Measuring Parental Involvement in Dual-Earner Qatari Families

Parental involvement in dual-earner families is a subject that has been widely studied in the literature in Western contexts. Less attention, however, has been allocated to the challenges that dual-earner families encounter in raising children in Arab Gulf states. This paper study aims to address the following questions: To what extent are dual-earner families involved in their children’s lives? What are the gender differences in parental involvement? This paper employed the 2017 survey data of working Qatari males and females to measure their parental involvement and engagement in family time and childcare. The results highlighted parental factors, work characteristics and social supports as key factors determining the degree of parental involvement. The results also showed the gender differences in parental involvement scores, which comprise several factors, including work demands and time spent with children. Taken together, our findings provide insights allowing suggestions for mechanisms that could generate foundational parental welfare policies for dual-earner families in Qatar and the wider Arab Gulf Region as a whole. Further contributions to this research domain could include studies encompassing a wider scope of geographical locations within the Arab Gulf states using robust experimental investigations.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Programmes in the Arab Gulf States: Exploring factors affecting their adoption and development

<p>An increasing number of academic institutions all over the world have begun to adopt and develop electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) programmes. The adoption and development of these programmes is influenced by many factors. Despite considerable discussion on these factors in different countries, little has been written on the adoption and development of such programmes in the Arab Gulf States. Moreover, there has been no in-depth research-based investigation into the enablers and barriers that may have an impact on the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Gulf States. Using a sequential exploratory design and mixed methods, this study attempts to fill this knowledge gap. The study explores the perceived enablers and barriers influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Arab Gulf States. It also develops a framework that outlines the factors influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Gulf States. The study is primarily qualitative, using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews in conjunction with the analysis of relevant documents to identify, develop an understanding of, and create a picture of the situation in the Gulf States in terms of the factors affecting the adoption and development of ETD programmes. The interviews cover the key stakeholders, which include postgraduate students, library managers, system administrators, postgraduate officers and academic staff. Forty-five participants from five universities in the Gulf States were interviewed. The results of the interviews provided the necessary information to undertake the second phase of the study (online survey). The primary aim of this was to test and explore, in a larger sample, the issues identified in the interviews. Three hundred and nine participants from four universities in the Gulf States completed the online survey. The results of the survey helped to confirm and complement the findings of the interviews. The research findings revealed that several factors were perceived to affect the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Gulf States. These included the appreciation of the benefits of ETD programmes, the availability of the required resources to support ETD programmes, the perceived complexity of the technological processes as well as a number of social factors. An initial framework for analysis was developed using concepts from the literature review combined with the constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The initial framework highlighted several enablers and barriers to the adoption and development of ETD programmes. Based on the research findings, further enablers and barriers emerged that had not been outlined in the preliminary research framework. These included concerns surrounding the perceived quality and quantity of theses and dissertations, which were perceived due to the newness of research programmes in the Gulf States. ETD programmes were perceived as increasing the currently limited availability of Arabic research on the internet. Moreover, as these states have strong economies, academic institutions were mostly equipped with the required technological infrastructure. In addition, the initial framework did not highlight any kind of influence between the five factors. However, the current research findings revealed that these five factors were interdependent and that some factors have an influence on the others. This is reflected in the revised framework. The preliminary framework also did not indicate which factor was the most influential, while the revised framework shows that the contextual factors were found to be influencing the institutional factors and this, in turn, influenced the personal perceptions. The revised framework is intended to provide guidance for universities and academic institutions in the Gulf States in adopting and developing ETD programmes. It is also hoped that by understanding the influencing factors, universities and academic institutions will be better placed to plan for and make informed investment decisions regarding the adoption and development of ETD programmes and that this will lead to their successful adoption and development in the Gulf States.</p>

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Programmes in the Arab Gulf States: Exploring factors affecting their adoption and development

