An experience of teaching in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The article discusses seven months as a teacher at a university for women in the UAE. It describes difficulties encountered while teaching English, especially in relation to the kinds of cultural and social constraints experienced by most students in the Gulf nations and particularly women. Although young women are encouraged to pursue higher education and are enthusiastic about the opportunities that are now available, there is little familial or cultural support for their endeavors. In addition, role models of women who have succeeded professionally in a field requiring higher education are extremely rare. Women are expected to marry at a young age and to produce children as quickly as is physically possible. An employment situation that necessitates women working side by side with male colleagues is generally unacceptable. The segregation of men and women is deeply embedded in this Arabic culture and, despite the best efforts of educators and more progressive families, the majority of young women succumb to the cultural and social expectations of their families and their communities.