and challenges 22 Music, Culture and Identity in Edited by Osama Abi-Mershed the Muslim World Performance, politics and piety 18 The Myth of the Clash of Edited by Kamal Salhi Civilizations Chiara Bottici and 23 Dissident Writings of Arab Benoit Challand Women Voices against violence 19 Chaos in Yemen Brinda Mehta Societal collapse and the new authoritarianism 24 Higher Education Revolutions Isa Blumi in the Gulf Globalization and institutional 20 Rethinking Israeli Space viability Periphery and identity Fatima Badry and Haim Yacobi and Erez Tzfadia John Willoughby This page intentionally left blank Higher Education Revolutions in the Gulf Globalization and institutional viability Fatima Badry and John Willoughby First published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Fatima Badry and John Willoughby The right of Fatima Badry and John Willoughby to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them 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 utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Badry, Fatima. Higher education revolutions in the Gulf : globalization and institutional viability / Fatima Badry and John Willoughby. pages cm. – (Routledge advances in Middle East and Islamic studies ; 24) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Education, Higher–Persian Gulf Region. 2. Educational change– Persian Gulf Region. 3. Education and globalization–Persian Gulf Region. 4. Gulf Cooperation Council. I. Willoughby, John, 1949– II. Title. LA1431.4.B34 2015 378.536–dc23 2015010477 ISBN: 978-0-415-50565-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-79613-9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Contents List of tables viii Preface x Acknowledgments xv List of abbreviations xvii 1 Introduction: the political and socio-economic emergence of the Arabian Gulf 1 2 The global expansion of higher education: alternative perspectives 12 3 Globalization of education and the GCC 28 4 The multi-model approach to privatization: questions of sustainability 54 5 GCC public universities: growing pains 97 6 Assessing quality: adopting Western standards of accreditation 134 7 Reforming higher education in Saudi Arabia: reasons for optimism 153 AMANI K. HAMDAN 8 Arabic in higher education: questions of national identity and pragmatism 179 9 Higher education revolutions: short-term success versus long- term viability? 204 Index 228 Tables 1.1 Economic indicators of the GCC (2010) 2 1.2 GCC demographic composition 3 1.3 Changes in the rate of adolescent pregnancy (number of births to women ages 15–19 per 1,000 women ages 15–19) 6 1.4 Educational attainment in the GCC: expected years of schooling 7 2.1 Share of students in tertiary education by region (1970–2007) 13 2.2 Share of students in tertiary education by income status of country 13 2.3 Gross enrollment rates in tertiary education 14 3.1 Categorizing cross- border collaboration 32 3.2 Members of the Association of American International Colleges and Universities 35 3.3 Enrollment in tertiary educational institutions in the Gulf 44 3.4 Inbound and outbound mobility rates of GCC tertiary students 46 3.5 Top five destinations of outward bound student from the Gulf (2012) 47 3.6 Top five home countries of inward bound students to the Gulf (2012) 48 3.7 Regional origin of inbound tertiary education students in the small GCC states (2012) 48 4.1 Classification of the private universities in the GCC 56 4.2 List of private higher education institutions in Doha, Qatar 59 4.3a Dubai’s colleges and universities 66 4.3b Dubai’s HEIs outside the free zones 69 4.4 Private universities and colleges in the Sultanate of Oman 72 4.5 Private higher education institutions of Bahrain (2000–6) 76 4.6 Private institutions in Kuwait (2002–8) 78 4.7 Private universities in the Northern Emirate 83 4.8 The branch and private universities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (UAE) 84 5.1 The first state universities in the Gulf 98 5.2 Degree programs in Kuwait’s public HEIs 100 Tables ix 5.3 Qatar University 101 5.4 The UAE federal public universities 103 5.5 Abu Dhabi’s public, non- federal HEI 106 5.6 Colleges in the public institutions in Oman 108 5.7 Oman’s higher education governing bodies 109 5.8 Bahrain public HEIs 110 5.9 Scientific and technological capacities in world regions (percentage of world total, 1995) 123 5.10 Global Competitiveness rankings (2012–13) 124 5.11 Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP 124 5.12 Comparative analysis of perceived significance versus satisfaction 126 5.13 Main research centers in the GCC 128 6.1 Government higher education accreditation and assessment agencies: IQAAHE members 138 6.2 ABET accreditation of engineering, computer science and information systems programs in the GCC 139 6.3 Gulf institutions with AACSB accreditation 140 7.1 Growth of universities in KSA (2005–14) 157 7.2 Growth of colleges in KSA (2005–14) 157 7.3 Public universities in KSA 158 7.4 Private universities in KSA 159 7.5 Private colleges in KSA 160 Preface Our interest in writing this book ultimately stems from personal experiences. We both joined the faculty of the American University of Sharjah (AUS) just as it was beginning in the late 1990s. One of us is still there 17 years later.1 The establishment of AUS and University City was the dream of the ruler of Sharjah, Dr.