<p>An increasing number of academic institutions all over the world have begun to adopt and develop electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) programmes. The adoption and development of these programmes is influenced by many factors. Despite considerable discussion on these factors in different countries, little has been written on the adoption and development of such programmes in the Arab Gulf States. Moreover, there has been no in-depth research-based investigation into the enablers and barriers that may have an impact on the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Gulf States. Using a sequential exploratory design and mixed methods, this study attempts to fill this knowledge gap. The study explores the perceived enablers and barriers influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Arab Gulf States. It also develops a framework that outlines the factors influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Gulf States. The study is primarily qualitative, using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews in conjunction with the analysis of relevant documents to identify, develop an understanding of, and create a picture of the situation in the Gulf States in terms of the factors affecting the adoption and development of ETD programmes. The interviews cover the key stakeholders, which include postgraduate students, library managers, system administrators, postgraduate officers and academic staff. Forty-five participants from five universities in the Gulf States were interviewed. The results of the interviews provided the necessary information to undertake the second phase of the study (online survey). The primary aim of this was to test and explore, in a larger sample, the issues identified in the interviews. Three hundred and nine participants from four universities in the Gulf States completed the online survey. The results of the survey helped to confirm and complement the findings of the interviews. The research findings revealed that several factors were perceived to affect the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Gulf States. These included the appreciation of the benefits of ETD programmes, the availability of the required resources to support ETD programmes, the perceived complexity of the technological processes as well as a number of social factors. An initial framework for analysis was developed using concepts from the literature review combined with the constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The initial framework highlighted several enablers and barriers to the adoption and development of ETD programmes. Based on the research findings, further enablers and barriers emerged that had not been outlined in the preliminary research framework. These included concerns surrounding the perceived quality and quantity of theses and dissertations, which were perceived due to the newness of research programmes in the Gulf States. ETD programmes were perceived as increasing the currently limited availability of Arabic research on the internet. Moreover, as these states have strong economies, academic institutions were mostly equipped with the required technological infrastructure. In addition, the initial framework did not highlight any kind of influence between the five factors. However, the current research findings revealed that these five factors were interdependent and that some factors have an influence on the others. This is reflected in the revised framework. The preliminary framework also did not indicate which factor was the most influential, while the revised framework shows that the contextual factors were found to be influencing the institutional factors and this, in turn, influenced the personal perceptions. The revised framework is intended to provide guidance for universities and academic institutions in the Gulf States in adopting and developing ETD programmes. It is also hoped that by understanding the influencing factors, universities and academic institutions will be better placed to plan for and make informed investment decisions regarding the adoption and development of ETD programmes and that this will lead to their successful adoption and development in the Gulf States.</p>

Factors Influencing Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in the Arab Gulf States: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: About one third of the population in the Arab Gulf States are overweight and obese. Among children and adolescents, however, the prevalence of obesity is at rates higher than those reported worldwide. OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to systematically review and evaluate factors related to and affecting childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity in the Arab Gulf States. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive and systematic search in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE(R), Embase and Embase Classic to identify studies reporting on the risk factors of overweight and obesity in children and adolescent in the study region. RESULTS: We examined 22 studies and identified 12 reports to be included into this systematic review. The reviewed studies were from six Arab gulf States (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar) and examined 9,723 children. Approximately 30 different risk factors were identified from the selected studies. These were generally falling under six main risk factors including unhealthy eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, family-related factors, (particularly mother physical activities and food habits), child feeding practices during infancy, child sleeping pattern and low intake of or deficiency in micronutrients important for growth. CONCLUSION: This study further establishes several of the universal-and regional-specific risk factors that influence the increased prevalence of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity in the Arab Gulf States. Consideration of these risk factors is critical for developing effective policies and practices that address this public health concern to curb and reverse the rise in its prevalence within the Gulf Region.

On the Limits of Rentier State Theory: An epistemological Insight

For decades, The rentier state theory has provided the most popular explanations for the sociopolitical dynamics in the Arab Gulf states, however, due to the rapid transformations in the Gulf societies in recent years, the theory went under severe critiques especially after its failure to predict the emergence of a new Gulf social contract after the oil crisis of 2014. This essay has tried to shed the light on one of the missing dimensions of these critiques by arguing that this failure might have occurred because the rentier state theory adhered to an obsolete epistemological paradigm of modernity that was incapable of dealing with such a complex social phenomenon from the beginning. Also, seeking epistemic healing, the essay highlighted the most recent shift in the philosophy of science toward a complexity paradigm and referred to its potentials to exceed the limits of the rentier paradigm.