The analytic hierarchy process of the decision-making factors of African students in obtaining higher education in the United Arab Emirates

The mobility of African students beyond national territories has become common worldwide. However, the underlying reasons motivating students to leave their countries of origin in pursuit of higher education in other developing nations and why these factors are important have not been fully explored. This study attempts to explore why and how African students travel to the United Arab Emirates for higher education. A push-pull factor theory of the international student’s choice of destination is developed to identify factors influencing the choices made by these students. The analytic hierarchy process is used to examine the relative importance of these factors. The findings of this quantitative study indicate that learning environment and geographic proximity are the two most important factors for African students, while other factors have a moderate impact. The findings contribute to a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the needs and choices of existing and potential students from this continent, with a view to applying a segmentation approach to attract these students.     

A systematic review of conceptual models and methods used in research on educational leadership and management in Arab societies

This review of research analyzed topics, conceptual models and research methods employed in 62 EDLM studies from Arab societies published between 2000 and 2016. Systematic review methods were used to identify relevant studies published in nine core international EDLM journals. Quantitative analyses identified patterns within this set of Arab studies and benchmarked them against trends in the broader EDLM literature. The review characterised these Arab studies as an ‘emerging literature’, largely of recent vintage. Consistent with other literatures from developing societies, topical coverage was diffuse, disconnected and lacking in programmatic inquiry. Recommendations are offered for strengthening future EDLM research in Arab societies.     

Constructing educational quality in the Arab region: a bottom-up critique of regional educational governance

The article challenges the deficit view in which education in the Arab region is portrayed by examining the process of educational regionalisation. It takes as its case study the Arab Regional Agenda for Improving Educational Quality in order to explore the construction of an educational quality space that uses data as a governance model. Drawing on critical theory and evidence collected from 70 interviews, I argue that such approaches promote globalised versions of what quality education means remaining blind to context. I suggest that improving educational quality in the region entails creating responsive approaches grounded in political and socio-economic contexts.     

A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and their Connexions with Other Repertories

The collection of Cantigas de Santa Maria compiled by Alfonso X (el Sabio) (r. 1221–1284) is a gold mine of musical information; unfortunately, however, much fool's gold has also been found amongst its pages. The CSM have been argued to provide evidence that their music derives from plainchant (thus justifying “churchy” performances) yet also to manifest so many “Arab” traits as to support a “Turkish Delight” style of performance. True, there are occasional substantive links between one or other of these repertories, but these are infrequent and specific rather than numerous and general. A closer, judicious, scrutiny of the Cantigas reveals that they are neither the product of an ecclesiastical nor of an “Arab” kitchen, as it were, but a repertory (and iconography) whose careful examination yields up several surprising secrets, especially when reading between its lines. The CSM are neither fish nor fowl, and the collection contains few, if any, recipes for Lamb Ziryāb or for the Lenten fast. On the contrary, its dishes are, in common with Paella, suorum generis, belonging to a musical cuisine of their own, whose sum is indeed greater than the parts of their manifold influences.     

Conflict Management Styles: The Role of Ethnic Identity and Self-Construal among Young Male Arabs and Americans

This cross-cultural study compared young male Arabs’ and young male Americans’ perceptions of their ethnic identity, self-construal, and conflict management styles. Findings indicated that Arabs had stronger ethnic identity than Americans. Arabs were both more independent and interdependent than American participants. Conflict style comparisons demonstrated that Americans chose the emotional expression, dominating, and neglect styles more than Arabs, and Arabs chose the integrating, third-party help, and avoiding styles more than Americans. Participants did not differ in their preference of the compromising and obliging conflict management styles. In terms of the relationships among ethnic identity, self-construal, and conflict styles, little difference was found between the two cultural groups. The integrating, compromising, avoiding, and neglect conflict management styles were predicted by both independent and interdependent self construal for both cultural groups. The obliging and third-party conflict styles were positively predicted by interdependent self-construal. The dominating style was predicted by independent self-construal and ethnic identity. The only conflict style that was predicted differently among Arab and American participants was the emotional expression style. Among American participants, interdependent self-construal and ethnic identity predicted emotional expression style. For Arabs, independent self-construal predicted the emotional expression style.     

