Innovation in a Small State: Qatar and the IBC Cluster Model of Higher Education

I. Introduction and BackgroundThis is an evaluative study that has been designed to evaluate the employability skills of graduates from a liberal arts program at an International Branch Campus (IBC) in the GCC as seen from the perspective of the employers who employ these graduates. Youth unemployment in the Gulf States, especially amongst the nationals is high and thus equipping young people with the skills needed to take up employment in the private sector is a priority for governments in these countries (Kinser and Lane, 2012). Another problem in the Gulf States is that of underemployment resulting either out of overstaffing or mismatch of skills (Booz & Co, 2009). One of the root causes of GCC's employment problems is that the system of education is not aligned with the needs of the modern industry (Booz & Co, 2009). Amongst other solutions to address the employability issues in the GCC, some Gulf States especially the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have invested in the establishment of International ...

Qatar forges ahead with science vision

The Institute of International Education (IIE) 2018 Open Doors report highlighted that the United States is the leading international education destination, having hosted about 1.1 million international students in 2017 (IIE, 2018a). Despite year over year increases, U.S. Department of State (USDOS, 2018) data show that for a third year in a row, international student visa issuance is down. This is not the first decline. Student visa issuance for long-term academic students on F visas also significantly dropped following the 9/11 attacks (Johnson, 2018). The fall in issuances recovered within 5 years of 2001 and continued to steadily increase until the drop in 2016. Taken together, the drops in international student numbers indicate a softening of the U.S. international education market. In 2001, the United States hosted one out of every three globally mobile students, but by 2018 it hosted just one of five (IIE, 2018b). This suggests that over the past 20 years, the United States has lost a share of mobile students in the international education market because they’re enrolled elsewhere. The Rise of Nontraditional Education Destination Countries Unlike the United States, the percentage of inbound students to other traditional destinations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, has remained stable since the turn of the 21st century. Meanwhile, nontraditional countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia are garnering more students and rising as educational hotspots (Knight, 2013). The UAE and Russia annually welcome thousands of foreign students, respectively hosting over 53,000 and 194,000 inbound international university students in 2017 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2019). This is not happenstance. In the past 5 years, these two countries, among others, have adopted higher education internationalization policies, immigration reforms, and academic excellence initiatives to attract foreign students from around the world. The UAE is one of six self-identified international education hubs in the world (Knight, 2013) and with 42 international universities located across the emirates, it has the most international branch campuses (IBCs) worldwide (Cross-Border Education Research Team, 2017). Being a country composed of nearly 90% immigrants, IBCs allow the UAE to offer quality higher education to its non-Emirati population and to attract students from across the Arab region and broader Muslim world. National policy and open regulations not only encourage foreign universities to establish IBCs, they alsoattract international student mobility (Ilieva, 2017). For example, on November 24, 2018, the national government updated immigration policy to allow foreign students to apply for 5-year visas (Government.ae, 2018). The Centennial 2071 strategic development plan aims for the UAE to become a regional and world leader in innovation, research, and education (Government.ae, 2019), with the long-term goal of creating the conditions necessary to attract foreign talent. Russia’s strategic agenda also intends to gain a greater competitive advantage in the world economy by improving its higher education and research capacity. Russia currently has two higher education internationalization policies: “5-100-2020” and “Export Education.” The academic excellence project, known as “5-100-2020,” funds leading institutions with the goal to advance five Russian universities into the top 100 globally by 2020 (Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, 2018). The “Export Education” initiative mandates that all universities double or triple the number of enrolled foreign students to over half a million by 2025 (Government.ru, 2017). These policies are explicitly motivated by boosting the Russian higher education system and making it more open to foreigners. Another growing area is international cooperation. Unlike the UAE, Russia has few IBCs, but at present, Russian universities partner with European and Asian administrators and government delegates to create dual degree and short-term programs. Historically, Russia has been a leading destination for work and education migrants from soviet republics in the region, but new internationalization policies are meant to propel the country into the international education market and to attract international students beyond Asia and Europe. Future Trends in 21st Century International Education Emerging destination hotspots like the UAE and Russia are vying to become more competitive in the global international higher education market by offering quality education at lower tuition rates in safe, welcoming locations closer to home. As suggested by the softening of the U.S. higher education market, international students may find these points attractive when considering where to study. Sociopolitical shifts that result from events such as 9/11 or the election of Donald Trump in combination with student mobility recruitment initiatives in emerging destinations may disrupt the status quo for traditional countries by rerouting international student enrollment to burgeoning educational hotspots over the coming decades.

