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Increasing Emiratisation in engineering faculty position at the higher colleges of technology

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Content Running head: INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

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INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY POSITION AT THE
HIGHER COLLEGES OF TECHNOLOGY

by

Sultan Hussain Karmostaji

_______________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

October 2014

Copyright 2014 Sultan H Karmostaji

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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to the soul of the father of the nation, the founder of the United
Arab Emirates, Shiekh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to the mother of the nation Her Highness
Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak and to the leadership of United Arab Emirates
His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan the president of the United Arab
Emirates.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime
Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai.
His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu
Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I give praise and thanks to the Lord who has been so generous with me. He has blessed
me by giving me opportunities and loving people in my life. He has carved out pathways for me
to achieve my dreams.
There are many people who I would like to acknowledge because without them, this
success would not have been possible.
I would like to acknowledge His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, who
has always been a father, a leader and a role model. Thank you very much your highness.
I also would like to acknowledge Dr. Tayeb Kamali my inspiration to join education
field, the father of my professional career and my advisor through out my journey. Thank you
very much Dr. Kamali.
I would never be able to thank my dad and my mom enough for everything they have
given me in life. I’m grateful to you dad and mom for life.
I would like to acknowledge my better half my wife who inspired me to join this world-
class university and without her continuous encouragement and support I would not be able to
complete the program. I thank her very much for everything and for her beautiful presence in my
life and to prioritize our family life on her personal life by giving birth to our angels Mariya,
Zayed and Mohammed.
I would like to acknowledge every member of the family who supported me by
encouraging me or by understanding my time limitation especially my brother and sisters and my
extended family.
I would like to acknowledge Dean Gallagher whom I met in the Library Hotel in New
York, which was the kick off of one the most interesting journey in my life.
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I would like to acknowledge my dissertation chair Mark Power Robison, Co-Chair,
Global Executive EdD Program, whom his leadership, guidance and supervision was key for all
of us to succeed in this program.
I would like to acknowledge all professors of the global executive doctor of education
program and the administration team.
I would like to acknowledge my colleagues Michael Lindsay, Joseph Nettikaden, Howard
Hsia, Mary Anna Noveck, Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati Tajuddin, Candace Bledsoe, Fang-
Ping Huang, Michele Turner, Jenny Weinman and Katerina Kulagina for all the wonderful time
we spent together. Thank you very much cohort one for this unforgettable experience.
I would like to acknowledge my best friend Abdulhannan Kareem who was with me from
the beginning till my graduation. Thank you brother.
Looking at this long list of people to whom I feel so much gratitude, I truly feel blessed.
Each of you has contributed in my journey towards this goal.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
List of Tables 6
List of Figures 8
Abstract 9
Chapter 1: Statement of the Problem 10
Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 18
Chapter 3: Methodology 33
Chapter 4: Results and Findings 52
Chapter 5: Solutions and Implementation 86
Chapter 6: Discussion 106
References 116
Appendices
Appendix A: Assumed Knowledge Causes for the Performance Gap 127
Appendix B: Gap Analysis Case Validation Method Worksheet 128
Appendix C: Survey Builder Worksheet 131

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Goals 35
Table 2. Possible Causes of Performance Gap: Knowledge and Skills 39
Table 3. Possible Causes of Performance Gap: Motivation 41
Table 4. Possible Causes of Performance Gap: Organization 47
Table 5. Results of the Knowledge Survey 55
Table 6. Q12: To What Extent Are You Aware of the Requirements for Becoming 56
an HCT Faculty Member?
Table 7. Q13: Are You Aware of the Faculty Salary Scale at HCT? 57
Table 8. Q11: To What Extent Would You Be Interested in Attending an Information 58
Session About Applying for a Masters Program?
Table 9. Q10: How Clear Are You About the Procedure for Applying to a Masters 59
Degree Program?
Table 10. Q9: To What Extent Would You Consider Pursuing and Earning a Masters 60
Degree Useful?
Table 11. Results of the Motivation Survey 65
Table 12. Q6: To What Extent Are You Interested in Pursuing a Master’s Degree? 66
Table 13. Q7: How Interested Are You in Pursuing a Master’s Degree in Engineering? 67
Table 14. Q8: How Interested Are You in Securing an Industry Job? 67
Table 15. Q14: What is Your Level of Confidence in Your Ability to Complete a 68
Master’s Degree in Engineering?
Table 16. Q15: How Interested Are You in Studying in a Master’s Degree Program for 69
the Next Two Years in the UAE?
Table 17. Q16: What is Your Level of Interest in Studying in a Master’s Degree 69
Program for the Next Two Years Abroad?
Table 18. Q17: How Interested Would You Be in a Career in Teaching If You Received 70
a Scholarship from HCT During Your Studies?
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Table 19. Q18: How Willing Are You to Work as an Engineering Faculty Member 71
at HCT in the Future?
Table 20. Q19: How Interested Are You in Working in an Educational Institution? 71
Table 21. Q21: How Interested Are You in Becoming a Faculty Member? 72
Table 22. Results of the Culture / Organization Survey 77
Table 23. Q20: How Satisfied Are You With the Academic Standards at HCT? 79
Table 24. Q22: Do You See HCT as a Prestige Organization to Work For? 79
Table 25. Q23: How Satisfied Are You With HCT’s Efforts Encouraging Students to 80
Pursue a Master’s Degree?
Table 26. Q24: How Satisfied Are You With HCT’s Efforts Preparing Students to 80
Become Faculty?
Table 27. Q25: How Important is the Availability of Scholarships for Students to 81
Consider Careers at HCT?
Table 28. Q26: To What Extent Do You Support Potential “Student Preparation 81
Programs”, Which Includes Stipends During Study Time, International
Work Experience and a Master’s Degree in Engineering in Order to
Become a Faculty?
Table 29. Q27: To What Extent Do You Support the New Emiratisation Plan to 82
Nationalize its Engineering Faculty Positions?
Table 30. Summary of Causes, Solutions, and Implementation of the Solutions 102
Table 31. Summary of Organizations Main Goal, Short Term Goals, Cascading 105
Goals, and Performance Goals
Table 32. Summary of Performance Goals, Timeline and Measurement of 112
Performance Goals

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. The gap analysis process 34

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ABSTRACT
Using the Gap Analysis problem-solving framework (Clark & Estes, 2008), this project
examined engineering students at Abu Dhabi Colleges at Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)
in the United Arab Emirates. The primary purpose of this project was to identify the knowledge,
motivation and organizational causes that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied
science in engineering program from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to
become faculty. Mixed methods were used to collect survey data from 493 participants and
interview data for twenty participants to identify and validate the knowledge and skills,
motivation, and organizational solutions that may contribute to the HCT’s Emiratisation goal.
Findings showed that although students lack factual knowledge, students do not lack motivation
in pursuing a master degree. However, the study confirmed their lack of interest in working in an
educational environment or pursuing a career as faculty, and it confirmed organizational gap in
HCT management. Based on the findings, solutions are offered to address these challenges.

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CHAPTER 1
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Introduction of the Problem
A key challenge faced by countries in the Arab world today is promoting human capital
development of the region’s population. Human resource challenges in these nations include a
heavy reliance on non-nationals, the proportion of nationals working in the public sector, high
rates of unemployment among young, first-time workers and the skill mismatch in the workforce
(Rand Corporation, 2008). In response to these challenges, the Gulf countries Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established nationalization
programs designed to foster the participation of citizens in the workforce. These nationalization
programs, termed “Bahrinisation,” “Kuwaitisation,” “Omanisation,” “Qatarisation,”
“Saudisation,” and “Emiratisation,” focus on increasing the presence of the citizen employees as
a percentage of the workforce in public and private sectors.
Context of the Problem
One of the institutions concerned about Emiratisation is the Higher Colleges of
Technology (HCT), which is a system of seventeen colleges across the UAE. HCT was founded
in 1988 and in less than two decades became the largest higher educational institution in the
nation. The HCT colleges’ system has a well-respected reputation for innovative learning and
has over nineteen thousand students attend seventeen campuses. It offers over ninety different
English-taught programs in Applied Communications, Business, Engineering, Information
Technology, Health Sciences and Education at Bachelor and Master levels by over than 970
faculty members to more than 18,000 Emirati students. All programs are designed in
consultation with business and industry leaders to ensure the students’ skills are job-relevant and
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to the highest standards. Over sixty thousand academic credentials have been awarded to its
graduates.
Mission and Organizational Problem
The Higher Colleges of Technology is dedicated to the delivery of technical and
professional programs of the highest quality to the students, within the context of sincere respect
for diverse beliefs and values. Graduates will have the linguistic ability to function effectively in
an international environment, the technical skills to operate in an increasingly complex
technological world, the intellectual capacity to adapt to constant change, and the commitment to
sustainable development and the leadership potential to make the greatest possible contribution
to the community for the good of all its members and stakeholders. HCT contributes to the
national goal of Emiratisation with a target of 30% of leaders in the higher management and
faculty positions. Since HCT is one of the largest entities in the UAE government and the largest
in graduate numbers every year, it is important that HCT be a leader in carrying out the national
goal of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with qualified Emiratis. Not solving the problem
will reflect poorly on the management, strategy and planning of HCT. Current status of Emiratis
in engineering faculty positions is less than 2% as there are 112 engineering faculty and only two
of them are Emiratis. HCT’s goal is to reach 30%; therefore the gap is 28%. (Higher Colleges of
Technology, 2013).
Organizational Goal
The Higher Colleges of Technology is part of the UAE government’s strategy of
Emiratisation, 2011-2013. On November 27, 2012 UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and
Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al- Maktoum declared that 2013
would be a year of Emiratisation. His Highness has also declared to establish the UAE as a
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global “center of excellence” for the Arabic language. In addition, a wide range of initiatives
have been announced to promote the use of Arabic, including the set up of an Arabic Language
Charter and the formation of an international committee of experts to promote Arabic as the
language of science and technology. In line with the goal of Emiratisation, HCT’s goal is to
increase the number of Emiratis in engineering faculty positions to 30% before the end of 2016.
Stakeholders
The stakeholders at the Higher Colleges of Technology include the students, faculty,
administrative and senior management of the various colleges, and administrative staff and
senior management of HCT at Central Services, which comprises various units including
Academic Advancement and Accreditation, Community Relations, Communication Department,
Finance, Budget and Internal Audit, Human Resources, Policy, Planning and Institutional
Research, Procurement and Contracts, Technology and Administration. The role of senior
management is to articulate Emiratising engineering faculty positions and create framework and
incentive scheme for the students. The role of faculty is to encourage students to consider
pursuing a Masters Degree in order to become a faculty. The role of administration is to facilitate
student application process and the role of students is to have interest in the new program and
apply for it. The students of HCT are all Emiratis and come from the different Emirates in the
UAE. The faculty, administrative staff and senior management come from more than 40
nationalities, mainly from English speaking countries such as US, UK, Canada and Australia.
Stakeholder for the Study
The primary stakeholders for Emiratising engineering faculty positions at the Higher
Colleges of Technology are engineering students at the colleges, as they will be the main
pipeline for the colleges to Emiratise their engineering faculty positions. Currently, a total of
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2000 students are studying engineering at HCT; 500 of them are engineering students. They are
registered in the following programs Aviation Maintenance, Chemical Engineering, Civil
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and
Mechatronic Engineering.
It is critical to understand the knowledge, motivation and organizational barriers
engineering students face that prevent them from pursuing a master’s degree in engineering and
considering a faculty position as a career opportunity.
Background of the Problem
According to Forstenlechner (2008), nationalization programs have been in place for
many years throughout Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. Such
programs were designed to foster the participation of citizens in the workforce. The UAE
government uses nationalization to solve issues that are facing the nation such as unemployment
issue. UAE government took many steps and different directions in order to solve this issue. One
of these steps is founding Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council (ADTC) which is a government entity
that was established in December 2005 to deliver upon the vision of His Highness Sheikh
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, to achieve full
utilization of Emirati human capital potential in the service of UAE social and economic
development. The government has also launched “Absher Initiative” which encourages the
private sector to participate more actively in the Emiratisation effort in order to solve the
unemployment matter. Another step was in form of ministerial resolutions. The Ministry of
Labor has issued several ministerial resolutions concerning nationalization including
occupational quota in the trade sector, the insurance sector and the banking sector. In addition to
this it has issued resolutions on the rules and procedures of the employment contracts of
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nationals, on the Directors of Human Resources, the Directors and officials of employees affairs
in the private sector, and on secretarial jobs in the private sector and regarding public relations
officials.
The Higher Colleges of Technology is the biggest source for providing the UAE public
and private sector with qualified Emirati workers, yet HCT is behind in Emiratising its
ownworkforce. The shortage in the local labor market of qualified personnel has forced the
colleges to highly depend on the international market to fulfill its needs and as a result,
expatriates dominate HCT in senior management, faculty and administration. According to HCT
Human Resources records, the colleges employ 1929 staff from more than 50 countries. They are
in fields of Executive Management, Management, Professionals, Faculty and Administrative
Support. Only 192 employees are from the UAE, which represents 9.9% of the total number of
the employees. HCT has 194 staff in management and executive management positions; only 25
of them are from the UAE, which is 12.8%. There are 979 faculty members and 184
professionals, only 34 and 17 are UAE nationals, which is 3.4% and 9.2% respectively. The best
representation of UAE nationals in HCT is in administrative support with 20.2% as there are
total of 572 employees in administration support and 116 of them are UAE nationals.
According to Randeree and Gaad (2011), most UAE nationals are attracted to the public
sector because it offers superior employment conditions, higher remuneration, better job security,
shorter working hours, generous vacations, and other attractive options. This does not appear to
be the case, however, in the paradigm of public higher education institutions in the UAE as the
Emiratis in these institutions are less than twenty percent. Randeree (2009) stated in his research,
Strategy, Policy and Practice in the Nationalisation of Human Capital: Project Emiratisation, that
demographic imbalace as the key challenge that is slowing down the success of Emiratisation.
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The UAE vision 2021 stresses that innovation, research, science and technology will form the
pillars of a knowledge-based, highly productive and competitive economy, driven by
entrepreneurs in a business-friendly environment where public and private sectors form effective
partnerships (UAE Cabinet).
Importance of the Problem
The UAE government puts UAE nationals at the center of its attention and mission. UAE
Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum said:
What mostly characterizes the founders of the union and the most important lesson we
have learned from them is that the citizen is a priority and building man comes before
building edifices, and the methodology of my brother Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al
Nahyan is that the citizen comes first and second and third. As we go further according to
this approach, we say that 2013 achievements will outshine those of 2012 and each year
to come will be better than the previous one; there is no place for lingering or hesitation
in achieving the ambitions of our people. Today, from this place, we announce that 2013
will be a year of Emiratization, which will be a national priority and for which all efforts
must unite. (Sheikh Mohammed, 2012)
This statement reflects the commitment to Emiratisation and its priority on the government
agenda. Since HCT is one of the largest entities in the UAE government and the largest in
graduate numbers every year, it is important that HCT be a leader in carrying out the national
goal of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with qualified Emiratis. Not solving the problem
will reflect poorly on the management, strategy and planning of HCT. In a bigger picture, this
will reflect on UAE higher education as a whole that they are not fulfilling their mission.
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Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this study was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes of the
lack of Emiratis in engineering faculty positions at HCT. While a complete gap analysis would
focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes, the stakeholders in this analysis were
engineering students in various colleges at HCT who are the potential pipeline for Emirati
engineering faculty. The analysis focused on causes for this problem due to gaps in the areas of
knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational issues. The analysis began by generating a
list of possible or assumed causes and then by examining these systematically to focus on actual
or validated causes.
As such, the questions that guide this study were the following:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that prevent graduates
from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from pursuing a
masters degree in engineering in order to become faculty?
2. What are the recommended solutions to close the knowledge, motivation, and
organization gaps that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in
engineering from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become
faculty?
Methodological Framework
In order to research the potential causes of and address potential solutions for the low
Emirati in faculty positions, Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical
method that helped to clarify organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual
performance level and the preferred performance level within an organization. Assumed causes
for the performance gap were generated based on personal knowledge and related literature.
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These causes were validated by using surveys, focus groups and interviews, literature review and
content analysis discussed in detail in Chapter 4. Research-based solutions were recommended
and evaluated in a comprehensive manner in Chapters 5 and 6.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
This chapter examines nationalization in global perspective, giving examples from
around the world and the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Next, the chapter focuses on
Emiratisation. The chapter concludes with an in-depth look at Emiratisation in higher education
through the lenses of knowledge, motivation, and organizational culture and structure.
Nationalization in Global Perspective
Nationalization is a global practice; different countries use different practices to
nationalize their workforces for different visions and purposes and they face different challenges.
For example, one of the issues in New Zealand is increasing the number of Maori and Pacific
nurses in the New Zealand nursing workforce, which challenges the implementation of culturally
appropriate nursing programs based on the matching of nurse and client ethnicities (Callister,
Badkar, & Didham, 2011). However in Kazakhstan the situation is different. Workforce
nationalization is used to fuel growth, and foreign investors are obliged to provide training for
nationals by Kazakhstan legislation. The government implemented a workforce nationalization
policy, which included the required investment of one percent of all companies’ operating capital
to be allocated to training of the Kazakhstani national workforce. (Minbaeva, Hutchings, &
Thomson, 2007). In South Africa, Africanization is used as an imperative to move away from
Apartheid into a democratic dispensation (Botha, 2010).
One of the challenges in Kuwaitization is that the majority of the Kuwaiti labor force is
reluctant to join the private sector because of the availability choice jobs in the public sector. The
government of Kuwait seems to have a moral commitment to employ all Kuwaitis, and
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consequently, the door to public jobs has been kept open. In addition, private sector employers
view Kuwaitis as irresponsible, dependent, and difficult to manage and discipline (Salih, 2010).
The challenges in Oman are different because there is a mismatch between the employability of
graduates from the education system and the skills needed by employers. In addition, private
employers still favor foreign labor because of the assumed higher work ethic (Swailes, Al Said,
& Al Fahdi, 2012). According to Sadi (2013), in Saudi Arabia the government started a
“workforce nationalization scheme known as “Nitaqat” (range), which supplements the earlier
policy of job replacement known as “Saudization”. The “Saudization” policy with ambitious
targets aimed at replacing expatriates, upon whom the labour market has traditionally relied upon
since last four decades, with local labor. The “Nitaqat” scheme was promulgated in June 2011 to
enhance the effectiveness of “Saudization” policy. The “Nitaqat” scheme entails evaluating
private sector establishments based on the percentage of its local workforce so as to entitle them
with certain codes based on their performance. The rationale of this scheme is based on
achieving success in the workforce nationalization process. The primary motive behind this
scheme is economic, but there are also underlying social and political underpinnings. The
“Nitaqat” scheme is designed to boost employment among locals and attempt to protect wages
among expatriates” (Sadi, 2013, 27-45).
In general, countries from the same region often face similar challenges. According to
Williams, Bhanugopan, & Fish (2011), there are some common barriers to “localization”
(nationalization) throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCCC) stemming from
inefficient quota systems; a culture that is focused more on prestige than performance; strict
cultural practices concerning women in the workforce; education systems that are not market
driven; and an inequitable social contract and distribution of oil and natural gas wealth in the
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GCCCs. According to Naithani & Jha (2010) expatriates working in GCC Countries also face
challenges, including rising rents and other expenses, an increasing gap between salary growth
and inflation, and salary gaps within different expatriate communities. According to the RAND
Corporation (2008), many Qataris are in training and are about to enter the workforce.
Qatarization goals have been implemented in the Independent school system for teachers and
staff to encourage schools to hire and train Qatari nationals.
In summary, nationalization is practiced by many countries to overcome the shortages in
the national workforce in some critical sectors for the nation.
Emiratisation
According to the RAND Corporation (2008) Emiratisation, or the nationalization of the
workforce in the United Arab Emirates, is the broad term used to describe a set of policies and
laws that involve increasing the share of Emirati citizens employed in a particular sector. These
policies are intended not just to reduce the overall reliance on imported labor in absolute terms,
but also to increase the share of jobs held by nationals in crucial and high-growth-potential
sectors. Randeree (2009) analyzed the demographic imbalance that it is largely due to the fact
that expatriate workers undertake work that Emiratis are unwilling to do. UAE nationals are only
13 percent of the working population. Randeree also found that the government sector is
favorable to Emiratis because the salaries are generally higher, non-monetary benefit are better,
and hours of work tend to be shorter. However, the RAND Corporation (2008) noted that the
main reason that UAE nationals do not consider employment in the private sector was the
absence of a pension system benefits. In response, the government established a new
autonomous authority, the General Authority for Pensions and Social Security. Establishing the
new pension authority improved Emiratisation in the private sector, and banks became leaders in
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private sector nationalization. HSBC achieved 40 per cent Emiratisation, the highest among
foreign banks, whereas and the leader UAE bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, achieved 45 per cent
nationalization. (Randeree, 2009). According to Albayrakoglu (2010), only the communications,
banking and hospitality sectors succeeded in fulfilling nationalization quotas. This can be
attributed to the fact that these sectors demand close interaction with the public, and that locals
are naturally more qualified for such a task. Albayrakoglu also determined that companies started
to use “phantom” or “ghost” employment in the private sector to meet the quota pressure from
the government. This practice entails hiring nationals on a small salary, provided that they stay
home, solely to increase Emirati representation in the company.
According to Al Ali (2008), barriers to Emiratisation include low standards of education
and skills amongst potential employees, inadequate English, and a lack of trust by employers in
the work-readiness of United Arab Emirates nationals. Whereas, according to Forstenlechner,
Madi, Selim, & Rutledge (2012) there is a clear and continued preference for non-national labor
from both a control and general cost perspective. The factors that made employers in the UAE
less willing to recruit a national candidate over a qualified non-national candidate were
motivational, social, cultural and regulatory. Since the UAE set its sights on joining the ranks of
the world’s leading knowledge-based economies with a comprehensive strategy to enhance
knowledge-driven economic development, and to transform itself into a knowledge-based
society and knowledge-based economy, implementing Emiratisation is critical.
Each organization, therefore, needs to identify existing skills of their Emiratis workforce
and specify knowledge gaps. (Randeree, 2009) According to the RAND Corporation (2008)
Emiratisation policies remain questionable as long as employers continue to find foreign workers
who, compared with Emiratis, are significantly more prepared, more skilled, and cost less. Thus,
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the Emiratisation policy initiatives depend in part on the success of education and training efforts
within the UAE. Randeree (2012) recommends that the focus must be on improving the
education system and training the resultant workforce as means for the UAE to move away from
a sector or position-based quota system, where penalties are given for non-compliance, since it
results in poorly qualified and inexperienced personnel. He concludes that education alone does
not adequately prepare citizens for management decision-making roles, and this lack of
preparation is consequently reflected in poor organizational performance. He recommends that,
in order for sustained development of a national workforce to succeed, a system whereby
national employees begin in entry-level positions and work their way through the organizational
hierarchy would best serve organizations, particularly once those employees reach the
boardroom level. This may only occur when they have gained significant experience, resulting in
better decision-making through an understanding of the organization as a whole.
Abdusheikh (2012) proposed that government must take a more collaborative approach
with private sector organizations, to create a supportive knowledge management system related
to Emiratisation, to create a government entity to coordinate Emiratisation with private sector
organizations, and to form a trans-organizational system comprised of the various stakeholders in
order to increase Emiratisation. According to Godwin (2006), the demand for education has
continued to increase due to the high fertility rate and government incentives that support UAE
nationals. The UAE government has an opportunity to ensure long-term political and economic
stability through a reformed education system that is articulated between all educational levels.
According to Alsharyani’s (2002) study, the United Arab Emirates cannot eliminate reliance on
the expatriate population and expect to keep its economy and way of life intact. The federation
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will have to find incentives to encourage nationals to be able to take the place of the expatriates
as they leave the country.
Emiratisation in Higher Education
Emiratisation in higher education is important in order to have a sustainable workforce.
According to Schoepp (2010), expatriate faculty were fairly satisfied in the job situation and
many were motivated to remain in the public higher education institutions of the United Arab
Emirates by both financial and global citizenry aspects of their expatriation. In a study conducted
at the Higher Colleges of Technology by Ryan (2012) to identify why expatriate academics leave
the UAE within one year of arrival and do not extend their initial contracts, the author found that
non-work related factors were the main reasons. Adjusting and adapting to the local environment
were the main factors, and how effectively an individual dealt with them largely influenced the
length of stay in expatriate academic assignments. Cummings’ (2013) study about private sector
workplace experiences in the United Arab Emirates concluded that “the education sector needed
the legislative input of the government sector, and the financial support of both government and
business sectors.” The legislative input of the government sector, and the financial support would
give the education sector the autonomy to create new programs required by the job market.
Cummings’ (2013) states that “The education sector was also responsible for assessing and
guiding the students towards their future workplace in the personal and the professional sense,
and not only in the academic sense”. Thus it is important to create programs that are attractive to
students because it decides his future and career path. According to RAND Corporation (2008) a
number of efforts are under way to promote the links between higher education institutions,
training programs, and industry. The Abu Dhabi Education Council was tasked with unifying
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