Muslim Rulers Visiting the Imperial City: Building Alliances and Personal Networks between Constantinople and the Eastern Borderlands (Fourth/Tenth–Fifth/Eleventh Century)

This essay explores one of the main tools of Byzantine diplomatic techniques: inviting foreign rulers to Constantinople and establishing bonds of alliance through the bestowal of titles and stipends, with respect to the empire's Muslim neighbours in the fourth/tenth and fifth/eleventh centuries. In particular, it will be explained how and under what circumstances the traditional lines of communication between Constantinople and the caliphal court of Baghdad were gradually transformed into a multilayered network of personal contacts between the emperor and a number of Muslim frontier lords, who partly took on the role of representatives and dignitaries of the Byzantine Empire. Furthermore, I will try to examine the development of these newly established networks with respect to the emirates of Aleppo and Edessa, the Jarrā?id clan in Syria and the Marwānid dynasty in the Upper Euphrates and Lake Van region.     

Development of an intergroup anxiety toward Muslims scale

Understanding intergroup relations and the anxiety that can result has become increasingly relevant to interactions between Muslim and non-Muslim individuals due to current tensions between Islamic extremist groups and many Western nations. The anticipated increase in migration from countries with large Islamic populations to Western countries will undoubtedly lead to increased contact between these groups. Currently, there are no measures of intergroup anxiety elicited when interacting specifically with Muslims. Thus, the goal of the current studies was to fill this gap by developing a measure of intergroup anxiety toward Muslims. Across 3 studies, the reliability and validity of a new measure of intergroup anxiety toward Muslims was assessed. An exploratory factor analysis (Study 1) identified 11 reliable items that were supported by confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2). Across all 3 studies, the scale demonstrated good convergent validity, such that participants who reported higher levels of intergroup anxiety toward Muslims also reported more negative attitudes toward Muslims and greater general intergroup anxiety than individuals with lower intergroup anxiety toward Muslims. Assessment of discriminant validity showed that the scale differentiated between attitudes toward Muslims and other out-groups, as well as general anxiety and depression. The Intergroup Anxiety toward Muslims Scale was also reliable across different samples (i.e., college students and community members) and methods of data collection (i.e., online and in person).     

Perceived threat and prejudice towards immigrants in Finland: A study among early,middle, and late Finnish adolescents

Using integrated threat theory, this study examined how perceived threat, or fear of immigrants, manifests among early, middle, and late Finnish adolescents, and the relationship between perceived threat and prejudice among early, middle, and late adolescents. The sample consisted of 795 Finnish adolescents between 11 and 19 years of age. Realistic and symbolic threats were the most perceived threats and were more prevalent among late adolescents. There was a positive relationship between prejudice and realistic threat, and between prejudice and symbolic threat, but a negative relationship between prejudice and negative stereotyping, and this relationship remained relatively stable from early to late adolescence. Implications on the fight against prejudice towards immigrants among early, middle, and late adolescents are also discussed.     

Broadening the mind: Beneficial effects of sojourn experiences and contact with visiting international students on prospective teachers’ motivation to avoid prejudiced behavior

Opportunities for intergroup contact are particularly important for prospective teachers because they bear responsibility for an ethnically diverse student population. Using data from a sample of 330 students inscribed in Austrian university colleges of teacher education, we investigated the long-term effects of international student exchange on prospective teachers’ motivation to avoid prejudiced behavior (MAPB). Both sojourning and domestic students’ friendships with visiting international students (VIS) were evaluated as potential instances of naturally occurring intergroup contact that can affect students’ MAPB. Sojourning students had an increased MAPB even nine months after returning to their home country. No effect was found for domestic students’ friendships with VIS. Possibly, the quality of these friendships was insufficient to result in long-term prejudice reduction. Implications of these results are discussed, and the need to advance interventions that are appropriate to improve domestic students’ contact with VIS is ascertained.     

Identification and ethnic diversity underlie support for multicultural rights: A multilevel analysis in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is historically a multicultural society, composed of the Bulgarian (ethnic) majority and a number of ethnic minorities among which Bulgarian Turks and Roma are the largest. Both minority communities are stigmatized in contemporary Bulgaria, though to different degrees and for different reasons. Ethnic minorities' rights to preserve their culture, customs, and language are a topic of contentious debate. The purpose of this study was to examine individual- and context-level antecedents of the ethnic Bulgarian majority's support for multicultural rights of ethnic minorities. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted with International Social Survey Programme ISSP 2003 data (N = 920 in 28 Bulgarian districts). At the individual-level, an ethnic conception of the nation and anti-Roma symbolic prejudice were negatively related to support for multicultural rights, whereas national identification was positively related to the support of these rights. Over and above individual-level effects, and in line with recent extensions of intergroup contact theory, the percentage of Bulgarian Turks within districts was positively related to support for multicultural rights. Importantly, support for multicultural rights was particularly high in districts characterized by ethnic diversity, that is, in districts with high proportions of both Bulgarian Turks and Roma. The beneficial effects of ethnic diversity and theoretical implications of findings are discussed.