This book sets out to examine the changing role of women in higher education with an emphasis on academic and leadership issues. The scope of the book is international, with a wide range of contributors, whose expertise spans sociology, social science, economics, politics, public policy and linguistic studies, all of whom have a major interest in global education. The volume examines the ways in which the leadership role and academic roles of women in higher education are changing in the twenty first century, offering an up-to-date policy discussion of this area. It is in some sense a sequel to the earlier volume by the same Editor, Women as Leaders and Managers in Higher Education, but with very different emphases. The pressures now are to respond to the demands of the technological age and to those of the global economy. Today there are more highly qualified and experienced female academics, and more expectation of their gaining the highest posts. Challenges still remain, particularly in terms of the top posts, and in equal pay. The discussion of global policy issues affecting the role of women in higher education is combined with country case studies, several of which are comparative. Together they examine and unpack the particular situations of women in a wide range of higher education systems, from Brazil to the US to Europe to Africa and the Far East, noting the shift towards more flexibility, more personal choice and a greater acceptance by society of their abilities. This volume is a useful and influential addition to published work in this area, and is aimed at the intelligent general reader as well as the scholar interested in this topic.

This book provides a central, authoritative source of reference on the most essential topics of higher education. The International Handbook of Higher Education combines a rich diversity of scholarly perspectives with a wide range of internationally derived descriptions and analyses. Chapters in the first volume cover central themes in the study of higher education, while contributors to the second volume focuses on contemporary higher education issues within specific countries or regions. Together, these volumes provide a centralized, easily accessible, yet scholarly source of information.

Drawing on international and national data, theory and research, Gender and the Changing Face of Higher Education provides an accessible but nuanced discussion of the 'feminization' of higher education for postgraduates, policy-makers and academics working in the field.

Women’s education only became an element of modernization when the Gulf countries experienced the oil revolution. However, these rulers launched a revolution of their own by developing modern social infrastructure, mostly before independence. Rulers in the region accepted the notion of women’s education as a pre-requisite for development, and male elites wanted compatible educated partners. However, women’s integration in the labor market was another matter. The state had to contend with a common traditional culture, which was opposed to the mixing of the sexes or the diversion of women’s energies away from domestic and maternal duties. Higher education, which was normally offered on a co-educational basis and sometimes meant study abroad, provoked opposition. >With the exception of Saudi Arabia, there are no legal barriers to integrating women in the economy on a large scale. However, there are cultural issues that work against women’s employment, like the lack of incentive to work in a welfare system. The drive to end the dependence on foreign labor is often countered by the pro-birth policies of countries. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to advancing women’s participation in the labor market has been their absence from advisory councils and parliaments. Thus, the world of political decision-making still seems closed to women, who must rely on the commitment and reformist zeal of some enlightened rulers.

Over the past quarter century, the people of the Arabian Peninsula have witnessed a revolutionary transformation in higher education. In 1990, there were fewer than ten public universities that offered their Arabic-language curricula in sex-segregated settings to national citizens only. In 2015, there are more than one hundred public, semi-public, and private colleges and universities. Most of these institutions are open to expatriates and national citizens; a few offer gender integrated instruction; and the language of instruction is much more likely to be in English than Arabic. Higher Education Revolutions in the Gulf explores the reasons behind this dramatic growth. It examines the causes of the sharp shift in educational practices and analyses how these new systems of higher education are regulated, evaluating the extent to which the new universities and colleges are improving quality. Questioning whether these educational changes can be sustained, the book explores how the new curricula and language policies are aligned with official visions of the future. Written by leading scholars in the field, it draws upon their considerable experiences of teaching and doing research in the Arabian Gulf, as well as their different disciplinary backgrounds (linguistics and economics), to provide a holistic and historically informed account of the emergence and viability of the Arabian Peninsula’s higher education revolutions. Offering a comprehensive, critical assessment of education in the Gulf Arab states, this book represents a significant contribution to the field and will be of interest to students and scholars of Middle East and Gulf Studies, and essential for those focused on higher education.