Academia has little appeal for Emiratis
FNC told local values are taught by non-nationals
ABU DHABI // Better salaries and incentives are needed if careers in academia are to be made more attractive to Emiratis, the Federal National Council heard yesterday.
Less than 10 per cent of academics at public and private universities are locals, with one Emirati professor, Dr Rima Sabban, from Zayed University, saying there was not enough investment in local academics and that they struggled with heavy teaching loads. She also believed that more Emiratis were opting for careers in business.
As a result, said one FNC member, foreigners were teaching local values and traditions, when students should be learning from a compatriot.
But the Minister of State for Higher Education, Dr Ahmad Belhoul, said he did not see a problem if the instructor was qualified in the subject. Meanwhile, a recent Open Doors report by the Institute of Internation Education revealed that in the 2015-2016 academic year, 2,920 Emiratis enrolled in American colleges and universities – a 300 per cent increase on 10 years ago. In other English- speaking countries, however, the Emirati student count has been either falling or holding steady. According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, there were only 75 Emiratis enrolled in universities there and five at colleges.
ABU DHABI // Choosing to travel to the United States for his post-secondary education was an easy decision for Saad Hamoodi.
Not only would he be following in his father’s footsteps, but having studied in an American private school all his life, Mr Hamoodi was comfortable with the curriculum. When it came time for him to choose a university, without hesitation Mr Hamoodi opted for Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
“As a national born and raised in Abu Dhabi, I’ve grown up here and I’ve been surrounded by this comfortable, homey environment.
“I wanted to step out of that comfort zone and see what the world has to offer,” he said. Like Mr Hamoodi, a growing number of Emiratis are choosing to enter college or university in the US over other English-speaking countries. During the 2015- 2016 academic year, 2,920 Emiratis enrolled in colleges and universities across the US – the highest number to date, according to the latest Open Doors report published last month by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the US department of state’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs. The figure represents a 300 per cent increase compared to those of 10 years ago, when 978 Emiratis studied in post-secondary schools in the US during the 2005-2006 academic year.
No information from the IIE was available about which colleges or courses Emirati students chose.
“It is a very, very popular destination, there is no two ways about it,” said Sanjeev Verma, director of Intelligent Partners, which has been counselling students in the UAE about international schools since 2000.
“I think they find it easier to blend in, and the country is much bigger – they love California.” The number of Emirati students in the US peaked in 20002001, when 2,659 enrolled. But, after the September 11, 2001 attacks numbers shrank annually to a low of 885 in 2006.
Since then, the student population has steadily rebounded.
But in other English-speaking countries, the Emirati student count has been either falling or holding steady. Since 2004, the Emirati post-secondary student population in the UK climbed to a peak of 1,195 in 2008-2009, but has since declined to 955 in 2014-2015, according to the latest data from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency.
In Australia, the number of Emiratis in higher education reached a high of 1,205 in 2010, but steadily decreased to 485 last year, according to government data.
Canada has the smallest number of Emirati students in its colleges and universities. In 2015, 75 Emiratis were enrolled in universities and five were studying in the country’s colleges, according to the Canadian Bureau for International Education. Peter Davos, founder and managing director of Hale Education, a UAE-based consultancy focused on counselling college- bound international students, said in the US: “Students can pursue a variety of academic interests and do not have to formally declare their major until the end of their second year.
“Also, there are 3,500 institutions of higher learning in the US, many of which have tremendous financial resources, which translates into better research facilities, higher paid professors, more and richer extracurricular offerings. “In Canada and Australia, there is one university in each country with an endowment of over US$1 billion. In the UK, there are four. In the US, there are over 75. No other country’s universities can compete with that financial strength.”