This chapter critically examines undergraduate education choices and divisions in the State of Qatar and explores some of the societal divisions created between Qatari national students who attend mixed-gender, English-medium international branch campuses (IBCs) in Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Education City and students who attend QU, the primary national institution of higher education in Qatar, which employs gender segregation policies and offers many of its degrees in Arabic. I build on previous theoretical discussions of neoliberal “inverted realities,” applying this concept to these two higher education choices in Qatar and the complexity of Qatari national students’ engagement with the neoliberal knowledge economy, as well as how English-medium IBCs influence notions of students’ identity and belonging to the nation. I weave into this discussion the voices of students, drawing on five years of institutional ethnographic research conducted between 2015 and 2020, which focused on Qatari students’ linguistic and educational experiences in English-medium IBCs. I provide examples of how these IBC students negotiated between cultural and academic values in choosing between QF and QU and how they oscillated between discourses of pride and shame as they navigated different linguistic and social worlds than members of their own family or their communities.

Qatar has gone through an educational reform in year 2000; its educational and particularly schooling system went through a major overhaul from K-12 reaching higher education providers. The major reasons for the educational reform were to increase the level of student academic achievement. Concomitantly, the rapid growth of Qatar's economy over recent decades has created a situation in which the demand for skilled labor far exceeded the supply of qualified Qatari nationals. The Qatar National Development Plan identified acute needs for highly educated and skilled Qatari nationals in the areas of health and biomedical sciences, engineering, energy and environment, and computer and information technology (Qatar National Development Strategy, 2011). Two significant higher education providers' serve post-secondary students, being Qatar University (QU) and American Branch Universities at the Qatar Foundation have grown tremendously over the years. Understanding the factors that affect Qatari students' post-sec...

The paper draws upon the educational system in Qatar with a special focus on the female populace attending higher education and its development in the last 10 years. As the percentage of females who work in the academia in Qatar (Qatar University, Qatar Foundation) is rather high (outshines the number of males), we find it important to analyse the women’s experiences and achievements in higher education in Qatar. . The paper uses samples of Qatari female students who want to work in academia after the completion of their studies. At the same time, it inquires Qatari academic women about the difficulty and challenges of being an academic in this specific place, leading to findings pertinent to education in Qatar and the role of education and the dimension of education when it comes to the development of a country. For example, it explores the implications of this massive and rapid expansion of higher education in the GCC states, and how initiatives in education, as example Qatar's WISE (the World Innovation Summit for Education) seek to do for education what Davos does for economics, projecting Qatar’s global and regional influence. Therefore, we look further into the incentives universities give to females and facilities provided to them in order to work as academics or continue their studies (i.e. Post Graduate/Doctoral Studies), taking as case study: Qatar University. The analysis concludes with an outline of successful female professors who are at the forefront of the country’s development, combat radical thinking, work for global understanding, and build bridges using their knowledge. Scholars recognize that they play a greater role than that of the institutions seeking to impart knowledge. They are at the same time advocates for making sense, social transformation, and global engagement. This paper highlights the tremendous progress made, while presenting supporting evidence relevant to key questions in this pursuit

"This policy paper addresses the question of how well quality assurance systems support the quality of international branch campuses (IBCs) in the United Arab Emirates. There are different systems of quality assurance for IBCs in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ras Al Khaimah, and a federal system of accreditation that is unevenly utilized across the emirates. Furthermore, the UAE’s 38 IBCs hail from 13 countries, each with its own procedures for regulating branch campus quality1. This complexity results in a segmented quality assurance environment with different quality assurance models applied to the UAE’s branch campuses. This qualitative study is based on interviews with 47 IBC stakeholders conducted in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ras Al Khaimah from January to April 2012. The paper begins with an overview of the dimensions of quality in higher education and a description of how the UAE’s current quality assurance systems approach quality assurance. The paper then presents the study’s findings on stakeholders’ perceptions of IBC quality assurance in the UAE. Finally, recommendations aimed at improving the alignment between quality assurance and stakeholders’ expectations for IBC quality are presented."

The number of international branch campuses (IBCs) continues to grow—up from 66 between 2011 and 2015, to hit 249 globally. IBCs get a lot of media attention given the out-sized ambition and risk involved, but it is hard to judge long-term significance. Are IBCs curiosities that few universities will ever pursue, or will a global presence define tomorrow's leading institutions? Will the impact of IBCs be marginal and localized or will some institutional brands and prospects be transformed? This article summarizes the latest IBC data from The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education and C-BERT, and looks ahead to a forthcoming report on IBC development and impact.

The number of international branch campuses (IBCs) continues to grow—up from 66 between 2011 and 2015, to hit 249 globally. IBCs get a lot of media attention given the out-sized ambition and risk involved, but it is hard to judge long-term significance. Are IBCs curiosities that few universities will ever pursue, or will a global presence define tomorrow's leading institutions? Will the impact of IBCs be marginal and localized or will some institutional brands and prospects be transformed? This article summarizes the latest IBC data from The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education and C-BERT, and looks ahead to a forthcoming report on IBC development and impact.

