A qualitative study of student attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, outlook and context in Qatar: Persistence in higher education

Abstract

This study attempts to address the challenges of students in higher education in Qatar. The study draws on student perceptions, beliefs, outlook, and context; we approach the study through grounded means by posing leading interview questions with the aim of exploring and probing. The approach is grounded in that no specific theory drives the questions; rather, the responses from the interview often require interpretation through theory to justify the findings. The sample comprised 35 students who were interviewed through probing and questioning techniques. The questions led to converging responses, which were segregated into themes. A large majority of students felt advising was absent or mismanaged, while some also were of the view that schools did not prepare them to enjoy the benefits of extracurricular activities; many students further viewed English or the Foundation Program (preparatory year's program) a barrier to their continuation in higher education. The most striking result was the apparent relationship between advising and student preparation in secondary school. Schools in Qatar and particularly independent schools (public schools) assign only a small role to advising and inducing strategies that reflect independence and any future anticipatory approaches to link expectations of higher education with support and guidance systems in secondary school.

English, super‐diversity, and identity in the State of Qatar

“…Texas A&M University at Qatar is the only university in Education City to offer three semesters of foundation English courses for high achieving students who are admitted, but might not have scored quite high enough on their English examination. Students are not always happy with the English‐language requirements when they cause them to spend an extra year or two working on their English before they can start their degrees and may even consider it as a barrier to continuing higher education if their sponsors are not flexible with funding more years of study (Khalifa, Nasser, Ikhlef, Walker, & Amali, ; Nasser, ). While we have found that academic bridge and foundation courses increase access for Qatari students to be admitted to IBCs and are an ideal space for academic socialization to occur in order to make a successful transition to IBCs, Khoury (, p. 142) states they also represent ‘a clear failure in the reform of the K‐12 education system that has produced graduates who not ready for the demands of a degree‐granting program, which is modeled on programs in the United States and the United Kingdom’.…”

The Student Experiences of Teaching and Learning in Transnational Higher Education: A Phenomenographic Study from a British-Qatari Partnership

“…The newly established strategic goal of education is to replace expatriate professionals with native Qataris, a process called ‘Qatarisation’. This reform is anticipated to provide Qataris with high-quality education and the necessary skills through multiple postsecondary programmes readily available to citizens (Khalifa et al, 2016). The government, since 1997, has also worked on establishing partnerships with reputable HE institutions (mostly from the United States and the United Kingdom) to open branches in Qatar which costs Qatar more than $400 million annually on hosting branch campuses of six leading US universities (Havergal, 2016).…”

Examining engineering students' perceptions of learner agency enactment in problem‐ and project‐based learning using Q methodology

“…Because of Qatar's societal wealth, many Qatari students, especially male students, are unmotivated to study, particularly STEM subjects, within K-12 education (Said, 2016). Fewer male students are motivated to persist in higher education (Khalifa et al, 2016). Thus, a gender imbalance exists in Qatar's higher education, with female students representing over 60% of the overall student population.…”