24
training initiatives across the Emirates and consolidating various institutions’ efforts to address
the shortcomings of the education system.
Faculty Development Programs
According to Kuptarnond (2000) concepts of faculty development can be analyzed in two
primary orientations:
1. Professional career improvement orientation: The professional career improvement
orientation views faculty development as development of all professional aspects of
faculty in higher education institutions, for example, teacher, researcher, counselor,
community service, and any other related role.
2. Instructional improvement orientation: The instructional improvement orientation
views faculty development by focusing on teaching methods and learning theories
that help faculty members strengthen their instruction and teaching effectiveness. It is
more focused than the professional career orientation.
Faculty development programs consist of two major tracks, professional career improvement and
instructional improvement. Both tracks were founded to improve faculty in higher education.
First track is general and second track is more focused.
According to Steinert (2000), some of the lessons that can be learned from faculty
development programs are first to understand and work within the initiation’s context and
culture. Second, to ensure that programs and activities are based on institutional needs. Third, to
promote ‘buy in’ and market positions effectively. Fourth, to offer diverse program and methods.
Fifth, to incorporate principles of adult learning and other relevant theoretical frameworks. Sixth,
to remain relevant and practical. And seventh, to work to overcome common problems and
evaluate and demonstrate effectiveness.
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25
One good example is the preparing future faculty (PFF) program, which was launched in
1993 to develop new models of doctoral preparation for a faculty career by including preparation
for teaching and academic citizenship as well as for research. PFF launched with three shared
goals. Firstly, the program is designed to provide graduate students with on-site experience of
faculty life at diverse academic institution and this can happen by pairing them with faculty
mentors at neighboring colleges and universities and by creating specific opportunities for
visitations to the cluster campuses. Secondly, it provides forums, both on and off the research
campus, at which graduate students and faculty from diverse institutions could speak candidly
about professional expectations regarding, and the relationships between, faculty research,
teaching, and service. Thirdly, it encourages graduate programs themselves to integrate the
professional development of graduate students, including appropriately structured pedagogical
training and teaching experiences, more directly into graduate education (DeNeef, 2002).
Another example of a successful faculty preparation effort is the SUCCEED program,
which is a coalition of eight institutions in the Southeastern United States. SUCCEED was
founded to develop, implement, institutionalize, and disseminate reforms in engineering
education. The program focuses primarily on developing innovative teaching materials and
programs, including integrated first-year engineering curricula, instructional modules and
delivery tools for technology-based courses, programs to promote writing and design across the
curriculum, and programs to promote recruitment and retention of minorities and women. The
SUCCEED faculty development program has six components. Three of them involve
instructional development and support, which are programs open to all faculty, as well as
programs specifically for new faculty members, and programs for graduate students. The other
three involve campus infrastructure and climate, which are a faculty or staff member within
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

26
engineering whose principal responsibility is coordinating faculty development efforts, links to
campus-wide faculty development programs and provisions in the faculty incentive and reward
system that support improvements in teaching and educational scholarship. Factors which have
contributed to the success of the SUCCEED faculty development program are keeping it
practical, including both disciplinary and pedagogical expertise on workshop facilitation teams,
citing the research, avoiding appearing prescriptive, dogmatic, or evangelical and practicing
(Brent & Felder, 2003).
Chubin, May, and Babco, (2005) researched diversity in engineering, and their work
suggests a pathway for diversifying engineering entailing supporting students through the pre-
college preparation, undergraduate transition, graduate recruitment and transition, graduate
education and beyond. For diversifying the faculty, he suggests a best practice for achieving
faculty diversity focused on finding and creating culturally competent faculty and structuring
faculty recruitment with this goal in mind. To summarize faculty development programs was
founded to improve professional and instructional career of the faculty in higher education.
Knowledge
According to Randeree (2009) one of the challenges faced by human resource
management (HRM) functions in countries with interest to encourage nationalization is to raise
the skill sets among nationals. According to the RAND Corporation (2008), officials in the UAE
showed concern that insufficient numbers of Emirati graduates of secondary school and
university possess the skills needed to meet the growing demands of the country. In addition, this
training has been in conjunction with the introduction of new technology, not for longer-term
sustained development of human resources and capacity. Emiratisation policy initiatives depend
in part on the success of these education and training efforts. Al Ali (2008) identified barriers to
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27
Emiratisation, which include low standards of education and skills amongst potential employees,
inadequate English abilities, and a lack of trust by employers in the work-readiness of United
Arab Emirates nationals. Abdusheikh (2012) propose that the government must take a more
collaborative approach with private sector organizations, create a supportive knowledge
management system related to Emiratisation. Forstenlechner, Madi, Selim, and Rutledge (2012)
study to determine the factors that influence the recruitment decisions of employers in the UAE,
showed a significant and positive relationship between a given employer’s willingness to recruit
a national candidate and the educational factor, which means that the ‘average’ national’s
educational attainment levels are likely to favor them over a similarly experienced non-national
candidate. According to Randeree (2012) one of the characteristic challenges faced by HRM in
countries interested in encouraging nationalization is to raise skill levels among nationals. Yet
education alone does not adequately prepare citizens for management decision-making roles,
lack of preparation consequently reflects in poor organizational performance. According to
Abdusheikh’s (2012) findings, factors which could prompt Emiratis to leave their for-profit
organization are centered on training, development, and growth; creativity; and feeling interested
and engaged in their work.
Adams and Felder (2008) note that it is unfortunate and unnecessary that many new
engineering educators have to figure out for themselves how to design syllabi, lesson plans and
tests, motivate students to learn, teach effectively in small and large classes, help students who
are struggling, and deal with classroom disruptions and cheating while at the same time building
a research agenda, recruiting students, and meeting service responsibilities.
Mohan, Merle, Jackson, Lannin and Nair (2010) conducted a survey of students at the
end of the two-course sequence introducing engineering students to professional skills through
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

28
four topic categories: pedagogy and interpersonal communication skills, team-building and
personal skills, proposal development skills, and globalization and gaining international
experience. Their work revealed that students had acquired little knowledge about pedagogy and
professional skills from other courses in their undergraduate and graduate engineering
curriculum. Pomales-García and Liu’s (2007) study results showed that students strongly
emphasized the importance of their own roles in the educational system and the value of
instructional technology and real work examples in enhancing the quality of engineering
education.
To summarize, insufficient education and low standards in skills are the main reasons
behind gaps in knowledge related to Emiratisation efforts.
Motivation
Melton’s (2006) study results were consistent with the findings reported by other
researchers in relation to motivational factors associated with career choice and education. The
study revealed that family support; campus resources and availability of financial resources
significantly influence African American students’ pursuit of medical or health-related careers
and the continuation of their education. According to Randeree (2009) one of the challenges
faced by HRM functions in countries with interest to encourage nationalization is to motivate
nationals to actively participate in the interest of the national economy. According to Ro (2011)
engineering students’ post-graduation consider multiple career options, which are not limited to
work or study in the field of engineering, as they near graduation. The study suggests that
engineering programs should provide diverse curricula, instructional, and co-curricular
experiences that contribute to students’ learning and satisfaction, and thus encourage them to
remain on the engineering workforce pathway. Forstenlechner, Madi, Selim, & Rutledge’s
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29
(2012) study determined the factors that influence the recruitment decisions of employers in the
UAE, showing that the perception that national jobseekers are less vocationally motivated
compared to non-national jobseekers does have a strong bearing. According to Al Ali’s (2007)
study, low motivation was the second highest personal attribute barrier to UAE nationals’
workforce participation after low standards of experience, training and skills. According to
Randeree (2012), one of the characteristic challenges faced by HRM in countries interested in
encouraging nationalization is to motivate nationals to participate actively in the national
economy. Slaten’s (2011) study suggested that peer belongingness was not significantly related
to academic motivation, but family belongingness specifically has a powerful relationship with
career decision-making difficulties. Irum, Sultana, Ahmed, & Mehmood’s (2012) study
examined higher education institutes in Pakistan and suggested that there are differences in work
motivation between public and private sector employees, motivation level of public sector
employees is high as compared to private sector employees in supportive environment.
Razzaque’s (2013) study found that among Pakistani pre-service teachers the motivations of
make social contribution, ability and intrinsic reasons seemed to be more important for joining
the teaching career. According to Rabas (2013), women working in higher academic leadership
roles are often motivated by internal drives as well as a desire to see a change within their
department and are willing to take on leadership roles to provide the needed support to do so.
To summarize, low motivation among nationals can have a negative effect on workforce
nationalization efforts.
Organization
According to the RAND Corporation (2008), Emiratisation policies remain questionable
as long as employers continue to find foreign workers who, compared with Emiratis, are
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30
significantly more prepared, more skilled, and cost less. Romanowski & Nasser’s (2010)
findings about faculty perceptions of academic freedom at a GCC university indicate that faculty
members have complex and often contradictory understandings of academic freedom and related
responsibilities and often engage in self-censorship. Forstenlechner & Rutledge (2010) suggest
that classic public-sector and highly skilled public and quasi-private-sector jobs must be
differentiated once it comes to salary payment, especially those in the emerging high-skilled and
high-tech industries. Alamri (2011) identified bureaucracy, discrimination in salaries and
incentives between expatriates and Saudi Arabian faculty, not offering all degrees, lack of
research funds, and the limitation of academic freedom as weaknesses in Saudi Arabia higher
education system. According to Forstenlechner, Madi, Selim, & Rutledge (2012) study,
employing a national candidate is more problematic in terms of accommodating for their actual
or assumed cultural sensibilities.
Randeree (2012) states that education alone does not adequately prepare citizens for
management decision-making roles, lack of preparation consequently reflects in poor
organizational performance. Randeree sees that providing a favorable work environment that
enables nationals to recognize and apply their potential would be one of the challenges facing
HRM in countries interested in encouraging nationalization are to motivate nationals to
participate actively in the national economy. Zakari (2012) studied the influence of the academic
organizational climate on nursing faculty members’ commitment in Saudi Arabia, the results
revealed that faculty commitment is obligation-based rather than desire-based, of the parameters
analyzed, the faculty nurses reported experiencing disengagement and an emphasis on
production. Gladies & Kennedy (2014) found that highly engaged faculty look out ways for
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

31
improving the job and that the faculty engagement had significant positive impact on career
success.
Huisman, Egbert & Bartelse’s (2002) study states the loss of appeal of the faculty job is
the fundamental problem in Europe. The academic career is surrounded with many uncertainties,
including limited chances of pursuing a career in academe, many universities have difficulty in
attracting Ph.D. students, recruitment and retention of academic staff is increasingly problematic,
making staffing a priority area and poor academic pay.
To recruit and retain Generation Y (students born ca. 1980-1999 in the UAE), Lim (2012)
recommends offering competitive salaries and benefits so that future/current employees would
feel financially secure, providing good physical work environments, offering professional
training programs, allowing creative space and less direct supervision and providing supportive
work environments. Forstenlechner & Mellahi’s (2011) study demonstrates external
legitimization through employment of home country nationals is associated with different
motives and adoption methods. The motives for obtaining legitimization vary from social
legitimacy logic and a sense of appropriateness, to economic efficiency and business case logic.
The level of adoption of localization within the sector is associated with the motives for
adoption. Yaghi & Yaghi (2014) study, assessing the quality of working life of 450 national
employees in the public and private sectors, four factors were important to Emiratis, managerial
approach, prestige, pay and benefits, and professional development opportunities.
To summarize, insufficient policies, lack of engagement, poor benefits and insufficient
development opportunities were identified as reasons that causes gap in the organization.
Summary and Conclusion
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In conclusion, the literature reviewed shows that there are relatively few studies that
address Emiratisation in higher education, and the studies that do exist show a lack of UAE
nationals in this field. However there are many more studies focused on expatriates in the UAE
workforce. Most of the studies agree that education is the pathway to Emiratisation. Faculty
development programs are highlighted in the literature, since placing engineering students into
pipelines for new faculty positions is of critical important. The literature shows that there are
several faculty preparation programs focused on engineering in the United States which provide
useful examples. A range of studies concluded that there are gaps in Emiratis knowledge and
motivation. Similarly, the organizational literature shows that many barriers to Emiratisation
remain in the UAE.

