A Precarious Balancing Act: Globalization, Political Legitimacy, and Higher Education Expansion in the Arabian Gulf

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 9. Expansion of Higher Education

Abstract

This paper explores the dynamics between globalization and local culture in analysing how higher education has expanded in the Arab Gulf, namely through internationalization. In analysing patterns of higher education expansion, the paper contends that higher education expands through internationalization in part because Gulf states utilize higher education institutions to legitimate themselves and gain prominence as internationally competitive modern societies in a globalized world. At the same time, however, the Gulf states face push back from their more conservative, traditional constituents who criticize the state for liberalizing and “Westernizing” education. Hence, Gulf states simultaneously pursue what appear to be anti-liberal practices in public higher education institutions to manage state-society relations, thereby enabling them to maintain both national and global legitimacy. This effort to balance what appears to be two competing interests create a “dual higher education system” in the Arab Gulf.

Author

• Seungah Lee, Stanford University