Ras al Khaimah, January 19, 2020
We were hosted by Al-Qasimi Foundation in Ras Al Khaimah to learn about the reverse gender gap in education in the UAE. We began the visit at Saeed bin Jubair Secondary School where the principal, Azza Alshehhi, along with student representatives, shared reflections about recent reforms targeting boys’ public schools. In particular, our conversation focused on why these reforms involved appointing female principals to public schools across the country. We broke up into smaller groups and had the opportunity to sit in on classes and observe classroom dynamics related to the intersection of class-gender-citizenship in educational settings. At the Foundation, we met with Marvin Erfuth, Head of Research, and Max Eckert, Research Assistant, who shared the results of the policy research on boys education in RAK. This visit helped us unpack the complexity of educational /workforce statistics in the UAE and to explore the relational gender dynamics in developmental projects.