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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this study was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes of
lack of Emiratis in engineering faculty positions at the Higher Colleges of Technology. While a
complete gap analysis would focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes, the stakeholder to
be focused on in this analysis were engineering students in various colleges at HCT who are the
potential pipeline for Emirati engineering faculty. The analysis focused on causes for this
problem due to gaps in the areas of knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational issues.
The analysis began by generating a list of possible or assumed causes and then by examining
these systematically to focus on actual or validated causes.
As such, the questions that guide this study were the following:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that prevent graduates
from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from pursuing a
masters degree in engineering in order to become faculty?
2. What are the recommended solutions to close the knowledge, motivation, and
organization gaps that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in
engineering from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become
faculty?
In order to research the potential causes of and address potential solutions for the low
Emirati in faculty positions, Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical
method that helps to clarify organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual
performance level and the preferred performance level within an organization was implemented.
Assumed causes for the performance gap were generated based on personal knowledge and
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34
related literature. These causes were validated by using surveys, focus groups and interviews and
content analysis. Research-based solutions were recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive
manner.

Figure 1. The gap analysis process

The gap analysis process developed by (Clark & Estes, 2008) is based on six main steps,
identifying key business goals, identifying individual performance goals, determining
performance gaps, analyzing gaps to determine cause, identifying knowledge, motivation and
organizational solution and implement and evaluating results, tune system and revising goals.
The Higher Colleges of Technology is part of the UAE government’s strategy of
Emiratisation, 2011-2013. On November 27, 2012 UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and
Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al- Maktoum declared that 2013
would be a year of Emiratisation. In line with the goal of Emiratisation, HCT’s goal is to
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35
increase the number of Emiratis in engineering faculty positions from its current status of 2% to
reach 30% before the end of 2016.
There are several stakeholder involved in Emiratisation at the HCT. The key stakeholders
are the students, the senior management and the faculty. Below are stakeholder goals for each
stakeholder group.

Table 1
Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Goals
Organizational Mission
The Higher Colleges of Technology is dedicated to the delivery of technical and professional
programs of the highest quality to the students, within the context of sincere respect for diverse
beliefs and values. Graduates will have the linguistic ability to function effectively in an
international environment, the technical skills to operate in an increasingly complex
technological world, the intellectual capacity to adapt to constant change, and the commitment
to sustainable development and the leadership potential to make the greatest possible
contribution to the community for the good of all its members and stakeholders.
Organizational Global Goal
HCT’s charge is to carry out the national goal of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with
qualified leaders in the higher management and faculty positions to reach thirty percent.
Engineering Students
By January 1
st
2015, at least
35 engineering students will
apply to pursue Master’s
Degree in Engineering and
considering a faculty position
as a career opportunity.
Senior Management
By October 1
st
2014, senior
management will complete
100% the plan of Emiratising
engineering faculty positions.
Faculty
By December 1
st
2014, all
engineering faculty will have
integrated at least one
reflection assignment in their
course that is directly related
to the benefits of pursuing a
Master’s Degree and a faculty
position as a career
opportunity.

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36
The stakeholder of focus for this study for Emiratising engineering faculty positions at
the Higher Colleges of Technology were engineering students at the colleges, as they will be the
main pipeline for the colleges to Emiratise their engineering faculty positions. Current status of
Emiratis in engineering faculty positions is less than 2% as there are 112 engineering faculty and
only two of them are Emiratis. HCT’s goal is to reach 30%, therefore the gap is 28%. The critical
step necessary to begin this initiative is to assure having at least 35 engineering students apply to
pursue a Master Degree in Engineering by January 2015 and consider a faculty position as a
career opportunity.
Assumed Causes of the Performance Gap
People often presume they understand the causes of a problem and jump to solutions for
problem solving. As a result of their presumptions, people often omit causes for performance
gaps. A thorough investigation into the causes of performance gaps include three components (a)
informal interviews with stakeholders; (b) learning, motivation, and organization/culture theory;
and (c) review of the literature on the specific topic under question.
Scanning Interviews
One’s personal knowledge provides valuable information about the problem. It is
categorized under knowledge, motivation and organization headings. Informal interviews with
12 students were conducted to investigate potential causes of engineering students not pursuing a
Master Degree in engineering and considering to become a faculty at the Higher Colleges of
Technology. The knowledge of potential causes that was gained through these interviews helped
to guide the development of an appropriate instrument to validate those causes. In these
interviews, students were asked questions regarding knowledge, organization, and motivation.
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

37
Knowledge and skills. From personal knowledge, engineering students currently lack
knowledge about the opportunities that could be available for them if they decided to pursue
master programs in engineering. Also, they lack the skills of how to apply to a master degree and
the knowledge of which university or college to apply to.
Motivation. From informal conversation with some engineering students, their main goal
is to graduate and secure a job to experience a new lifestyle; they are not motivated to continue
studying to pursue a Master Degree. Based on discussion with some students, they do not want to
continue in educational environment as they are tired of being persistent in the last four years
during undergraduate studies.
Organization. Based on personal knowledge, Emiratisation goal has not been defined or
articulated by the senior management at the HCT, the Higher College of Technology has not
emphasized the need for Emiratis to earn a Master’s degree and become faculty. Though there is
a special fund for Emiratisation, there is no proper planning in utilizing the fund to increase
number of Emiratis on different levels at HCT.
Learning and Motivation Theory
Clark and Estes (2008) framework examines three main dimensions, knowledge,
motivation and organizational gaps. You also want to add about the Clark and Estes motivation
framework of choice, persistence, mental effort.
Knowledge and skills. According to Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) taxonomy,
knowledge is categorized into four types: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive.
Reflection the types and dimensions on engineering students at HCT demonstrates that they do
not have the necessary basic factual and conceptual knowledge about a Master’s Degree. Also,
they do not have procedural knowledge and awareness about the pathway on how to pursue a
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

38
Master Degree and become a faculty member. As it is defined by Anderson and Krathwohl
(2001), metacognitive knowledge is knowledge about cognition in general as well as awareness
of and knowledge about one’s own cognition. Senior-engineering students do not know how to
plan their approach towards studying a Master Degree in engineering.
Factual knowledge. Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) define factual knowledge as the
basic elements the learner must know in order to be familiar with the topic or solve problems
within the discipline. Assessing engineering students prior knowledge about opportunities could
be available for them at the Higher Colleges of Technology and their knowledge about Master
Degree’s may validate factual knowledge causes. Assessing prior knowledge allows for the
development of solutions that ensure a bridge between what the learners already know and what
they need to know to perform the task. Mayer (2011) proposes several methods that could be
used to assess prior learning. In this case study assessment via survey and interviews will be used
to determine whether the engineering students can demonstrate their factual knowledge about the
Master Degree.
Conceptual knowledge. Conceptual knowledge is defined by Anderson and Krathwohl
(2001) as the interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure. As with
factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge may be validated by interviewing the stakeholder to
assess the ability to analyze concepts in a larger context and think “within” as well as “outside”
of the structures (Anderson & Krathwohl, p. 52). For example, engineering students should be
assessed for their level of understanding about the postgraduate studies in general.
Procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge refers to the learner’s ability to use
subject-specific skills, techniques and methods to perform a task and is the result of using
conceptual knowledge (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). One way to assess the level of procedural
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

39
knowledge in a particular topic, such as knowing if engineering students would be able to apply
to a Master’s Degree.
Metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge is the awareness and knowledge of
one’s own cognition, including the ability to apply strategic knowledge that is acquired through
experience and with age (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Metacognitive knowledge is important
in terms of how it is used by learners to facilitate their own learning and can be assessed through
informal conversations or interviews.
Possible causes of knowledge gaps for engineering students are identified accordingly
and listed in Table 2.

Table 2
Possible Causes of Performance Gap: Knowledge and Skills
Type of Cause
Knowledge Type Example
Factual Engineering students lack the knowledge on the opportunity could be
available for them
Engineering students do not have the necessary basic factual knowledge
about a Master’s Degree
Conceptual Engineering students do not have conceptual knowledge about post
graduate studies in general
Procedural Engineering students do not have the necessary skills and basic procedural
knowledge about how to apply to a Master’s Degree
Metacognitive Engineering students do not know how to plan their approach towards
studying

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40
Motivation. According to Clark and Estes (2008), motivation has three facets: active
choice, persistence and mental effort. HCT engineering students are not choosing to pursue a
Master’s Degree mainly because they fail to choose actively pursue a goal. This may be due to
their lack of interest in teaching career and lack of self-efficacy in pursuing a Master Degree.
They do not want to invest further mental effort in studying as they are looking forward to
experience the work environment.
Goals provide the context in which values and expectancies drive meaning and influence
motivation and motivation becomes meaningful when we know what the person is motivated to
do (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett & Norman, 2010). The framework used is three facts of
motivated performance active choice, persistence and mental effort (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Assumed causes were classified according to their index, and assessed and validated through a
survey and interviews. A written review of the motivational causes and attributions is
summarized in Table 1, followed by validation and proposed solutions summarized in Table 2.
Assumed motivational causes for this study were coded around themes of different goal,
exploring new experiences, work environment, low task value, low self-efficacy, overconfidence
and lack of attention. Most motivational problems were attributed to problems in active choice,
whereby intention to pursue a goal is replaced by action, but indices of mental effort and
persistence were also present.

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

41

Table 3
Possible Causes of Performance Gap: Motivation
Type of Motivational Problem and Possible Causes
Motivational Problem (describe what the
motivational issue is)
Type of Indicator
(Active choice,
persistence,
and/or effort) Possible Cause(s)*
Different Goal
Engineering students have their own personal
goals.
Active Choice Senior-engineering
students main goal is to
graduate.
Exploring New Experiences
Senior-engineering students are not motivated to
continue studying.
Active Choice Engineering students
are keen on exploring
new experiences.
Work Environment
Engineering students would like to work in a
field where they can practice what they learned.
Active Choice Students do not want to
continue in educational
environment.
Low Task Value
Engineering students view teaching career in a
lower category compare to other careers
Active Choice Senior-engineering
students have lack of
interest in teaching
career
Low Self-Efficacy
Engineering students do not have the confidence
to pass the Master program.
Persistence Lack of self-efficacy in
pursuing a Master
Degree.
Overconfidence
Engineering students are overconfidence with
what they learned already.
Mental Effort They do not want to
invest further mental
effort.
Lack of attention
Engineering students are not in the center of the
attention of HCT, yet they are at the core of
many other companies’ attention with better
incentives.
Active Choice They are not
incentivized to consider
teaching as a career
option.

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42
Different Goal
An assumed cause was that engineering students have a different goal. A possible cause
for this problem was that engineering students’ main goal is to graduate and pursue their
personal goal, as they are unaware of the value of studying a master degree and becoming a
faculty. In the absence of clear goals, people substitute their own goals (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Creating value for the goal (Rueda, 2011) of pursuing a master degree and becoming a faculty by
using organizational and management structure that provide a safe and confortable environment
and by using cooperative and collaborative groups to attain both social and academic goals
would be good strategies to increase motivation of the engineering students.
Exploring New Experiences
An assumed cause was that engineering students’ active choice is not to continue
studying. Possible causes for this problem is that engineering students are keen on exploring new
experience rather than continue studying. Motivation can be increased by creating interest and
intrinsic (Rueda, 2011) for studying a Master degree and then working for HCT. Giving chance
to students to practice teaching and providing simulating and interesting tasks for the students are
good strategies to increase motivation.
Work Environment
An assumed cause was that engineering students would like to work in a field related to
the engineering sector where they can practice what they learned. Possible cause for this problem
is an active choice for engineering students that they do not want to continue in an educational
environment. Motivation can be increased by creating value for teaching career and adaptive
attributions and control beliefs (Rueda, 2011) for the engineering students. Building supportive
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

43
and caring personal relationship and providing tasks and activities that are relevant and useful for
the engineering students are good strategies to increase engineering students motivation.
Low Task Value
An assumed cause was that engineering students view a teaching career in a lower
category compare to other careers. Possible cause for this problem is having lack of interest in
teaching career because it is not seen as a first choice career. According to Rueda (2011) and
Clark & Estes (2008) motivation can be increased by creating value for teaching career and
removing perceived organizational barriers respectively. Consequently increasing the interest
value of Emiratisation by providing material of the importance on Emiratisation and removing
perceived barriers such as negative idea about teaching career by showing the importance of this
career in the society by benchmarking with other countries are good strategies to increase
motivation.
Low Self-Efficacy
An assumed cause was that engineering students do not have the self-efficacy to pass the
Master program. Possible cause for this problem is lack of self-efficacy among engineering
students to continue graduate studies. According to (Rueda, 2011) motivation can be increased
by developing self-efficacy. Providing information about the Master Program and reminding the
engineering students of their success during the undergraduate study are good strategies to
increase motivation.
Overconfidence
An assumed cause was that engineering students are overconfident with what they
already learned. Possible cause for this problem is that engineering students do not want to invest
further mental effort in learning. According to (Clark & Estes, 2008) people invest little mental
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

44
effort when they are overconfident. In order to increase engineering student motivation, principal
of adaptive self-efficacy and competence beliefs (Rueda, 2011) by providing clear and accurate
feedback regarding competence and self-efficacy and designing tasks that offer opportunities to
be successful but also challenging are good strategies to increase motivation.
Lack of Attention
An assumed cause was that engineering students are not in the center of the attention of
the HCT, yet they are at the core of many other companies’ attention with better incentives.
Possible cause for this problem is that engineering students are not incentivized to consider
teaching as a career option. According to Rueda (2011), motivation can be increased by creating
goals. Thus creating incentives packages for the students, using organizational and management
structure that provide a predictable environment for the future engineering students and using
cooperative and collaborative groups to attain both social and academic goals would increase
motivation.
Organization. Clark and Estes (2008) studied organizational gaps from three sides:
alignment, culture and change. At HCT, the Emiratisation goal has not been aligned or clearly
articulated. In general, there is lack of adequate knowledge, skills, and motivational support for
engineering students, particularly, there is lack of support and incentives for engineering students
to pursue a Master’s degree and return as faculty members. There is no framework concerning
this topic. The value of having local faculty and its impact on student, organization and the
nation has not been clearly articulated. In addition, engineering students have not been given
chance to lead discussion or facilitate topics with junior students. Clark and Estes (2008) define
cultures and performance in different organizations in three common approaches, culture in
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45
environment, culture in groups and culture in individuals. In HCT, expatriate constitute the
majority among faculty members and management. It is dominating Emirati culture.
To analyze an organization means to analyze the culture, structure, and policies and
practices of the organization (Rueda, 2011). Assumed organizational causes for this study were
coded around themes of Emiratisation goal, goal alignment, involvement, incentives and trust.
Emiratisation Goal
An assumed cause was that HCT management does not have a clear Emiratisation vision
and goal articulated. Possible causes for this problem are that the Higher College of Technology
has not emphasized on the need for Emiratis to earn Master’s and become faculty and that there
was no proper planning to increase number of Emiratis on different levels at HCT. Because of
that the colleges do not take Emiratisation project as a priority on their agenda. Therefore the
Central Services “HCT Senior Management” did not need to create ways to measure the progress
as not much has been happening in Emiratisation. Changing cultural models and settings, as well
as making structural changes to support organizational goal, can strengthen performance (Rueda,
2011). Articulating the Emiratisation goal and having a clear vision on implementing and
measuring its progress would improve Emiratisation policy and practices at HCT.
Goal Alignment
An assumed cause was that management did not align the structure and the processes
with the goal. Possible causes for this problem are Emiratisation goal has not been aligned
clearly to the colleges. The value of Emiratisation is not yet clear to them. Emiratisation
committee was established few years ago at the HCT but the committee does not have a long-
term framework for Emiratisation. Tailoring organizational structure to meet different goals
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46
(Rueda, 2011) would enhance the performance. Linking Emiratisation progress with annual
colleges performance would help to close this gap.
Involvement
An assumed cause was that engineering students are not involved in plans and progress of
HCT. Possible causes for this problem is that students have not been given chance to lead
discussion at the HCT. As Rueda (2011) noted, making curriculum and activities relevant does
strengthen the performance. Involving engineering students in teaching and in HCT future plans
would keep the students engaged and give them the encouragement to pilot teaching before
considering it as a career.
Incentives
An assumed cause was that there is a low demand on applying to a Master degree from
engineering students in order to become a faculty at HCT. Possible cause for this problem is lack
of incentives. Providing adequate resources to accomplish goals (Rueda, 2011) is essential in
order to enhance performance. Having separate Emiratisation budget for the colleges to develop
engineering students to become faculty and to give them incentives would close this gap.
Trust
An assumed cause was that there is lack of trust in engineering student’s skills. Possible
causes for this problem are the culture of expatriate among faculty and management that is
dominating the Emirati culture at the HCT. According to Randeree and Gaad (2011) most UAE
nationals are attracted to the public sector. As verified by Rueda (2011), reducing organizational
barriers to collaboration would improve performance. Senior management including Emiratis
and expatriates and current Emirati faculties must collaborate to change this negative view and
give engineering student a chance to prove their talent.
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Possible causes of organizational gaps for engineering students are identified accordingly
and listed in Table 4.

