If They Build It, We Will Come:

1
If They Build It, We Will Come

• Educational borrowing in the United Arab Emirates
• Daniel Kirk, PhD
• American University of Sharjah, UAE
• dkirk_at_aus.edu
• Gulf Comparative Education Society
  www.gces.me

2
Global Trends in Educational Lending Borrowing

• Education increasingly bound up with globalized
  structures
• Massification of HEI in West, spreading globally
• Expansion of private sector growth in HEI
• Education increasingly becoming a field of
  international commerce with rise in providers
• Income generation for cash-strapped HEIs

3
The UAE in Context

• Western Arabian Gulf
• UAE just 37 years old
• Resource (oil) rich
• Regional commercial hub (Dubai and Abu Dhabi)
• Global tourism hub (Dubai)
• Aims to be global player
• Close ties with US and Europe
• Small national citizenry (21.9 of total)

4
Education in the UAE

• Young and emergent education system
• Nexus between state and Education remains strong
  expression of statehood
• Historically founded on Egyptian / Syrian /
  Kuwaiti models and expertise
• National development aims Emiritization
• Federal oversight, local implementation
• Private vs. Public provision

5
Rapid Educational Expansion

• 1977 1 federal HEI (UAEU) 502 students
• 2006 UAEU 14, 744 students
• 2009 57 licensed HEI / 3 federal (UAEU, ZU, HCT)
• Active courting of overseas HEIs (e.g. NYU,
  George Mason, Sorbonne, Wollongong)
• Further expansion planned (Academic City,
  University City, Knowledge Village)

6
Current Growth

• Aim to be globally competitive
• Education as internationally traded commodity
  control by buyers and sellers
• Rise in student numbers in Gulf region
• International students pay high fees
• UAE mirroring growth globally and regionally
• UAE history of buying-in expertise
• Current global financial situation may strengthen
  growth

7
Support for Increased Provision

• Support from federal and Emirate leaders
• Favorable labor regulations (foreign faculty
  etc.)
• Political support education aids in generating
  a sense of national identity (McGovern, 1999,
  p8)
• Land and construction support
• Policy support language of educational
  excellence

8
Benefits for Stakeholders

• Students choice, quantity, overseas provision
  without migration
• HEI income, niche opportunities, branding,
  promotion of home campus
• UAE government cost-effective (cheaper than
  home-grown HEI), image, global competitiveness

9
Issues and Implications

• Contextually appropriate?
• Emergent global hierarchies of knowledge
  preferred status of some (Western)
• Neoliberal presumption that Western norms should
  prevail
• Indigenization issues and processes
• Over-reliance on expatriate teaching staff
• Teaching not seen as career option
• Cultural transmission / linguistic issues

10
Thank You

• Dr. Daniel Kirk
• dkirk_at_aus.edu
• www.gces.me