In many countries and regions around the world international students now weigh up the potential advantages and disadvantages of undertaking their higher education at an international branch campus rather than at a home campus located in a traditional destination such as the United States or United Kingdom. The aim of the research is to identify the criteria used by prospective students to evaluate the images they hold of international branch campuses and to investigate the impact of these assessments on students’ attachment to institutions. The study involved 407 students studying at nine international schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was found that information and opinions gained through personal relationships and the media explained over half of the variability in the attachment/membership intentions of prospective students. It was also discovered that students evaluate international branch campuses using information related to both the local branch and the home campus. The implications of the findings for international branch campuses are discussed.

The international branch campus has emerged as a prominent feature on the international higher education landscape. Although there exists a fairly substantial body of literature that has sought to identify the motivations or choice criteria used by international students to select countries and institutions, there has to date been little research on student motivations for studying at an international branch campus. This quantitative study, using the push-pull model of international student destination choice as its theoretical framework, involved 320 undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was found that the main motivations of students who choose to study at an international branch campus are different to those students who choose to study at home campuses. Thus, we propose a revised model of international student destination choice, which incorporates two distinct sets of push and pull factors—one that applies to the home campuses of Western universities and one that applies to international branch campuses. In addition to developing the theory on international student choice, our findings may be used by higher education institutions to better understand both their existing and potential students, with the view to applying segmentation techniques in their marketing activities.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how, and the extent to which, massive open online courses (MOOCs) might be used in the accreditation of students’ prior learning, in programme delivery at international branch campuses, and for lecturers’ professional development (PD) in transnational higher education. Design/methodology/approach – The data were obtained from two international branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates. The research adopted a qualitative methodology that involved 20 lecturers participating in semi-structured interviews and ten lecturers participating in a focus group. A rigorous process of content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data. Findings – Lecturers in transnational higher education perceived that MOOCs were not suitable for accredited prior learning but that they might be useful as a supplementary resource for student learning and for personal PD. There was a strong belief that as international branch campuses offered a commodified product, MOOCs were unlikely to be adopted as a replacement for traditional programme delivery methods, as students strongly prefer face-to-face teaching and support. Practical implications – The research has identified a number of recommendations for higher education institutions operating in transnational settings, which might improve both institutional and individual performance. Institutions that intend to use MOOCs in programme delivery should consider how their students and staff would react to such a move, and how this might impact upon institutional image and reputation. Originality/value – Surprisingly, there has been little academic research published on the use of MOOCs in higher education, and to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study conducted in a transnational education setting. The uniqueness of the environment in which international branch campuses operate, as well as their different objectives and student profiles, provide the rationale for this research.

The spread of academic capitalism has resulted in global changes and tensions in the field of higher education. However, the changes it has resulted in the politics of representation of academic institutions has still remained poorly conceptualized. In this paper, we argue that academic capitalism is also a tool for neocolonialism. To support our argument, we examine business schools' international branch campuses (IBCs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and how these IBCs utilize world-class rhetoric in their self-branding efforts. Our discursively oriented, ethnographical study participates in the discussion concerning the consequences of internationalization of higher education through establishment of IBCs. More specifically, the study links this development to neocolonialism by discussing how the introduction of aspirational identities based on world-class rhetoric generated by IBCs operate as a vehicle of neocolonialism.

The aim of the paper is to examine the emergence of transnational higher education (TNHE) and international branch campuses (IBCs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The findings demonstrate that the emergence of TNHE and IBCs has been the result of interrelated political, economic, social, and academic factors. First, the formation of the GCC was a key moment during which member states sought to stimulate scientific progress through the development of higher education as part of a strategy to meet labor demands and economic development. Second, the commodification of education and the drive to increasing profits in educational institutions combined with decreases in government funding to Western universities during the neo-liberal era of capitalism have been an impetus for Western universities to seek ‘new markets’ beyond their borders. Third, the liberating of regional trade policies in services, including education, combined with the internationalization of education has enabled the cross-border movement of students, educators, and institutions. Fourth, the UAE’s unique demographic group mix, which consists of a majority of international expatriates, combined with significant government funding in the education sector and international partnerships has resulted in the rapid expansion of TNHE and IBCs.

Globalization has flourished many sectors of the society, including higher education. This article researches the existing literature of globalization of education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the establishment of international branch campuses (IBCs), particularly in Dubai. UAE has its laws and legislations in place for IBCs which must be followed by all. There are different accreditation boards in UAE that universities undergo based on their type and locality within the country. Due to UAE having a strong political, religious, and cultural context, tensions are faced by IBCs and local students in ensuring the implementation of curriculum borrowed policies. Despite the tensions, it is seen that UAE has a steady increase in the growth of IBCs. This article further researches the tensions and reasons of the success of IBCs in UAE’s context.