Table 4
Possible Causes of Performance Gap: Organization
Organizational Problem
(describe what the
performance issue is) Possible Organizational Cause(s)*
Emiratisation goal
Management do not have a
clear Emiratisation vision,
goal and ways to measure
progress
The Higher College of Technology has not emphasized on the
need for Emiratis to earn Master’s and become faculty (P)
No proper planning to increase number of Emiratis on different
levels at HCT (P)
Goal Alignment
Management didn’t align
the structure and the
processes with the goal
Emiratisation goal has not been aligned clearly (T)
There is no framework (T)
The value is not clear (T)
Involvement
Engineering students are
not involved in plans and
progress of HCT
Students not been given chance to lead discussion (T)
Incentives
Low demand on applying
to a Master degree in order
to become a faculty at HCT
Lack of incentives
Trust
Lack of trust in engineering
student’s skills.
The culture of expatriate among faculty and management is
dominating the Emirati culture (T)
Most UAE nationals are attracted to the public sector (L)

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Assumed Causes from the Review of the Literature
Based on the related literature and background of the problem conducted to date.
Knowledge and skills. According to Randeree (2009) one of the challenges faced by
HRM functions in countries with interest to encourage nationalization is to raise the skill sets
among nationals. Officials in the UAE showed concern that insufficient number of Emirati
graduates of secondary school and university possess the skills needed to meet the growing
demands of the country. In addition to this training has been in conjunction with the introduction
of new technology, not for longer-term sustained development of human resources and capacity.
Emiratisation policy initiatives depend in part on the success of the education and training efforts
(RAND Corporation, 2008). According to Al Ali (2007), barriers to Emiratisation include low
standards of education and skills amongst potential employees, inadequate English, and a lack of
trust by employers in the work-readiness of United Arab Emirates nationals. Abdusheikh (2012)
propose that the government must take a more collaborative approach with private sector
organizations, create a supportive knowledge management system related to Emiratisation.
Motivation. According to Randeree (2009) one of the challenges faced by HRM
functions in countries with interest to encourage nationalization is to motivate nationals to
actively participate in the interest of the national economy. According to Ro (2011) engineering
students’ post-graduation consider multiple career options, which are not limited to work or
study in the field of engineering, as they near graduation. The study suggests that the engineering
programs should provide diverse curricula, instructional, and co-curricular experiences that
contribute to students’ learning and satisfaction, and thus encourage them to remain on the
engineering workforce pathway.
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Organization. Al-Ali (2007) identified barriers to Emiratisation including low standards
of education and skills of potential employees, inadequate English, and a lack of trust by
employers in the work-readiness of UAE nationals. According to (Renderee, 2012), most UAE
nationals are attracted to the public sector because it offers superior employment conditions,
higher remuneration, better job security, shorter working hours, generous vacations, and other
attractive options. These conditions do not appear to exist in the paradigm of public higher
education institutions in the UAE as the Emiratis in these institutions are less than twenty
percent.
Summary
A summary of the sources of assumed causes categorized as Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organization is found in Appendix A. The assumed causes in Appendix A were validated in the
sections below. These sections described sample and population size, instrumentation, process of
data collection, and the data analysis. Methods of data collection included survey and interviews
analysis. The analysis of the data suggested solutions that, when implemented, should achieve
the organizations goal of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with qualified leaders in the
higher management and faculty positions to reach thirty percent.
Sample and Population
The stakeholders of focus for this study, representing the population, are students
enrolled in engineering technology division (3000 students) at the Higher Colleges of
Technology.
The engineering technology division offers a wide range of programs at the Bachelor of
Applied Science level. The programs include: aviation maintenance technology, chemical
engineering technology, civil engineering technology, electrical engineering technology,
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50
electronic engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology and mechatronic
engineering technology. The sample that was used in this study will focus on all engineering
students at Abu Dhabi Colleges. This sample gave a fair representation of the population as it
included more than 400 students -- men and women -- in two different campuses.
Instrumentation
The gap analysis process investigated if the Emiratisation gap in engineering faculty
positions is caused by a lack of knowledge/skills, motivation, or culture/organization of the
students and administration at the Higher Colleges of Technology. Instrumentation in the form
of surveys and interviews were used to measure if there is a gap in knowledge/skill, motivation
or culture/organization. If the results indicate that the gap is caused by one of these variables the
solutions offered will be guided by the gap found.
A survey was used as the main method of instrumentation for this study since the sample
size was large. A pilot survey was shared with a focus group of (12 students, 6 male and 6
female) in order to see if it needs to be modified. Information was collected via closed survey
questions. The survey included demographic data for gender, age. Closed-survey questions are
more reliable and efficient to interpret and analyze than open-ended survey questions (Fink,
2013). Open-ended questions were asked during interviews and observations to provide an
opportunity for respondents to state a position in their own words (Merriam, 2009). The Gap
Analysis Case Validation Method Worksheet, Appendix B, lists the instrumentation type for
each assumed cause.
Data Collection
Following approval by the University of Southern California’s Institutional Review
Board, the survey was administered via email to Abu Dhabi Men’s College and to Abu Dhabi
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51
Women’s College engineering students. Engineering student contact details were requested from
the registrar office. Surveys were sent to all engineering students at Abu Dhabi Colleges in
October. The survey was online for two weeks in order to give chance too all students to
complete it.
Data Analysis
Frequencies and common themes were analyzed. In addition, data were observed for
correlations between variables. When coding whether the gap was caused by lack knowledge and
skills, types of knowledge were categorized as factual, procedural, conceptual, and
metacognitive knowledge. When examining whether there was a lack of motivation, variables
associated with motivation will be identified such as interest, self-efficacy, attributions, goal
orientation, active choice, persistence, and metal effort. When examining organization and
culture, policy procedures, resources, values and culture were analyzed.

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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
Introduction
The Higher Colleges of Technology has identified an ambition of carrying out the
national goal of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with qualified leaders in the higher
management and faculty positions to reach thirty percent. This project seeks to identify the
causes for the low Emiratisation in engineering faculty positions in Abu Dhabi Colleges at the
Higher Colleges of Technology. The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Process Model served
as the framework for the project. The model first identifies whether the problem is caused by a
lack of knowledge, motivation or cultural / organizational barriers. After the gap was identified,
solutions are proposed in Chapter 5 in order to close the gap. Following their implementation,
the effectiveness of the solutions will be evaluated.
As described in Chapter 3, this study used a mixed method approach, making use of both
quantitative and qualitative methods. Surveys were used to gather the quantitative data;
interviews provided the qualitative data. Both the survey and interviews helped answer the
project’s question on identifying potential gaps in motivation, knowledge and culture. In the next
section, the results of the survey and interviews are reported.
Participating Stakeholders
In order to investigate the root cause of students not becoming engineering faculty at
HCT, 1500 engineering students at Abu Dhabi Colleges were surveyed. 493 students participated
in the survey. The class years of the students who participated were as follows: 37% first year,
26% second year, 18% third year and 19% forth year. The gender ratio response to survey was
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74% men and 26% women, which is very similar to the gender ratio of the students in
engineering program.
A total of 370 students completed the survey that helped identify whether the root cause
was lack of motivation, lack of knowledge, and/or cultural barriers. The average age of the
participants was 23 years. Forty-five percent of the participants were sponsored students, mainly
by petroleum companies, and 55% were not sponsored.
The survey was conducted using a four-point Likert scale. Students indicated whether
they strongly disagreed, disagreed, agreed or strongly agreed (not interested, somewhat
interested, interested or very interested) with the statements presented.
In addition, 18 male and 12 female engineering students at Abu Dhabi Colleges were
interviewed and asked questions to assess whether the root cause of non-completion was lack of
knowledge, motivation and / or cultural barriers. Half of the students interviewed were sponsored
by semi-private companies. In order to obtain comprehensive results of the root causes, students
were interviewed from different engineering programs including electrical engineering,
electronic engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering and
transpiration engineering.
Findings
Research Question: What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that
prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from
pursuing a master’s degree in engineering in order to become faculty?
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Results and Findings for Knowledge Causes
Knowledge and Skills
Survey results. Knowledge was assessed using the taxonomy for learning (Andersen &
Krathwohl, 2001) representing the four types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural and
metacognitive. Five questions were asked. Factual knowledge was confirmed by asking students
to what extent are they aware of the requirements for becoming an HCT faculty member and by
finding out if they are aware of the faculty salary scale at HCT. Conceptual knowledge was
assessed by finding out to what extent students were interested in attending an information
session about applying for a masters program. In order to assess if students knew the appropriate
procedures for applying to a master program they were asked how clear are you about the
procedure for applying to a masters degree program. Metacognitive knowledge was assessed by
asking students about their level of confidence in the ability to complete a master degree in
engineering.
The tables below summarize the results of the statements corresponding to knowledge.

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Table 5
Results of the Knowledge Survey
Result
Assumed Cause & Type Item Mean SD
Factual
Engineering students do not have the
necessary basic factual knowledge
about a Master’s Degree
To what extent are you
aware of the requirements
for becoming an HCT
faculty member?
2.00 1.02
Factual
Engineering students do not know
about faculty salary scale at HCT
Are you aware of the faculty
salary scale at HCT?
1.67 0.96
Conceptual
Engineering students do not have
conceptual knowledge about post
graduate studies in general
To what extend would you
be interested in attending an
information session about
applying for a masters
program?
2.93 0.87
Procedural
Engineering students do not have the
necessary skills and basic procedural
knowledge about how to apply to a
Master’s Degree
How clear are you about the
procedure for applying to a
masters degree program?
2.27 0.95
Metacognitive
Engineering students do not know how
to plan their approach towards
studying
To what extent would you
consider pursuing and
earning a masters degree
useful?
3.44 0.65

The mean for factual knowledge was the lowest for the two questions of awareness of
requirement to become a faculty at HCT and awareness of faculty salary the means were 2.00
and 1.67 respectively, which means large number of students are unaware of the requirement to
become a faculty at HCT and unaware of faculty salary scale.
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The two statements with the highest mean corresponded are metacognitive knowledge
and conceptual knowledge respectively, which had means of 3.07 and 2.93. For procedural
knowledge, the mean was 2.27 for student being clear about the procedure for applying to a
masters degree program.
Factual Knowledge Reponses and Statistics
Students’ knowledge about the requirements for becoming an HCT faculty member was
assessed by finding out to what extent they are aware of the requirements for becoming an HCT
faculty member. A significant number of the answers, from 41% of the students, indicated that
they are unaware of the requirements. Twenty seven percent of the students indicated that they
are somewhat aware. Twenty one percent of the students indicated that they are aware and only
10% indicated that they are very aware of the requirements. It is significant that 69% of the
students are either unaware or unsure of the requirements and only 31% of the students are aware
and sure of the requirements.

Table 6
Q12: To What Extent Are You Aware of the Requirements for Becoming an HCT Faculty
Member?
# Answer Response %
1 Unaware

172 41%
2 Somewhat aware

114 27%
3 Aware

86 21%
4 Very aware

43 10%
Total 415 100%

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Similarly, students’ knowledge about faculty salaries was assessed by their awareness of
the faculty salary scale at HCT. A majority of the student’s (60%) indicated they are unaware of
the salary scale at HCT and 22% indicated that they are somewhat aware, so 82% of the students
indicated that they are either unaware and uncertain of the salary scale at HCT. Only 18% of the
students indicated that they are aware and very aware.

Table 7
Q13: Are You Aware of the Faculty Salary Scale at HCT?
# Answer Response %
1 Unaware

247 60%
2 Somewhat aware

90 22%
3 Aware

44 11%
4 Very aware

34 8%
Total 415 100%

Conceptual Knowledge Reponses and Statistics
Students’ conceptual knowledge was assessed by examining the extent to which they
were interested in attending an information session about applying for a masters program. A
large majority of the students (95%) indicated they are either somewhat interested, interested and
very interested. Seventy percent of the students are interested and very interested in attending
information session about applying for a masters program however they are unaware of the
details associated with career opportunities at HCT faculty positions. This confirms assumed
cause that engineering students do not have conceptual knowledge about postgraduate studies in
general.
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Table 8
Q11: To What Extent Would You Be Interested in Attending an Information Session About
Applying for a Masters Program?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

21 5%
2 Somewhat interested

108 26%
3 Interested

165 40%
4 Very interested

122 29%
Total 416 100%

Procedural Knowledge Reponses and Statistics
Students’ procedural knowledge was assessed by determining the extent of their
understanding of the procedure about applying to a masters degree program. More than 60% of
the students are unsure about the procedure for applying to a masters degree program, Twenty
three percent of the answers said they are not clear and 38% said they are somewhat clear, only
12% said they are very clear. This confirms the assumed cause that engineering students do not
have the necessary skills and basic procedural knowledge about how to apply to a Master’s
Degree.

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Table 9
Q10: How Clear Are You About the Procedure for Applying to a Masters Degree Program?
# Answer Response %
1 Not clear

98 23%
2 Somewhat clear

159 38%
3 Clear

111 27%
4 Very clear

50 12%
Total 418 100%

Metacognitive Knowledge Reponses and Statistics
Students’ metacognitive knowledge was assessed by finding out to what extent students
considered pursuing and earning a masters degree useful. A majority of students (92%) find it
useful or very useful. They are open to the notion of graduate school as a means of furthering
their careers, and they are interested in learning more about being a faculty member; but the
opportunity is not available for them. This contradicts the assumed cause that engineering
students do not know how to plan their approach towards studying and shows engineering
students willingness to pursue their studies.

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Table 10
Q9: To What Extent Would You Consider Pursuing and Earning a Masters Degree Useful?
# Answer Response %
1 Not useful

1 0%
2 Somewhat useful

34 8%
3 Useful

163 39%
4 Very useful

219 53%
Total 417 100%

From Knowledge responses in the survey, assumed causes were confirmed related to a
lack of factual and procedural knowledge for engineering students. Engineering students do not
have the necessary basic factual knowledge about a master’s degree, engineering students do not
know about faculty salary scale at HCT and engineering students do not have the necessary skills
and basic procedural knowledge about how to apply to a master’s degree. The survey also
confirmed that engineering students do not have conceptual knowledge about postgraduate
studies in general. Responses contradicted the metacognitive assumed cause that engineering
students do not know how to plan their approach towards studying. Engineering students’
responses showed willingness to learn and pursue a higher degree to advance their future and
career.
Interview results. Thirty engineering students were asked three questions to better
understand their knowledge. Students were asked how much they know about faculty salary
scale at HCT, this also validated the same survey question, what is the salary for fresh graduate
engineers in the market and what kind of information would encourage them to consider
becoming a faculty member at HCT, if they were interested. Most of students replied that they
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don’t know at all about the faculty salary scale at HCT, which confirms the 60% of “unaware”
reply in the survey. In spite of this unawareness of HCT salary scale, all 30 engineering students
had an idea of the salary scale in the market and gave answers of an average of 33,000 AED
when they were asked what is the salary for fresh graduate engineers in the market. When they
were asked what kind of information would encourage them to consider becoming a faculty
member at HCT, half of the students were not interested and replied no idea the other half mainly
suggested that awareness sessions about the opportunity available for the students would have a
positive impact in encouraging them to become faculty members in HCT.
Most of the students responded to the first question about how much they know about
faculty salary scale at HCT by indicating a lack of knowledge, but one of the students conveyed
the interviewees’ skepticism by responding “No idea, but I feel it will be low.” When asked why,
he replied “our teacher was complaining” about salary issues. Only one student replied with
giving a range of 25,000-30,000 Arab Emirates Dirham as a monthly salary for the HCT faculty,
which is a very close guess.
All students answered the second question “do you know about fresh engineering
graduate salary pay scale in the market?” few students had more detailed information about the
salary in the industry. One of the students answered, “engineers on remote site can make 45,000
while in the city can make only 35,000”, which is also very close guess to what industry
currently pays engineers, which is almost 10,000-20,000 AED more.
The third question was “What kind of information would encourage you to consider
becoming a faculty member at HCT?” Only students interested in learning more about a possible
faculty career answered this question. Many students suggested having more information about
the opportunity available at HCT. One of the students suggested a “teacher preparation program
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62
like Khalifa University”, which shows that student interest exists but non-readiness of HCT of
having programs that attracts the students defer them to join as a faculty member.
Synthesis of Results and Findings for Knowledge Causes
Synthesis of survey and interview results. The results from the student survey and
student interviews confirmed the assumed causes that engineering students have lack of factual
knowledge, conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge. It confirmed that engineering
student do not have the necessary basic factual knowledge about a master’s degree and becoming
a faculty member in HCT as 41% of the students replied they are unaware and only 10% said
they are very aware. Both survey and interviews confirmed that engineering students do not
know about faculty salary scale at HCT, as survey result showed 60% are not aware and
interview results showed that 29 students out of 30 replied that they did not know when asked:
“Are you aware of the faculty salary scale at HCT?”
The survey also confirmed that engineering students do not have conceptual knowledge
about postgraduate studies in general, as 95% replied that they are either somewhat interested,
interested or very interested when asked “To what extend would you be interested in attending
an information session about applying for a masters program?” The survey also confirmed that
engineering students do not have the necessary skills and basic procedural knowledge about how
to apply to a master’s degree, as 61% of the answers were between unclear and somewhat clear
and only 39% were clear and very clear when asked “How clear are you about the procedure for
applying to a masters degree program?” The survey result did not validate the assumed cause
that engineering students do not know how to plan their approach towards studying, as 91% of
the students indicated that pursuing and earning a masters degree would be useful or very useful.
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The findings also confirmed that engineering students have a very high metacognitive knowledge
of what they want to do in the future.
The results from the student survey and student interviews validated that students’ lacked
factual knowledge about the requirement of becoming a faculty member in HCT and the salary
scale of faculty member in HCT. In the survey, the responses with the lowest means were those
measuring factual knowledge. The question about awareness of the faculty salary scale at HCT
had the lowest overall mean of all the questions in the knowledge and skills category.
Results and Findings for Motivation Causes
Motivation Survey Results
Motivation was assessed in the student survey by including statements about students’
active choice, persistence and mental effort. Students’ active choice was assessed by asking them
about their interest in securing an industry job, their interest in working in an educational
institution, their willingness to work as a faculty member and how interested would you be in a
career in teaching if you received a scholarship from HCT during your studies. Questions were
asked about their persistence when pursuing a master degree on what is the level of confidence in
their ability to complete a master degree in engineering. Questions were also asked about
students’ mental effort that they do not want to invest further mental effort, to what extent they
are interested in pursuing a master degree and how interested they are you in pursuing a master’s
degree in engineering.
The survey results showed that engineering students were interested and confident in
pursuing and completing a master degree in general and especially in studying engineering in the
UAE and abroad. They were also very interested in securing an industry job. On the other hand
the survey result showed less interest from engineering students in teaching career even if they
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64
receive a scholarship from HCT during your studies and to work as an engineering faculty
member at HCT in the future or to work in educational institution in general.
Table 11 summarizes the results for statements measuring motivation. In addition, the
table indicates what was measured: active choice, persistence and mental effort. The statement
with the highest means measures active choice is engineering students are keen on securing
industry job with mean of 3.06.
Statements from active choice had means that ranged between 3.06 and 2.28. The
statement with the mean of 2.28 asked how interested they would be in a career in teaching if
they received a scholarship from HCT during your studies. These means confirm assumed causes
that engineering students are keen on exploring new experiences by securing an industry job and
that they are not incentivized to consider teaching as a career option.
Statements about mental effort had means of 3.36 and 3.09; these results indicated that
engineering student would like to invest further mental effort and continue a master degree and
invalidate our assumed cause that engineering student do not want to invest further mental effort.
Overall, the results from the student survey did not indicate a lack of motivation but lack
of interest in working for educational institutions in general.

