RESEARCH INTO HIGHER-EDUCATION IN THE ARABIAN GULF STATES

Empirical research into the functioning of recently established institutions of higher education in the Arabian Gulf States is beginning. It has the potential to make a useful contribution to the literature on higher education in developing countries as well as meeting local needs and interests. Because of the particular conditions in the Gulf, establishing a conceptual framework for such research which is not merely imitative of western approaches, has not proved straightforward. There are few developed studies in English or Arabic of such institutions; little is available at an analytical or critical level. Recent western writing about universities, the work of Bennett in particular, indicates some of the problems facing researchers and research supervisors, but it needs careful adaptation to an Arabic context. The contribution of studies of other developing countries in this field offers some suggestive parallels, and writing on cultural nationalism appears to offer at least one useful way forward. This paper considers some of the general problems facing such research and concludes that relationships between universities and the state, the view each has of knowledge, and priorities within the purposes of higher education are fundamental issues to be faced.