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Table 11
Results of the Motivation Survey
Result
Assumed Cause & Type Item Mean SD
Active Choice
Different Goal
Engineering students have their own personal goals.
Senior-engineering students main goal is to graduate.
Interview Question
Active Choice
Exploring New Experiences
Senior-engineering students are not motivated to continue studying.
Engineering students are keen on exploring new experiences.
How interested are you in
securing an industry job?
3.06 0.88
Active Choice
Work Environment
Engineering students would like to work in a field where they can
practice what they learned.
Students do not want to continue in educational environment.
How interested are you in
working in an educational
institution?
1.95 0.93
Active Choice
Low Task Value
Engineering students view teaching career in a lower category
compare to other careers
Senior-engineering students have lack of interest in teaching career
How willing are you to
work as an engineering
faculty member at HCT in
the future?
2.29 0.99
How interested are you in
becoming a faculty
member?
2.06 1.00
Persistence
Low Self-Efficacy
Engineering students do not have the confidence to pass the Master
program.
Lack of self-efficacy in pursuing a Master Degree.
What is your level of
confidence in your ability
to complete a master
degree in engineering?
3.07 0.79
Mental Effort
Overconfidence
Engineering students are overconfidence with what they learned
already.
They do not want to invest further mental effort.
To what extent are you
interested in pursuing a
master degree?
3.36 0.77
How interested are you in
pursuing a master’s degree
in engineering?
3.09 0.86
Active Choice
Lack of attention
Engineering students are not in the center of the attention of HCT,
yet they are at the core of many other companies’ attention with
better incentives.
They are not incentivized to consider teaching as a career option.
How interested would you
be in a career in teaching
if you received a
scholarship from HCT
during your studies?
2.28 1.11

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Motivation Responses
Engineering students’ mental effort assumed cause posited that engineering students are
overconfident with what they learned already and they do not want to invest further mental effort
was validated by asking them. The survey asked “to what extent are you interested in pursuing a
master degree?” In the response, 99% of the students showed at least some interest in pursuing a
master degree.

Table 12
Q6: To What Extent Are You Interested in Pursuing a Master’s Degree?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

6 1%
2 Somewhat interested

58 14%
3 Interested

136 32%
4 Very interested

219 52%
Total 419 100%

For the same assumed cause that engineering students are overconfident with what they
learned already and they do not want to invest further mental effort was validated by asking
them. The other survey question asked “how interested are you in pursuing a master’s degree in
engineering?” In the response, 96% of the students respectively showed at least some interest in
pursuing a master degree in Engineering. Both answers confirmed that engineering students are
eager to continue learning.

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Table 13
Q7: How Interested Are You in Pursuing a Master’s Degree in Engineering?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

17 4%
2 Somewhat interested

84 20%
3 Interested

158 38%
4 Very interested

157 38%
Total 416 100%

Another assumed cause postulated that students are not motivated to continue studying
and they are keen on exploring new experiences. This cause was validated by asking the
students “how interested are you in securing an industry job?”, and responses showed that 95%
of the students showed interest in securing an industry job. This means that they are unaware of
possible options available for them of becoming a faculty member in HCT.

Table 14
Q8: How Interested Are You in Securing an Industry Job?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

22 5%
2 Somewhat interested

82 20%
3 Interested

162 39%
4 Very interested

151 36%
Total 417 100%

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The survey also validated the assumed cause that engineering students do not have the
confidence to pass the Master program and they lack self-efficacy in pursuing a Master Degree.
This was assessed by asking the students “what is your level of confidence in your ability to
complete a master degree in engineering?” In response, 98% of the students were confident, very
confident or somewhat confident in their ability to complete a master degree in engineering. This
confirms that engineering students are persistence and do have self-efficacy to pursue a Master
Degree.

Table 15
Q14: What is Your Level of Confidence in Your Ability to Complete a Master’s Degree in
Engineering?
# Answer Response %
1 Not confident

10 2%
2 Somewhat confident

82 20%
3 Confident

178 44%
4 Very confident

132 33%
Total 402 100%

Engineering students were also asked “how interested are you in studying in a masters
degree program for the next two years in the UAE?” and “what is your level of interest in
studying in a masters degree program for the next two years abroad?” The respondents showed
interest to study masters degree program in the UAE and abroad, 75% in the UAE and 64%
abroad respectively. The main reason to prefer UAE is due to having sponsorship contracts by
most of the students.
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Table 16
Q15: How Interested Are You in Studying in a Master’s Degree Program for the Next Two Years
in the UAE?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

37 9%
2 Somewhat interested

105 26%
3 Interested

140 35%
4 Very interested

118 30%
Total 400 100%

Table 17
Q16: What is Your Level of Interest in Studying in a Master’s Degree Program for the Next Two
Years Abroad?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

57 14%
2 Somewhat interested

88 22%
3 Interested

114 28%
4 Very interested

143 36%
Total 402 100%

Engineering students also validated the assumed cause that they are not the center of the
attention of HCT, yet they are at the core of many other companies’ attention with better
incentives and they are not incentivized to consider teaching as a career option. The survey
assessed this by asking them “How interested would you be in a career in teaching if you
received a scholarship from HCT during your studies?” In response, 41% indicated they are
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interested or very interested and 32% indicated they are not interested. This confirms that
engineering students are not incentivized to consider teaching as a career option.

Table 18
Q17: How Interested Would You Be in a Career in Teaching If You Received a Scholarship from
HCT During Your Studies?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

129 32%
2 Somewhat interested

107 27%
3 Interested

89 22%
4 Very interested

77 19%
Total 402 100%

Engineering students also validated the assumed cause that they view teaching career in a
lower category compare to other careers and that they have lack of interest in teaching career.
These assumed causes were validated by finding out student willingness to work as faculty
member. Of the students who responded to the survey, 13% of the students were very much
willing to work as an engineering faculty member at HCT in the future and in contrast 26% were
not willing. This confirms the negative view that engineering students have about teaching career
compare to other careers and lack of interest in it.

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Table 19
Q18: How Willing Are You to Work as an Engineering Faculty Member at HCT in the Future?
# Answer Response %
1 Not willing

98 26%
2 Somewhat willing

122 32%
3 Willing

110 29%
4 Very much willing

48 13%
Total 378 100%

Engineering students validated the assumed cause that they like to work in a field where
they can practice what they learned and they do not want to continue in educational environment
by answering “how interested are you in working in an educational institution?” In response,
39% of the students said they are not interested, with only 7% said they are very interested and
20% interested respectively. This result confirms that engineering students would like to work in
a field where they can practice what they learned and do not want to continue in an educational
environment.

Table 20
Q19: How Interested Are You in Working in an Educational Institution?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

147 39%
2 Somewhat interested

131 35%
3 Interested

75 20%
4 Very interested

26 7%
Total 379 100%

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Engineering students validated assumed cause that they view teaching career in a lower
category compare to other careers and that they have lack of interest in teaching career by
finding out their interest in becoming a faculty member. In response 36% of the students
indicated that they are not interested, 32% somewhat interested and only 11% indicated they are
very interested. This again double confirms the negative view that engineering students have
about teaching career compare to other careers and lack of interest in it.

Table 21
Q21: How Interested Are You in Becoming a Faculty Member?
# Answer Response %
1 Not interested

138 36%
2 Somewhat interested

122 32%
3 Interested

79 21%
4 Very interested

41 11%
Total 380 100%

Motivation-related responses to the survey confirmed assumed causes that engineering
students are keen on exploring new experiences, engineering students would like to work in a
field where they can practice what they learned, that they view teaching career in a lower
category compare to other careers, they are not in the center of the attention of HCT, and yet they
are at the core of many other companies’ attention with better incentives. They survey also
showed that they are not incentivized to consider teaching as a career option, they have lack of
interest in teaching career and they do not want to continue in educational environment. It also
contradicted active choice assumed cause that engineering students are not motivated to continue
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studying and persistence assumed causes that engineering students do not have the confidence to
pass the master program and that they have lack of self-efficacy in pursuing a master degree. It
also contradicted mental effort assumed causes that engineering students are overconfidence with
what they learned already and they do not want to invest further mental effort as majority
showed big interest in learning.
Interview results. Thirty engineering students were asked five questions to better
understand their motivation. First, students where asked if they ever considered pursing a
master’s degree and the reason for that. All students replied that they have considered studying a
master degree for different reasons and on different priorities. Second students were asked if they
have ever considered becoming a faculty member in HCT and why or why not. Out of 30
interviewees 25-replied no. The few students who replied yes were taught by an Emirati teacher
or because of their self-interest in teaching other students. Having a role model and practicing
teaching informally had a positive impact on students’ decision to become a faculty member.
Students who did not had a negative idea about teaching career that it is a very difficult career
with minimum pay.
Third, students were asked if they ever considered working in an educational
environment. Out of 30 interviewees half said no and the other half said yes. This is because the
work opportunity is not limited to teaching but they can become members in management and
administration. Fourth, students were asked what would motivate them to work in an educational
environment. Most of the students indicated they are not interested in working in an educational
environment. The few students who showed interest in working in an educational environment
were motivated because being a faculty is a noble role and satisfaction you get out of transferring
knowledge to other people. Fifth, students were asked if they ever considered studying for a
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master’s degree in engineering and where. Most of the students replied yes, and they were open
to studying in the UAE or abroad. Sponsored students indicated that they have no option but to
study in the UAE however they are open to study anywhere.
The first question was “have you ever considered pursing a master’s degree? why or why
not?” all students gave positive answers, and the main reason for them was to further develop
themselves and to get extra depth in knowledge.
The second question was “have you ever considered becoming a faculty member in
HCT? Why or why not?” The majority of the answers were no, because as one of the students
said “the environment do not encouraging, no encouragement from faculty or administration, no
role modeling, no additional extra curricular activities”. Few students gave a positive reply, with
those coming from students who like to teach themselves or had an experience with a teacher
whom they consider as a role model. One of the students said “just when I met my teacher who is
a UAE national in engineering. I felt I can also do like him and deliver the knowledge to the
students”.
The third question was “have you ever considered working in an educational
environment?” half of the students said yes and the other half said no, most of the people who
said yes had a good experience in educational or motivation from someone at the institution.
Some indicated that they could be engaged part time but not full time.
The fourth question was “what would motivate you to work in an educational
environment?” Only students interested in working in an educational environment answered this
question. Mainly their motivation was because teaching is a noble career. As one of the students
said, “I liked [working in educational environment] as a kid, giving back to society; it’s a noble
career, you can influence the next generation”.
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No gap was found in students’ persistency and mental effort. A gap was found in
students’ active choice.
Synthesis of Results and Findings for Motivation Causes
Synthesis of survey and interview results. The results from the student survey and
student interviews invalidated the assumed cause that students lack the motivation to pursue a
master degree, but yet confirmed the lack of interest in working in an educational environment or
pursuing a career as a faculty.
The results from the student survey and student interviews confirmed the assumed causes
that engineering students are keen on exploring new experiences, that they would like to work in
a field where they can practice what they learned, and they view a teaching career in a lower
category compared to other careers. The findings also showed that engineering students do not
believe they are the center of the attention at HCT, yet they are at the core of many other
companies’ attention with better incentives. As such, they are not incentivized to consider
teaching as a career option, and they do not want to continue in educational environment.
The findings also contradicted assumed causes that engineering students are not
motivated to continue studying and that they do not have the confidence or self-efficacy to
pursue a masters program. The results also contradicted mental effort assumed causes that
engineering students are overconfident about what they learned already and they do not want to
invest further mental effort as majority showed big interest in learning.
Results and Findings for Organization Causes
Organization Survey Results
Organizational causes were assessed in the student survey looking at Clark and Estes
(2008) study the organizational gaps from three sides: alignment, culture and change. In order to
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assess engineering students’ perception of the college culture and organization, students
responded to 7 questions that wanted to answer five main concerns, Emiratisation goal
alignment, student goal alignment, student involvement, student incentives, and trust in student
skills. Emiratisation goal alignment was assessed in the survey by determining students’
satisfaction with HCT’s efforts encouraging students to pursue a master’s degree and students’
satisfaction with HCT’s efforts preparing students to become faculty. Student goal alignment
was assessed in the survey by finding out to what extent student support the new Emiratisation
plan to nationalize engineering faculty positions. Students’ involvement was assessed in the
survey by examining students’ satisfaction with the academic standards at HCT. Need of
incentives was assessed in the survey by examining the importance of the availability of
scholarships for students to consider careers at HCT and to what extent student support potential
“Student Preparation Programs”, which includes stipends during study time, international work
experience and a master degree in engineering in order to become a faculty. Student trust in HCT
was assessed by finding out seeing HCT as a prestige organization to work for.
Table 22 summarizes the results for measuring organization and culture. The statement
with the highest means measured goal alignment supporting the new Emiratisation plan to
nationalize engineering faculty positions with mean of 3.06. This confirms lack of opportunity
available and the level of support to the new Emiratisation plan. The statements with second and
third highest means measured incentives; the importance of the availability of scholarships for
students to consider careers at HCT and supporting potential “Student Preparation Programs”,
which includes stipends during study time, international work experience and a master degree in
engineering in order to become a faculty with means of 3.07 and 2.90 respectively.

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Table 22
Results of the Culture / Organization Survey
Result
Assumed Cause & Type Item Mean SD
Emiratisation goal
Management do not have a clear Emiratisation
vision, goal and ways to measure progress
The Higher College of Technology has not
emphasized on the need for Emiratis to earn
Master’s and become faculty (P)
No proper planning to increase number of
Emiratis on different levels at HCT (P)
How satisfied are you with HCT’s efforts
encouraging students to pursue a master’s
degree?
2.36 0.96
How satisfied are you with HCT’s efforts
preparing students to become faculty?
2.29 0.95
Goal Alignment
Management didn’t align the structure and the
processes with the goal
Emiratisation goal has not been aligned clearly
(T)
There is no framework (T)
The value is not clear (T)
To what extent do you support the new
Emiratisation plan to nationalize its
engineering faculty positions?
3.21 0.82
Involvement
Engineering students are not involved in plans
and progress of HCT
Students not been given chance to lead
discussion (T)
How satisfied are you with the academic
standards at HCT?
2.68 0.80
Incentives
Low demand on applying to a Master degree in
order to become a faculty at HCT
Lack of incentives
How important is the availability of
scholarships for students to consider
careers at HCT?
3.07 0.88
To what extent do you support potential
“Student Preparation Programs”, which
includes stipends during study time,
international work experience and a
master degree in engineering in order to
become a faculty?
2.90 0.83
Trust
Lack of trust in engineering student’s skills.
The culture of expatriate among faculty and
management is dominating the Emirati culture
(T)
Most UAE nationals are attracted to the public
sector (L)
Do you see HCT as a prestige
organization to work for?
2.50 0.81

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The statement with the lowest means measured Emiratisation goal, student satisfaction of HCT’s
efforts preparing students to become faculty and HCT’s efforts encouraging students to pursue a
master’s degree with means of 2.29 and 2.36 respectively. The statement measures student
involvement and satisfaction with the academic standards at HCT mean was 2.68. The statement
measures student trust and see HCT as a prestige organization to work for mean was 2.50.
Culture / Organization Responses
Engineering students’ involvement in HCT assumed cause that engineering students are
not involved in plans and progress of HCT was validated by determining student satisfaction
with the academic standards at HCT. In the survey, 60% of the students replied that they are
satisfied and very satisfied. Only 7% replied that they are not satisfied. The high percentage of
somewhat satisfied confirms assumed cause that students’ non-involvement and limited chances
to lead discussions.

Table 23
Q20: How Satisfied Are You With the Academic Standards at HCT?
# Answer Response %
1 Not satisfied

25 7%
2 Somewhat satisfied

128 34%
3 Satisfied

172 45%
4 Very satisfied

56 15%
Total 381 100%

The assumed cause that most UAE nationals are attracted to the public sector was
validated by assessing whether engineering students see HCT as a prestigious employer. Half of
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the students replied that they see HCT as prestigious and very prestigious organization to work
for and 40% sees somewhat prestigious and 10% sees as not prestigious.

Table 24
Q22: Do You See HCT as a Prestige Organization to Work For?
# Answer Response %
1 Not prestigious

38 10%
2 Somewhat prestigious

151 40%
3 Prestigious

152 40%
4 Very prestigious

38 10%
Total 379 100%

The assumed cause that management at HCT do not have a clear Emiratisation vision,
goal and ways to measure progress was validated. HCT has not emphasized the need for Emiratis
to earn masters degrees and become faculty, and no proper planning is in place to increase the
number of Emiratis on different levels at HCT. Regarding efforts encouraging students to pursue
a master’s degree, 21% replied that they are not satisfied and 35% replied they are somewhat
satisfied, only 15% replied they are very satisfied. Regarding efforts preparing students to
become faculty 23% replied they are not satisfied and 25% they are somewhat satisfied, only
11% replied they are very satisfied. These results confirm assumed causes that HCT do not
emphasize on the need for Emiratis to earn master’s degree and become faculty.

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Table 25
Q23: How Satisfied Are You With HCT’s Efforts Encouraging Students to Pursue a Master’s
Degree?
# Answer Response %
1 Not satisfied

80 21%
2 Somewhat satisfied

131 35%
3 Satisfied

114 30%
4 Very Satisfied

51 14%
Total 376 100%

Table 26
Q24: How Satisfied Are You With HCT’s Efforts Preparing Students to Become Faculty?
# Answer Response %
1 Not satisfied

88 23%
2 Somewhat satisfied

134 35%
3 Satisfied

113 30%
4 Very Satisfied

43 11%
Total 378 100%

Lack of incentives at HCT yield low interest in applying to a master’s degree program in
order to become a faculty member. Students were asked “how important is the availability of
scholarships for students to consider careers at HCT?” and “to what extent do you support
potential “Student Preparation Programs”, which includes stipends during study time,
international work experience and a master degree in engineering in order to become a faculty?”
Answering the first question, 75% replied it is important or very important. For the second
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question 70% replied they are supportive or very supportive. This result confirms the importance
of having incentives and assumed cause lack of incentives.

Table 27
Q25: How Important is the Availability of Scholarships for Students to Consider Careers at
HCT?
# Answer Response %
1 Not important

19 5%
2 Somewhat important

77 20%
3 Important

141 37%
4 Very important

140 37%
Total 377 100%

Table 28
Q26: To What Extent Do You Support Potential “Student Preparation Programs”, Which
Includes Stipends During Study Time, International Work Experience and a Master’s Degree in
Engineering in Order to Become a Faculty?
# Answer Response %
1 Not supportive

15 4%
2 Somewhat supportive

104 28%
3 Supportive

159 43%
4 Very supportive

96 26%
Total 374 100%

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The assumed cause that HCT management does not align the structure and the processes
within the university to the goal of Emiratising the engineering faculty was also validanted.
Emiratisation has not been aligned clearly and the value is not clear. Students were asked “to
what extent do you support the new Emiratisation plan to nationalize its engineering faculty
positions?” In response, 80% of the students replied that they are supportive and very supportive
of the plan. This shows the potential of Emiratisation in HCT in the availability of
nationalization program.

Table 29
Q27: To What Extent Do You Support the New Emiratisation Plan to Nationalize its Engineering
Faculty Positions?
# Answer Response %
1 Not supportive

9 2%
2 Somewhat supportive

68 18%
3 Supportive

134 36%
4 Very supportive

165 44%
Total 376 100%

Interview results. Thirty engineering students were asked three questions to better
understand their organizational and culture drive. First, students where asked to describe an
event or incident that typifies relationships between HCT students and faculty. Students’ answers
varied from good relationship to somewhat good. The second question was if they see
themselves contributing to nationalize engineering faculty positions, majority of answers were
negative only few showed interest. The third question students were asked was kinds of things
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could HCT do to help encourage students to consider becoming a faculty member. All students
participated in giving suggestions.
In response to the first question, answers varied from very good relationship to somewhat
good based on student personal experience. For example, one of the students said “very good
relation [sic.], they are very much experienced and knowledgeable [sic.], they make the
engineering fun and enjoyable.” another student said “No all of them are good, some make you
love the subject and some make you hate the subject.”
The second question was “do you see yourself contributing to nationalize engineering
faculty positions?” Most of students reply was negative, the few students who were positive said,
“Yes, I enjoy teaching my colleagues” and “Yes, we are qualified”
The third question was “what kinds of things could HCT do to help encourage students to
consider becoming a faculty member?” All students shared their ideas to consider becoming a
faculty member. For example one of the students said “Role modeling will motivate students,
competitive salary, career development plan from faculty to chair to dean, more benefits for
Emiratis” another one added “Good infrastructure, salary, benefits, changing the negative
stereotype idea about the teaching career, respect for teacher.”
Synthesis of Results and Findings for Organization Causes
The results from the student survey and student interviews validated organizational gaps
in Emiratisation goal alignment, student goal alignment, student involvement, student incentives,
and student trust in HCT. Engineering students are not satisfied with HCT’s efforts encouraging
students to pursue a master’s degree neither with HCT’s efforts preparing students to become
faculty. Thus they are very supportive to the creation and implementation of a new Emiratisation
plan to nationalize its engineering faculty positions. They are satisfied with the academic
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standards at HCT, but the availability of scholarships is important for engineering students to
consider careers at HCT. They also support potential “Student Preparation Programs”, which
includes stipends during study time, international work experience and a master degree in
engineering in order to become a faculty. Engineering students split half and half in answering
whether or not they see HCT as a prestigious employer.
The results from the student survey and student interviews confirmed assumed causes
that management at HCT does not have a clear Emiratisation vision, goal and ways to measure
progress. The Higher College of Technology has not emphasized the need for Emiratis to earn a
master’s and become faculty and that there is no proper planning to increase number of Emiratis
on different levels at HCT.
Results confirm that engineering students are satisfied with academic standards and
involvement with HCT. In addition to this engineering students see that there is lack of
incentives and almost half of them do not see HCT as a prestigious organization to work for.
Summary
The following section summarizes the gaps found by triangulation of data, which
supports that the findings are indeed accurate. Students’ surveys and students’ interviews were
used to triangulate the data.
Knowledge and Skills
The survey and interviews support the findings that students lack of factual knowledge.
The results from the student survey and student interviews validated that students’ lacked factual
knowledge about the requirement of becoming a faculty member in HCT and the salary scale of
faculty member in HCT. In the survey, the responses with the lowest means were those
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measuring factual knowledge. The question about awareness of the faculty salary scale at HCT
had the lowest overall mean of all the questions in the knowledge and skills category.
Motivation
The results from the student survey and student interviews invalidated that students do
not have lack of motivation in pursuing a master degree, but yet confirms the lack of interest in
working in an educational environment or pursuing a career as a faculty.
Culture and Organization
The results from the student survey and student interviews confirmed assumed causes
that management at HCT does not have a clear Emiratisation vision, goal and ways to measure
progress. The Higher College of Technology has not emphasized the need for Emiratis to earn a
master’s and become faculty and that there is no proper planning to increase number of Emiratis
on different levels at HCT.
Solutions to the Perceived Performance Gaps
Research Question: What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that
prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from
pursuing a master’s degree in engineering in order to become faculty?
Taking into account the gaps found in knowledge, motivation and culture, solutions were
researched using scholarly literature. The literature review guided the solutions proposed to
reduce the gaps found. Solutions attempt to increase student’s factual knowledge, support active
choice and make changes to the organization to better meet students’ needs. The
recommendation solutions will be discussed in further detail in Chapter 5.

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CHAPTER 5
SOLUTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION
The overall purpose of this project was to assist Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in
closing the performance gap relative to its organizational goal to nationalize its engineering
faculty positions. Toward that end, this project was driven by two inquiry questions:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that prevent graduates
from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from pursuing a
masters degree in engineering in order to become faculty?
2. What are the recommended solutions to close the knowledge, motivation, and
organization gaps that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in
engineering from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become
faculty?
The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Process Model was used as a guide and
framework to help Higher Colleges of Technology to reach its goal of increasing Emiratisation in
engineering faculty positions. Following the gap analysis model, Higher Colleges of Technology
identified the goal, narrowing the gap between the desired outcome and current performance.
Scanning interviews and surveys helped identify potential causes of the gap, and along with
previous research, literature guided the construction of a survey and a set of questions to test
potential causes of the gap. The gaps were identified through student surveys and interviews.
This chapter identifies potential solutions Higher Colleges of Technology may adopt in order to
reach their goal of increasing Emiratisation in engineering faculty positions. This chapter offers
aid to the institution in the process of the implementing the solutions. The following chapter
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discusses how to evaluate the solutions in order to ensure the solutions are indeed helping to
close the identified gaps.
Solutions
Research Question: What are the recommended solutions to close the knowledge,
motivation, and organization gaps that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied
science in engineering from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become
faculty?
Solutions for Knowledge Causes
Survey and interview data validated the assumed causes related to Higher Colleges of
Technology knowledge and skills gaps.
Factual
Both the survey and the interviews validated that students lack factual knowledge.
Engineering students do not have the necessary basic factual knowledge about a master’s degree
and they do not know about the opportunity available for them to become faculty at HCT.
According to Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) factual knowledge is the basic element students
must have to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems. It has two subtypes: knowledge
of terminology and knowledge of specific details and elements. Knowledge of terminology
includes knowledge of specific verbal and nonverbal labels and symbols. Knowledge of specific
details and elements refer to knowledge of events, locations, people, dates, sources of
information, and the like. HCT engineering students have neither knowledge of terminology nor
knowledge of specific details about the opportunity available for them at the organization.
Providing information about the opportunity in HCT. Research suggests that
providing factual knowledge (facts) is key to increase engineering students number who are
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willing to work for HCT. Providing information to engineering students about the opportunity
available for them through embedding information within HCT web pages, using social media
and informative videos, is an important remedy. Taking into account the previous research,
students at Higher Colleges of Technology should be provided information showing the
advantage of considering both pursuing a Master’s Degree and working at HCT. According to
Gamage (2006) an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence between school administrators and
classroom teachers, non-teaching staff and students can facilitate communication. The key issue
is not whether the educational leaders and managers engage in communication, but whether they
communicate effectively or poorly. Fielding (2006) identified major barries to effective
communications within an organiasation which include failure to analyse the needs of the
reciever, poor listening and lack to attention to feedback, assumning that the recievers know
more than the really do, insensitive behaviour on the part of senders and recievers, different
cultural backgrounds, too many people to pass on the message from the sender to the reciever,
and poor choice of language by sender or reciever. According to Gordon-Donaldson’s (2012)
research, “financial support and accurate information influence student priorities and decision-
making about career preparation. Students must be informed about all potential financial
assistance, fellowships, and assistantships. Such lack of information can have devastating effects
on the attraction of future potential underrespresing and minorities graduate students in
technology.” This would suggest that as long as the communication is done effectively it can be
useful in providing information to engineering students about the opportunity available for them
at HCT.
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Conceptual
Both the survey and the interviews validated that students’ lack of conceptual knowledge.
Engineering students do not have conceptual knowledge about post-graduate studies in general.
According to Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) conceptual knowledge is the interrelationships
among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function together. It has
three subtypes: knowledge of classification and categories, knowledge of principles and
generalizations, and knowledge of theories, models and structures.
Information sessions for students by role models. Research suggests that providing
conceptual knowledge will increase engineering students’ willingness to work as faculty.
According to Rueda (2011) using role models who are credible, able to cope with problems,
similar (including culture and gender appropriate) and high status will increase engineering
students learning and knowledge. According to Kouzes and Pozner (2011) credible leaders make
a positive difference in individual’s lives and in the workplace. Trust is the base on which
credibility is built. Earning credibility requires leaders to get to know their constituents and let
their constituents get to know them. “Do What You Say You Will Do” is the behavioral
definition of personal credibility. “Do What We Say We Will Do” is what distinguishes a
leader’s credibility from personal credibility. Leaders represent their organizations, not just
themselves, and a leader’s actions must be consistent with the shared values of their
organizations. The process of building and sustaining credibility requires six disciplines:
discover your self, appreciate constituents, affirm shared values, develop capacity, serve a
purpose, and sustain hope. Lockwood, Jordan, and Kunda (2002) found
role models are most likely to enhance motivation when they encourage the adoption of
strategies that one is especially ready to implement, due to one’s salient regulatory focus.
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Promotion-focused individuals, who use a strategy of pursuing desired outcomes, will
find positive role models to be especially motivating; prevention-focused individuals,
who use a strategy of avoiding undesired outcomes, will find negative role models to be
especially motivating. However, role models who encourage strategies that are
incongruent with one’s regulatory concerns can undermine motivation.
Hoyt (2012) has identified an important self-regulatory variable that influences whether people
engage in assimilative or contrastive processes when making strategic comparisons and it
identifies the important role of self-perceptions in behavioral responses to role models. She
found that women with high levels of efficacy were inspired by the role models and they showed
positive assimilation responses, identifying more with leadership, whereas women with lower
levels of efficacy were less inspired by the role models and they demonstrated responses
consistent with self deflating contrast social comparison effects. This would suggest using role
models to increase engineering students learning and knowledge.
Procedural
Both the survey and the interviews validated that students lack procedural knowledge.
Engineering students do not have the necessary skills and basic procedural knowledge about how
to apply to a master’s degree.
Training students to apply to master’s programs. Research suggests that providing
procedural knowledge will increase engineering students confidence in applying to master
programs. According to Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) “procedural knowledge is the
“knowledge of how” to do something. The “something” might range from completing fairly
routine exercises to solving novel problems. Procedural knowledge often takes the form of a
series or sequence of steps to be followed.” Engineering students at Higher Colleges of
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Technology need to attend training course on how to apply to a master program in order to
increase their necessary skills and basic procedural knowledge about how to apply to a master’s
degree. Another solution is to have engineering students who are interested in applying to
masters’ program work with a college advisor on a one-on-one basis to guide them through the
application process. O’Clair (2012), in her study about preparing graduate students for graduate-
level study and research, found out that students’ self-perceived levels of confidence and
preparedness increased after taking a preparation course. Most felt the course was useful and the
content would help them to complete their theses more efficiently and effectively. Another useful
example comes from the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, which focuses on producing bachelor’s degree recipients, particularly African
Americans who go on to doctoral programs in science and engineering. Summers and Hrabowski
(2006) observed simultaneous increases in science & engineering participation among minority
students who are not in the Meyerhoff program as participation in the Meyerhoff program has
grown. The program encourages students to pursue academic goals, earn top grades, and prepare
for graduate school.
This would suggest that special programs and training courses on how to apply to a
master program for engineering students would increase their skills and confidence in applying
to a master program.
Metacognitive
Both the survey and the interviews invalidated that students lack metacognitive skills.
Engineering students do know how to plan their approach towards studying.
Goal alignment. Interviews with students revealed that they did set short or long-term
goals. According to Schraw (1998) metacognitive knowledge is multidimensional, domain-
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general in nature, and teachable. Instructional strategies designed for promoting the construction
and acquisition of metacognitive awareness include promoting general awareness, improving
self- knowledge and regulatory skills, and promoting learning environments that are conducive
to the construction and use of metacognition. Goal setting is part of metacognition. One of the
ways to increase metacognition is to set goals and monitor progress. According to Harford
(2008) setting goals helps students notice development, and when their performance rises they
are motivated to learn. The goals students set need to be specific, realistic and measurable.
Engineering students need their goal to be aligned toward the education sector and to becoming a
faculty member in engineering. According to Zimmerman (1990) as students’ metacognition
increases, their goals settings skills will become more automatic. Engineering students are
motivated and most of them have reached this level that their goals settings skills have became
more automatic, yet HCT must increase its efforts in order to align this positive fact towards
increasing Emiratisation in engineering faculty position specifically and the education sector in
general.
Summary
In order to close the knowledge gap to increase Emiratisation at HCT engineering faculty
positions, four solutions were recommended, which are: providing information about the
opportunity in HCT, information sessions for students by role models, training students to apply
to master programs and goal alignment for engineering students.
Solutions for Motivation Causes
In this project, the survey and interview results validated potential causes for motivation
in the areas of value, confidence and attribution. These causes include that engineering students
view a teaching career in a lower category compared to other careers. The student survey and
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interviews also revealed that students are motivated for pursuing a master degree but not to work
as a faculty or in an educational environment.
Increase The Value of Teaching
One of the possible solutions is to instill greater value associated with teaching and to
thereby increase the students’ appreciation for this career. Value is the regard in which
something is held; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. According to Wigfield and
Eccles (2000, 2002) there are four dimensions of task value: attainment or importance value,
intrinsic value, utility value, and cost value. According to Rueda (2011) attainment value refers
to the importance one attaches to doing well on a task. Intrinsic value refers to the enjoyment one
experiences in a particular activity. Utility value refers to how useful one believes an activity is
for achieving future goal. Finally cost value is a perceived cost of the activity in terms of time,
effort or other dimensions. The important motivational principle is that the higher an individual
values an activity, the more likely he or she chooses, persists, and engages in it. According to
Price and Finkelstein’s (2008) study, graduate students come to value education more deeply as a
core practice of physicists through participating in the Preparing Future Physics Faculty or
Preparing Future Faculty program, which was initially intended to produce students who are well
prepared to meet the needs of institutions that hire new faculty by including an emphasis on
teaching and professional development. This would suggest that increasing engineering student’s
value for teaching would increase their motivation to become faculty in the future. Effective
solutions to increase teaching career value among engineering students include interactive
workshops and focus groups by experts and HCT faculty, to increase these four dimensions. The
workshops and focus groups would focus on increasing the value of teaching career among
engineering students focusing on the importance value, intrinsic value, utility value, and cost
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value of teaching career. Implementing interactive workshops would increase engineering
students value to teaching career and not see it as a lower category.
Increase Student Confidence
Another possible way to increase motivation is to increase the students’ confidence.
General self-confidence is not as critical for work motivation as is task-specific confidence
(Bandura, 1997). According to Clark and Estes (2008), “when people do not believe they can
succeed at a specific goal, they will not choose to tackle it.” In order to increase people
motivation, the first consideration is to understand what sets of values motivate them. The most
motivating attitude towards other people’s values is understanding and respect. Plecha (2002)
study confirms that student diversification positively affects academic self-confidence. Plecha
found out that students who interact more frequently with interracial peers and students who
increase their commitment to promoting racial understanding and who report a change in their
ability to get along with different races would have higher academic self-confidence. Dos Santos
(2012) examined the effects of a site-based teacher-mentoring program on teacher confidence
and effectiveness in an elementary school in Florida. Her analysis revealed that an site-based
mentoring program did have a positive impact on teacher effectiveness and teacher confidence.
Moreover, Cherry (2013) confirmed that a one-day seminar could have positive impact on
faculty. The results showed that there were significant differences between pre-survey and post-
survey knowledge and confidence on the seminar’s topic. Eighty percent of the faculty rated
knowledge and confidence as improved after attending the seminar. This would suggest that
increasing engineering students’ confidence would motivate them to become future faculty.
Effective solutions to increase engineering students’ confidence in becoming faculty in
engineering require understanding what they value and then working with them to increase their
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personal confidence. This may also require their faculty to give them specific, short-term
teaching assignments. Engineering students must get the ownership of goals set for that
assignment.
Increase Student’s Attribution
Another possible solution to instill confidence is to increase the students’ attributions and
control beliefs. According to Rueda (2011) attributions refer to the beliefs one has about the
reasons for success or failure at a task or activity and the degree of control they have in affecting
that outcome. Attribution theorists consider it along three dimensions: stability, locus, and
control (Wiener, 2005). Stability refers to whether attributions are temporary or more permanent.
Locus refers to whether an attribution is related to something internal to the individual or
external to the individual. Finally, attribution can be categorized as things one can control
(controllable) or are uncontrollable. The important motivational principle is that when an
individual believes that failing to meet a goal is not necessarily permanent and can be influenced
by things that can be controlled, such as increased effort, they are likely to choose, persist, and
work hard at a task or activity. Effective solutions to increase engineering students’ attribution
include awareness sessions about persistence and working hard in order to achieve future goals.
The mandate for these sessions is to increase engineering students’ persistence and hard work to
achieve future goals and to view a teaching career as a future goal. Young Emirati role models
(teachers) would lead the sessions, which would occur during the 2014-2015academic year.
Engineering students would be encouraged to attend awareness sessions as part of extra
curricular for the engineering courses requirement. Implementing awareness sessions would
increase engineering students attribution.
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Summary
In order to close the motivation gap to increase Emiratisation at HCT engineering faculty
positions, three solutions were recommended, which are: organizing workshops and focus groups
would focus on increasing the value of teaching career among engineering students, giving them
specific, short-term teaching assignments by their faculty and giving them awareness sessions
about persistence and working hard in order to achieve future goals.
Solutions for Organization Causes
The two statements that had the overall lowest mean for culture and organization were
concerned with Emiratisation goal and student satisfaction of HCT’s efforts preparing students to
become faculty and HCT’s efforts encouraging students to pursue a master’s degree. Students’
interviews revealed that the current policies do not encourage students to become faculty
member in HCT. During the students’ interviews it was found that students had diverse
experiences at HCT, which varied from very good relationship to somewhat good, based on
students’ personal experience.
Set Clear Goals for Emiratisation and Position them as Priorities
The first possible solution to close the organizational gap in HCT is to have a clear vision
and mission. According to (Clark & Estes, 2008) every organization needs to develop and
communicate clear organizational goals that are translated into concrete, challenging, and current
individual and team performance goals. Everyone in the organization needs to know exactly
what work goals they must accomplish to support the achievement of the organization’s most
important goals. A work goal is a description of tasks or objectives hat individuals and teams
must accomplish according to specific deadlines or criteria. Effective performance goals cascade
or follow from organizational goals. An important solution is to have clear goals for
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Emiratisation and to position them as priorities by developing and communicating them clearly.
Everyone in HCT needs to know exactly what the goals are, and what work they must
accomplish to support the achievement of those goals. According to Moore & Diamond (2000)
“the elements that comprise a strategic plan consist of mission, shared purpose and values,
distinctive capabilities, measures of success and strategies and actions.” In HCT the mission
needs to adopt Emiratisation, since According to Moore & Diamond (2000) “It is mission that
provides focus and strategic direction for academic units.” HCT needs to incorporate
Emiratisation in the shared values of the organization and needs to show measures of success in
this regards. Moore & Diamond (2000) states “Measures of success calibrate the strategic
direction in operational terms. Organizations drive on their shared values. Like compass
headings, they set the direction in which people and organizations move over time. Shared values
provide the fuel to energize turning vision into reality.” HCT needs to carry out the national goal
of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with qualified Emiratis by aligning its mission with
government aim. According to Moore & Diamond (2000)”The power of strategic integration
occurs when an organization’s mission is aligned with the highest needs of its customers and
stakeholders”. According to Wilcoxson (2012) having too many goals is one of the challenges to
implementing strategic plan. This would suggest that setting clear goals for Emiratisation and
position them as priorities would definitely increase Emiratisation in engineering faculty
positions in HCT.
Encourage Engineering Students to become a Faculty
The second possible solution to close the organizational gap in HCT is to encourage
engineering students to become a faculty. According to Clark and Estes (2008) culture is a way
to describe the core values, goals, beliefs, emotions, and processes learned as people develop
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over time in our family and in our work environment. Most people in organizations are members
of many different cultures. At the Higher Colleges of Technology there are more than 2,000
expatriot workers from more than 70 nationalities. According to Clark and Estes (2008) our
background and current lives include membership in different national, regional, work, religion,
political, and family groups as well as differences in gender, age and professional identities.
Culture is both powerful force in performance and a difficult characteristic to identify and to
influence. An effective solution to increase engineering students’ willingness to pursue a Masters
degree and become a faculty is to create a culture that encourages students to become faculty by
using engineering faculty role models. The interview results revealed that a young national
teacher in the classroom positively affects engineering students. Emirati teachers are appropriate
role models because engineering students see themselves in them and that they can do what they
are doing. Many engineering students expressed that teaching is a difficult career because the
teacher was giving that image but if the teacher gives the image that teaching is an easy career
and everyone can do it, engineering students would be encouraged to become faculty. Sadao
(1995) defined the variables that had an impact on faculty when selecting academia as a career
and pursuing success in the role. Faculty tended to attribute their career choice to external
influences such as advisors and sponsorships, and they attributed their success to their individual
drive and competence along with early role models and financial supports. According to Wells
(2004), “results of the students’ characteristics revealed that there was no difference in the
quality of entering freshmen as to their chosen major. This was also true of race. Conversely,
gender, the age when the participant chose the career, and closely knowing a high school
classmate who chose teaching as a career were influential in the choices of major”. According to
Wood (2001) research demonstrates the importance of role models and the need to diversify the
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teaching work force as factors that have greatly influenced African-American males’ decision to
become teachers. According to DeAngelo (2008) frequent faculty encouragement for graduate
study was the single most important determinant of who aspires to the Ph.D. for all of the student
groups, but was particularly important to underrepresented racial minority students and students
who begin college as PhD aspirants. This would suggest that encouraging engineering students to
become a faculty would have positive impact on increasing engineering students’ willingness to
pursue a Masters degree and become a faculty.
Foster a Faculty Development Program
The third possible solution to close the organizational gap in HCT is to start a faculty
development program. The Higher Colleges of Technology minimum requirement to become a
faculty member is a master degree. HCT engineering students who complete a bachelor of
applied science are not ready to become a faculty. According to Steinert (2000), some of the
lessons that can be learned from faculty development programs are first to understand and work
within the initiation’s context and culture. Second, to ensure that programs and activities are
based on institutional needs. And third, to promote ‘buy in’ and market positions effectively. An
effective solution to increase engineering students’ interest in becoming a faculty is to offer a
faculty development program, which would include earning a master degree in parallel. The
faculty development program would be the vehicle that prepares HCT engineering students to
become faculty. It would consist of two main components, the master program and the teacher-
training program. The length of the program would be three years. Receiving full time salary,
having the chance to complete a master degree and getting teacher-training program would
incentivize the students who join the program. Jas (2011) recommends programs that foster
mentorship among minority faculty or doctoral students and undergraduate underrepresented
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minority students can provide this student population insight into the faculty profession as well
as understanding what it would be like to enter a doctoral program. An example of this type of
program is The Preparing Future Faculty program (PFF). According to Yuan’s (2014) study
evaluating effectiveness of a faculty development program designed to transition teaching to a
student-centered approach at Xi’an Eurasia University in China, a majority of participants had
significant positive reactions to the program and they made great improvements in their
knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Participants also started using student-centered behaviors they
learned in their teaching practice after completion of the program. This would suggest that
faculty development programs would help in preparing HCT engineering students to become
faculty.
Dedicated Resources for Implementation and Measurement
The fourth possible solution to close the organizational gap in HCT is to have dedicated
resources (Executive Deans) looking after institutional effectiveness and teaching and learning.
The executive dean of teaching and learning would be responsible of putting together teacher
training-program that would be attractive to the engineering students at HCT. The executive dean
of institutional effectiveness role would be to work on strategies designed to encourage
engineering students to become faculty members and to follow up on the implementation of the
Emiratisation strategy at the organizational level. Horton’s (2004) study concerning new faculty
training at Northern Virginia Community College suggests the need for a permanent system of
mentoring for new faculty that introduces them to college teaching. Baasandorj (2010)
recommends faculty development functions, units and offices should be determined and clarified
at all organizational structures from program area level to university administration level. This
would suggest that having dedicated resources for implementation and measurement would
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assure continuity and quality of engineering students joining the program. According to (Clark &
Estes, 2008) although individuals within an organization may possess the knowledge, skills, and
motivation required to accomplish a given organizational goal, inadequate resources, structures,
and processes may prevent goal achievement.
Summary
Four solutions were recommended to close the organization gap at HCT to increase its
Emiratisation at engineering faculty positions. The first solution is to set clear goals for
Emiratisation and position them as priorities. Second solution is to encourage engineering
students to become a faculty by young Emirati role models. Third solution is to develop a
teacher-training program, which give the participants the chance to complete their master degree
and be part teacher-training program. The fourth solution is to have dedicated resources for
implementation and measurement in order to implement above recommendations.
Implementation Plan
Solution Integration
In order to integrate the knowledge, motivation, and organization solutions, an
implementation plan will be put into effect. Table 30 summarizes the causes, solutions and
implementation of the solutions to aid in closing the gap for knowledge and skills, motivation
and culture and context.

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Table 30
Summary of Causes, Solutions, and Implementation of the Solutions

Knowledge & Skills Motivation
Culture/Context/
Capital/Policy
Causes Students lack factual
knowledge
Students lack conceptual
knowledge
Students lack procedural
knowledge
Student do not value teaching
career
Students do not have interest in
teaching career
Student do not have as their goals
to become a faculty
Students have lack of confidence
and control beliefs
HCT did not set clear goals
for Emiratisation
Engineering students are
not encouraged to become
faculty
Nonexistence of teacher
training program
Nonexistence of dedicated
resources for
implementation and
measurement
Solutions Job aids about the
opportunity in HCT
Information sessions for
students by role models
Training students to apply
to Master Programs
Interactive workshops and focus
groups
Faculty of engineering giving more
attention to engineering students
Having a clear goal for HCT,
creating unwavering working
conditions which influence work
goal choice, persistence, and
mental effort.
Awareness sessions about
persistence and working hard in
order to achieve future goals
HCT is to have clear vision
and mission
Encourage engineering
students to become a
faculty
Develop teacher training
program
Dedicated resources for
implementation and
measurement
Implementation Preparing job aids about
the opportunity in HCT
and circulating them to
engineering students by
October 1
st
2014
Starting information
sessions for students by
role models by September
15
th
2014
Training students to apply
to Master Programs by
March 1
st
2015
From September 1
st
2014 HCT is
going to focus on increasing
teaching career value among
engineering students by setting up
interactive workshops and focus
groups.
From September 1
st
2014 HCT
faculty of engineering will give
more attention to engineering
students in the classroom.
From September 1
st
2014 HCT is
going to have a clear goal and
unwavering working conditions,
which influence work goal choice,
persistence, and mental effort.
From October 1
st
2014 HCT will
conduct awareness sessions about
persistence and working hard in
order to achieve future goals.
From August 1
st
2014 HCT
will set clear goals for
Emiratisation and position
them as priorities
From September 1
st
2014
HCT will create a culture
that encourages
engineering students to
become a faculty by using
engineering faculty role
models.
By September 1
st
2014
HCT will develop teacher
training program
By September 1
st
2014
HCT will have dedicated
resources for
implementation and
measurement
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Knowledge and Skills
In order to close the current knowledge gap, providing information increases knowledge
and focuses people’s attention on the objective (Clark & Estes, 2008). Preparing job aids about
the opportunity in HCT and circulating them to engineering students by October 1, 2014.
Starting from fall semester 2014, HCT will organize series of information sessions for
engineering students by role models to increase their interest in teaching career. From the
beginning of the fall semester September 1
st
2014 engineering students will be encouraged by
existing faculty to consider aligning their career goals towards education sector and to become
faculty in engineering. By February 1, 2015, engineering students who plan to apply to become
a faculty will join a training session on how to apply for a master degree.
Motivation
In order to close the current motivational gap, the objective of adopting a more positive
climate is a key means by which to increase individual and team confidence, interpersonal and
organizational trust, collaborative spirit, optimism, positive emotion, and values about work. The
benefit of achieving a more motivated organization is increased persistence at work tasks and a
higher quality of mental effort invested in work goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). First, beginning
from September 1, 2014 HCT will focus on increasing teaching career value among engineering
students by setting up interactive workshops and focus groups, which discourse the value of
becoming a faculty. Second, engineering student confidence will be increase by giving them
specific, short-term teaching assignments by their faculty during the academic year 2014-2015.
Third, HCT will work on increasing engineering students’ attribution during the academic year
2014-2015, which may include awareness sessions by specialist about persistence and working
hard in order to achieve future goals.
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Organization
In order to close the current organizational gap, missing or faulty processes and
inadequate materials are often the cause of barriers to the achievement of performance goals,
even for people with top motivation and exceptional knowledge and skills, identifying these
organizational barriers and correcting them close performance gaps (Clark & Estes, 2008). First,
by September 1, 2014, HCT will set clear goals for Emiratisation and position them as priorities.
Second, HCT current faculty will encourage engineering students to become a join the new
faculty program. Third, by September 1, 2014 HCT will offer teacher-training program for the
engineering students. Fourth, HCT will have dedicated resources focusing on teacher-training
program implementation and increasing Emiratisation measurement.
Table 31 outlines the organization’s goal, which is broken down by short-term goals that
will aid in reaching the main goal of the organization.

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Table 31
Summary of Organizations Main Goal, Short Term Goals, Cascading Goals, and Performance
Goals
Organizational Goal: HCT’s charge is to carry out the national goal of Emiratisation to
localize its workforce with qualified leaders in the higher management and faculty positions to
reach thirty percent.
Goal 1: By January 1, 2015,
at least 35 engineering
students will apply to pursue
Master’s Degree in
Engineering and considering
a faculty position as a career
opportunity.
Goal 2: By October 1,
2014, senior management
will complete the plan for
Emiratising engineering
faculty positions.
Goal 3: By December 1, 2014,
all engineering faculty will have
integrated at least one reflection
assignment in their course that is
directly related to the benefits of
pursuing a Master’s Degree and a
faculty position as a career
opportunity.
Cascading Goal 1:
Students will join the teacher-
training program at HCT by
February 1, 2015.
Cascading Goal 2:
Senior management will
secure at least 50% of
engineering students to
apply by end of 2014.
Cascading Goal 3:
Engineering faculty will evaluate
the assignment outcome by
February 1.
Performance Goal: Students
will be able to teach and
apply teaching strategies by
fall 2016.
Performance Goal:
Engineering students will
be registered and ready to
start the program.
Performance Goal: Engineering
students will be asked to give
their opinion about benefits of
pursuing a Master’s Degree and
faculty position as a career
opportunity.

Summary
The proposed solutions to close the Emiratisation faculty gap in knowledge, motivation,
and organizational barriers were discussed in this chapter. Chapter 6 provides a discussion of the
Gap Analysis, including an evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of the suggested solutions.

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CHAPTER 6
DISCUSSION
Using the Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Process framework, the purpose of the
study was to examine the knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational barriers that
contributed to the gap in Emiratisation effort performance at the Higher Colleges of Technology.
The study questions were:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that prevent graduates
from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from pursuing a
masters degree in engineering in order to become faculty?
2. What are the recommended solutions to close the knowledge, motivation, and
organization gaps that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in
engineering from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become
faculty?
A key challenge faced by countries in the Arab Gulf Countries today is promoting human
capital development of the region’s population. Human resource challenges in these nations
include a heavy reliance on non-nationals, the high proportion of nationals working in the public
sector, high rates of unemployment among young people, and the skill mismatch in the
workforce (Rand Corporation, 2008). The United Arab Emirates (UAE) established
nationalization programs designed to foster the participation of citizens in the workforce. One of
the institutions focused on Emiratisation is the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT). HCT’s
goal is to increase the number of Emiratis in engineering faculty positions to 30% before the end
of 2016. The primary stakeholders in this study were engineering students at Abu Dhabi
Colleges as they will be the main pipeline to Emiratise the engineering faculty positions. It is
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critical to understand the knowledge, motivation and organizational barriers that engineering
students face that prevent them from pursuing a Master’s Degree in Engineering and considering
a faculty position as a career opportunity.
The purpose of the project was to use the gap analysis model as a framework to help
identify gaps in motivation, knowledge, and organization that could be hindering the Higher
Colleges of Technology from reaching its goal (Clark & Estes, 2008). Using the model, gaps
were identified and validated through surveys and interviews. The following section summarizes
the gaps found by triangulation of data. Students’ surveys and students’ interviews were used to
triangulate the data.
Knowledge and Skills
The survey and interviews support the findings that students lack factual knowledge. The
results from the student survey and student interviews validated that students’ lacked factual
knowledge about the requirement of becoming a faculty member in HCT and the salary scale of
faculty member in HCT. In the survey, the responses with the lowest means were those
measuring factual knowledge. The question about awareness of the faculty salary scale at HCT
had the lowest overall mean of all the questions in the knowledge and skills category.
Motivation
The results from the student survey and student interviews invalidated that students do
not lack motivation in pursuing a master degree, but confirmed the lack of interest in working in
an educational environment or pursuing a career as a faculty member.
Culture and Organization
The results from the student survey and student interviews confirmed assumed causes
that management at HCT does not have a clear Emiratisation vision, goal and ways to measure
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progress. The Higher College of Technology has not emphasized the need for Emiratis to earn
Master’s and become faculty and that there is no proper planning to increase number of Emiratis
on different levels at HCT.
After the gaps were identified, solutions were suggested that could help HCT reach its
goal.
Knowledge and Skills
In order to close the current knowledge gap, providing information increases knowledge
and focuses people’s attention on the objective (Clark & Estes, 2008). Preparing job aids about
the opportunity in HCT and circulating them to engineering students is an important solution.
Starting from fall semester 2014, HCT will organize series of information sessions for
engineering students by role models to increase their interest in teaching career. From the
beginning of the fall semester 2014 engineering students will be encouraged by existing faculty
to consider aligning their career goals towards education sector and to become faculty in
engineering. By February 1, 2015, engineering students who plan to apply to become a faculty
will join a training session on how to apply for a Master Degree.
Motivation
In order to close the current motivational gap, the objective of adopting a more positive
climate is a key means by which to increase individual and team confidence, interpersonal and
organizational trust, collaborative spirit, optimism, positive emotion, and values about work. The
benefit of achieving a more motivated organization is increased persistence at work tasks and a
higher quality of mental effort invested in work goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). First, beginning
from September 1, 2014 HCT will focus on increasing teaching career value among engineering
students by setting up interactive workshops and focus groups, which discourse the value of
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

109
becoming a faculty. Second, engineering student confidence will be increased by giving them
specific, short-term teaching assignments by their faculty during the academic year 2014-2015.
Third, HCT will work on increasing engineering students’ attribution during the academic year
2014-2015, which may include awareness sessions by specialist about persistence and working
hard in order to achieve future goals.
Culture and Organization
In order to close the current organizational gap, missing or faulty processes and
inadequate materials are often the cause of barriers to the achievement of performance goals,
even for people with top motivation and exceptional knowledge and skills, identifying these
organizational barriers and correcting them close performance gaps (Clark & Estes, 2008). First,
by September 1, 2014, HCT will set clear goals for Emiratisation and position them as priorities.
Second, HCT current faculty will encourage engineering students to become a join the new
faculty program. Third, by September 1, 2014 HCT will offer teacher-training program for the
engineering students. Fourth, HCT will have dedicated resources focusing on teacher-training
program implementation and increasing Emiratisation measurement.
The literature reviewed showed that there are relatively few studies that address
Emiratisation in higher education, and the studies that do exist indicate a lack of UAE nationals
in this field. However there are many more studies focused on expatriates in the UAE workforce.
Most of the studies agree that education is the pathway to Emiratisation. Faculty development
programs are highlighted in the literature, since placing engineering students into pipelines for
new faculty positions is of critical important. The literature showed that there are a several
faculty preparation programs focused on engineering in the United States, which provide useful
examples. A range of studies concluded that there are gaps in Emiratis knowledge and
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

110
motivation. Similarly, the organizational literature shows that many barriers to Emiratisation
remain in the UAE.
Lastly, the project suggests how the HCT can evaluate the solutions implemented using
Kirkpatrick’s (2006) Four Levels of Evaluation.
Recommendations for Evaluation
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions to close the Emiratisation
gap in engineering faculty positions at HCT, an evaluation plan will be created. According to
Kirkpatrick (2006), there are four levels of evaluation when assessing the success of an
intervention and suggested solutions. The first level of evaluation assesses participant reactions
and motivation. The second level assesses learning or performance. The third level of evaluation
assesses the application of new learning, and the fourth level of evaluation examines impact and
whether the performance gap has been closed. Once the knowledge, motivation, and organization
solutions have been implemented to close the Emiratisation gap in engineering faculty position at
HCT, the suggested evaluation plan will be put into effect using the four levels of evaluation.
Level 1: Reactions
According to Kirkpatrick (2006), the first level of evaluation should measure the
participants’ reactions to the training and their motivation. Assessing how the engineering
students felt after the intervention program is important because a participant’s initial reactions
are important for learning results. In order to conduct a level one assessment, engineering
students will be asked to rate their reactions to training using surveying system such as Qualtrics
or Survey Monkey. Using a Likert scale of 1 to 4, engineering students would rate their
satisfaction with the information provided about the opportunity in HCT and the usefulness of
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

111
the information session conducted by role models on how to apply to master programs.
Information gathered and findings will be used to improve future results.
Level 2: Learning
HCT will assess how much students have absorbed as a result of the intervention and if
participants are performing differently as a result of the intervention (Kirkpatrick, 2006). In order
to conduct a level two evaluation, engineering students will be asked to fill in a questionnaire
demonstrating their knowledge about the new information provided to them and information
session they have attended. Information gathered and findings will be used to improve future
results.
Level 3: Transfer
Kirkpatrick’s third level of assessment measures transfer and seeks to determine if
learners are able to apply the knowledge and skill acquired through training to other
environments (Kirkpatrick, 2006). In order to measure transfer, HCT engineering students would
be monitored by the executive dean of teaching and learning at the end of the program, and in
order to see how would they use training learned in making decisions for their future goals.
Information gathered and findings will be used to improve future results.
Level 4: Impact
Kirkpatrick’s fourth level of evaluation examines the impact of the intervention. Level
four evaluations determine whether the institution was indeed able to close the performance gap.
The executive dean of institutional effectiveness at Higher Colleges of Technology would apply
the recommended knowledge, motivation, and organization solutions to the engineering students
in order to close the performance gap.

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

112
Table 32
Summary of Performance Goals, Timeline and Measurement of Performance Goals
Stakeholder Performance Goal Goal Measure
Engineering students will have good understanding about the new
Emiratisation opportunity in the faculty of engineering in HCT.
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked
about their understanding about the new
Emiratisation opportunity in the faculty
of engineering in HCT
Engineering students will be able to explain what is a Master Program
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked to
explain what is a Master Program
Engineering students will be able to apply to Master Programs
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked to
apply to Master Programs
Engineering student will value teaching career
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked to
write a reflection on the importance of
becoming a teacher
Engineering students will have interest in teaching career
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked to
write a about their motivation to
become a teacher
Engineering students will have among their goals to become a faculty
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked to
write a about their future goals
Engineering students will have confidence and control beliefs at their
teaching skills
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Engineering students will be asked to
teach and lead discussions
HCT will set clear goals for Emiratisation
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
HCT will review Emiratisation
percentage in a year time from setting
the goals
Current engineering faculty will encourage students to become faculty
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
Current engineering faculty will be
evaluated on the number students they
manage to attract
HCT will developing teacher training program
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
HCT will be evaluated on the number
of engineering students benefiting from
the teacher training program
HCT will dedicate resources for implementation and measurement
Implement by: Fall 2014 Semester
Evaluate Progress by: Spring 2015 Semester
HCT will be evaluated by the
percentage of Emiratisation it can reach
in a year time

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

113
Table 32 summarizes the performance goal, time frame of the implementation and how
the performance goals will be measured.
Kirkpatrick’s (2006) four-level framework will help the Higher Colleges of Technology
evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions implemented. The detailed framework helps
implement the evaluation process. Based upon the recommended research-based solutions to
close the gaps in knowledge, motivation and organizational support, and revealed through the
validated causes, specific recommendations for implementation in the Higher Colleges of
Technology are made. Evaluation will ensure successful implementation of the solutions.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach
All methodological approaches have strengths and weaknesses. In case of Higher
Colleges of Technology, using the Gap Analysis methodology was appropriate as it helped to
assess engineering students’ knowledge, motivation and HCT’s organizational causes that
prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from
pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become faculty. This case study could be
used and compared with similar university with institutions with similar demographics, such as
United Arab Emirates University and Zayed University.
The advantage of using Gap Analysis KMO framework for diagnosing and solving
performance problems at HCT was having access to organizational data and the main
stakeholders: engineering students. Another advantage of using gap analysis framework was that
the entire process could be tailored to the organization’s needs. The disadvantage of the of using
the KMO framework for diagnosing and solving performance problems for organizations and
individuals is using assumed causes, rather than conducting the research neutrally. In this case,
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

114
the gap analysis approach did not require significant time commitment, nor did it require
expensive financial support or large amounts of human resources. This approach did, however,
require the participation of the main stakeholders in survey and interviews. For these reasons, it
was an efficient approach to developing solutions. The gap analysis resulted in accurate,
validated and reliable data yielded from significant participation of the main stakeholders in both
surveys and interviews.
Limitations
There are several limitations of this project. First, the survey was administered only at
two colleges: Abu Dhabi Men’s College and Abu Dhabi Women’s College. Therefore, results of
the survey include only students from Abu Dhabi city and do not include students from other
demographic locations such as northern emirates or western regions. In addition, the sample of
students who were interviewed did not represent all engineering fields.
Future Research
It would be beneficial to accomplish the same research in another demographic location
such as other colleges in other Emirates like Dubai and Sharjah or Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.
Another useful study would be to examine how to increase Emiratisation in the management and
administration of HCT. Another useful approach to yielding a deeper understanding of the
problem may be to study the socio-economic backgrounds of the students interested in becoming
faculty.
Conclusion
Emiratisation is a priority for the UAE government. As one of the largest entities in the
UAE government and the largest source of graduates every year, it is important for HCT be a
leader in carrying out the national goal of Emiratisation to localize its workforce with qualified
INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

115
Emiratis. If HCT becomes a leader in Emiratisation it will shows HCT’s reflect positively on
UAE higher education as a whole and demonstrate to other institutions a pathway to fulfilling
their missions.

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116
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APPENDIX A
ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE CAUSES FOR THE PERFORMANCE GAP
Sources

Causes Knowledge Motivation Organizational
Scanning
interviews,
personal
knowledge
1) Emiratisation goal has
not been defined
2) Senior-engineering
lack the knowledge on
the opportunity could be
available for them
3) Senior-engineering
students have lack the
skills on how to apply to
a master degree.
1) Senior-engineering
students main goal is to
graduate.
2) Senior-engineering
students are not
motivated to continue
studying.
3) Students do not want
to continue in
educational environment.
1) The Higher College of
Technology has not
emphasized on the need for
Emiratis to earn Master’s
and become faculty.
2) No proper planning to
increase number of Emiratis
on different levels at HCT.
Learning and
motivation
theory
(generic)
1) Senior-engineering
students do not have
factual knowledge and
information about the
Master Degree. Neither
2) They do not have
procedural knowledge on
how to pursue a Master
Degree
3) Senior-engineering
students do not know
how to plan their
approach towards
studying a Master
Degree.
1) Senior-engineering
students have lack of
interest in teaching
career
2) lack of self-efficacy in
pursuing a Master
Degree.
3) They do not want to
invest further mental
effort.
4) They are not
incentivized to consider
teaching as a career
option.
1) Emiratisation goal has not
been aligned clearly.
2) Lack of adequate
knowledge skills, and
motivational support
3) Lack of incentives
4) There is no framework.
5) The value is not clear.
6) Students not been given
chance to lead discussion.
7) The culture of expatriate
among faculty and
management is dominating
the Emirati culture.
Background
and review of
the literature
(subject
specific)
1) Low standards of
education and skills of
potential employees,
inadequate English, and a
lack of trust by employers in
the work-readiness of UAE
nationals.
2) Most UAE nationals are
attracted to the public sector.

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

128
APPENDIX B
GAP ANALYSIS CASE VALIDATION METHOD WORKSHEET
Assumed Cause
Survey/
Assessment Interview Observation
Document
Analysis
Knowledge
Engineering students lack the
knowledge on the opportunity
could be available for them
Rating Scale
survey
question
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students do not
have the necessary basic
factual knowledge about a
Master’s Degree
Rating Scale
survey
question
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students do not
have conceptual knowledge
about postgraduate studies
degrees in general
Rating Scale
survey
question
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students do not
have the necessary skills and
basic procedural knowledge
about how to apply to a
Master’s Degree
Rating Scale
survey
question
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students do not
know how to plan their
approach towards studying
Rating Scale
survey
question
N/A N/A N/A

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

129
Assumed Cause Survey/ Assessment Interview Observation
Document
Analysis
Motivation
Engineering students’ main
goal is to graduate.
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
followed by open
ended to learn why?
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students are not
motivated to continue
studying.
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
followed by open
ended to learn why?
N/A N/A N/A
Students do not want to
continue in educational
environment.
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
followed by open
ended to learn why?
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students have
lack of interest in teaching
career
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
followed by open
ended to learn why?
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students have
lack of self-efficacy in
pursuing a Master Degree.
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
followed by open
ended to learn why?
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students do not
want to invest further mental
effort.
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
followed by open
ended to learn why?
N/A N/A N/A
Engineering students are not
incentivized to consider
teaching as a career option.
Closed ended “yes”,
“no” survey question
N/A N/A N/A

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

130
Assumed Cause
Survey/
Assessment Interview Observation
Document
Analysis
Organizational
The Higher College of
Technology has not emphasized
on the need for Emiratis to earn
Master’s and become faculty
Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
No proper planning to increase
number of Emiratis on different
levels at HCT
Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
Emiratisation goal has not been
aligned clearly
Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
Lack of incentives Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
There is no framework Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
The value is not clear Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
Students not been given chance to
lead discussion
Rating Scale
survey question
N/A N/A N/A
The culture of expatriate among
faculty and management is
dominating the Emirati culture
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Low standards of education and
skills of potential employees,
inadequate English, and a lack of
trust by employers in the work-
readiness of UAE nationals
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Most UAE nationals are attracted
to the public sector
Closed ended
“yes”, “no”
survey question
N/A N/A N/A

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

131
APPENDIX C
SURVEY BUILDER WORKSHEET
Assumed Cause Knowledge Motivation Organization
Knowledge
Engineering students lack
the knowledge on the
opportunity could be
available for them
How do you rate your
knowledge about HCT
faculty benefits?

Engineering student do
not have the necessary
basic factual knowledge
about a Master’s Degree
How do you rate your
knowledge about Master
Degree in Engineering?

Engineering students do
not have conceptual
knowledge about
postgraduate studies
degrees in general
How do you rate your
knowledge about
postgraduate studies?

Engineering students do
not have the necessary
skills and basic procedural
knowledge about how to
apply to a Master’s
Degree
How do you rate your
knowledge in applying
to a Master program?

Engineering students do
not know how to plan
their approach towards
studying
What’s your educational
future plan?

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

132
Assumed Cause Knowledge Motivation Organization
Motivation
Engineering students’
main goal is to graduate.
What’s your main goal of
studying undergraduate
degree?
1. Graduate a get a job
2. Proceed to a graduate
degree

Engineering students are
not motivated to continue
studying.
Are you motivated to
pursue a Master Degree?
Yes/No Why?

Students do not want to
continue in educational
environment.
Would you like to have a
career in an educational
environment?
Yes/No Why?

Engineering students
have lack of interest in
teaching career
Would you like to be
teaching at HCT?
Yes/No Why?

Engineering students
have lack of self-efficacy
in pursuing a Master
Degree.
Are you confident that
you can complete the
Master Degree?
Yes/No Why?

Engineering students do
not want to invest further
mental effort.
Would you like to be
studying Master for the
next two years?
Yes/No Why?

Engineering students are
not incentivized to
consider teaching as a
career option.
Would incentives make
you consider teaching as
a career?

INCREASING EMIRATISATION IN ENGINEERING FACULTY

133
Assumed Cause Knowledge Motivation Organization
Organizational
The Higher College of
Technology has not
emphasized on the need for
Emiratis to earn Master’s and
become faculty
Does HCT foster an
atmosphere of respect,
high academic
standards, and
collegiality among
faculty?
No proper planning to
increase number of Emiratis
on different levels at HCT
Does HCT promote a
culture of advancement
from student to faculty?
Emiratisation goal has not
been aligned clearly
Do you think HCT is
doing enough to
Emiratise its workforce?
Lack of incentives Does HCT provide
money for students to
become faculty?
There is no framework Does HCT provide a
clear path for students to
become faculty?
The value is not clear Is the value of
Emiratisation has been
illuminated?
Students not been given
chance to lead discussion
Have you got enough
chance to lead
discussion?
Most UAE nationals are
attracted to the public sector
Is the compensation
attractive compare to
other sectors?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Using the Gap Analysis problem-solving framework (Clark & Estes, 2008), this project examined engineering students at Abu Dhabi Colleges at Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in the United Arab Emirates. The primary purpose of this project was to identify the knowledge, motivation and organizational causes that prevent graduates from the HCT bachelor of applied science in engineering program from pursuing a masters degree in engineering in order to become faculty. Mixed methods were used to collect survey data from 493 participants and interview data for twenty participants to identify and validate the knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational solutions that may contribute to the HCT’s Emiratisation goal. Findings showed that although students lack factual knowledge, students do not lack motivation in pursuing a master degree. However, the study confirmed their lack of interest in working in an educational environment or pursuing a career as faculty, and it confirmed organizational gap in HCT management. Based on the findings, solutions are offered to address these challenges.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Karmostaji, Sultan Hussain (author)

Core Title Increasing Emiratisation in engineering faculty position at the higher colleges of technology

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Global Executive

Publication Date 10/14/2014

Defense Date 10/10/2014

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Emiratisation,engineering faculty,gap analysis,HCT,higher colleges of technology,increasing,Knowledge,Motivation,nationalization,OAI-PMH Harvest,organization,UAE

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Robison, Mark Power (committee chair), Diamond, Michael A. (committee member), Picus, Lawrence O. (committee member)

Creator Email karmosta@usc.edu,karmostajisultan@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-488869

Unique identifier UC11286873

Identifier etd-Karmostaji-3008.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-488869 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Karmostaji-3008.pdf

Dmrecord 488869

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Karmostaji, Sultan Hussain

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

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