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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made significant advancements in women empowerment and has established legal frameworks to support people with disabilities, particularly women (People of Determination, POD). However, there is a notable lack of information regarding the career choices of Emirati Women of Determination (EWOD). This literature review aims to address this gap by examining the limited research on EWOD's career choices and the challenges they encounter. The societal stigma surrounding disabilities, especially with women, often results in underreporting which hinders data collection efforts. While existing research predominantly relies on qualitative methods, providing valuable insights, it lacks generalizability. This review underscores the necessity for a comprehensive approach to tackle these obstacles. It examines and highlights educational institutions offering tailored career guidance and support services for POD, policymakers facilitating partnerships and developing targeted internship programs to bridge the education-employment gap, and organizations creating inclusive workplaces with accessibility modifications, flexible work arrangements, and continuous training opportunities. Future research should prioritize studies focused on EWOD's experiences, utilizing a mixed-methods approach and involving POD in the research process. Policymakers should invest in research on EWOD's career choices and design specialized educational initiatives. Collaboration among policymakers, educational institutions, and the private sector is essential to establish seamless pathways for EWOD's career development. By addressing these knowledge gaps and implementing a combination of interventions, we can empower Emirati women with disabilities to make informed career decisions and reach their full potential. Keywords: Disability, Women, Arab women, Career decisions, Women with disabilities, UAE, Introduction In the early 1970s in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), women were expected to adhere to certain gender norms, such as childbearing, cooking, and cleaning. However, this began to [...]

This longitudinal study examines the impact of involuntary and prolonged online education on the mental health (anxiety and stress) of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. An electronic questionnaire was administered to 6,242 students enrolled in public affairs courses in four Jordanian universities. When compared with the pre-COVID-19 situation, the students reported experiencing higher levels of anxiety and stress and suffered persistently. Multiple regression analyses showed that anxiety and stress were influenced by several personal and non-personal factors. ANOVA analysis revealed that after 1 year of online education, students were worried about the quality of in-class learning, adequate training, and the political skills that they could gain, including their ability to build a rapport with instructors. Continuing to impose online education as the only way to deliver classes has had negative impacts on students' mental health. Thus, new ways of designing and delivering public affairs courses are needed.

Purpose : The study adapted the Career Decision Making Difficulties Questionnaire for the Arab world. The purpose of the study was to test a popular but scientifically unverified belief that people who were employed could experience less CDD. Design/methodology/approach: Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 500 university students to analyze CDD among full-time and part-time students and examine whether employment status determines to what extent they experience these difficulties. Univariate and bivariate analyses were used. Findings: Employment status had no statistically significant effect on students' perceptions of CDD; 6 demographic variables were significantly correlated with CDD (gender, age, income, university grade-point average, satisfaction with the current major and social status); and students had dysfunctional beliefs about the career decision-making process, lack self-awareness, and had inconsistent information about internal and external difficulties. Research limitations/implications: Universities should design adequate career interventions before and after graduation and employers should implement human resource policies that reduce CDD and their negative impact on the workplace. Other methods of data collection and analysis could also be useful in the future, such as interviews. While scope of the study was acceptable, comparing countries and public versus private institutions could produce valuable findings. Practical implications: The study tested and validated ACDDQ which could be used as diagnostic instrument to design career interventions and training programs. Employers need to allocate resources in the recruitment process to help potential recruits to understand the nature of work, processes, and requirements. Educators need to provide better coaching and career education for students, especially those in senior years. Social implications: Understanding career decision-making difficulties and factors that influence them will influence long-term human resource management, especially productivity, turn over and job satisfaction. Originality/value: The study examined the important issue of difficulties in making career decisions among two groups of university students. With more employees go back to college for more education, it was not clear in the literature how career decisions might differ between the two groups. The issue was under-researched, especially within Arab countries.

Purpose: This study focuses on leadership transfer by academic managers in public universities. Motivation to transfer is expected to mediate the relationship between peer and supervisor support (independent variables) and the transfer of training (dependent variable). Methodology: The study sample comprises 263 academic managers who completed leadership training programs in public universities. Structural equation modeling is used to test the study model for four hypotheses. Findings: In line with previous findings from different contexts, the study shows that (a) the motivation of academic managers to transfer training mediates between the actual transfer and the two types of organizational support, from peers and supervisors; (b) peer support has a stronger impact than supervisor support on motivation to transfer; (c) training transfer in public universities has a pattern similar to that in other organizations; and (d) the country context does not seem to affect the dynamics of training transfer. Implications: To remain competitive with successful policies, universities need to foster learning environments by effectively engaging those responsible for managing university policies. Applying new leadership knowledge, skills and abilities is a sophisticated process in which academic managers are not the only stakeholders. Given the nature of the organizational phenomenon, work environments are similar across countries and sectors; therefore, emphasizing the role of national cultural norms and values over the objective needs of the workplace seems problematic. Limitations: Structural equation modeling may not capture all psychological and personal aspects of transfer; therefore, triangulation methods can be useful. The competition in higher education is increasing,and it is recommended that leadership training transfer in public and private universities should be compared.

This study examines trust in public sector institutions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the impact factors. A survey was administered to a convenience sample of 1,372 local and expatriate residents in the United Arab Emirates during 2022–2023. Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were utilized. There was a high level of general public trust among respondents (mean = 4.11), with the highest trust in the police (mean = 4.21) followed by trust in the information disseminated by the government (mean = 4.06) and in the performance of public sector institutions (mean = 3.89). On the bivariate and multivariate levels, demographic variables had an insignificant impact on public trust. General trust was significantly correlated with institutional performance (β = 0.417), institutional integrity (β = 0.397), perceived gains (β = 0.378), and government-disseminated information (β = 0.374). Public trust is a complex reality linked to numerous organizational and nonorganizational factors. Improving public trust requires enhancing ethical conduct—crucial for maintaining trust—as well as good governance practices and leadership behavior. The sample size and quantitative focus might have limited the generalizability of the findings. In the future, researchers should use in-depth interviews or mixed methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining public trust during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can shed light on the factors that contribute to people's trust in public administration. This longitudinal study examines the changes in the Jordanian people's trust in government in general and public administration in particular by administering a questionnaire online in July 2020 to 1,629 citizens in wave 1 and in July 2021 to 1,145 citizens in wave 2. On a 5-point scale, the trust in the public institutions declined from 4.44 at wave 1 to 2.46 at wave 2. There was a decline in the overall trust in the government (from 4.16 to 2.19), in the government's performance (from 4.83 to 1.64) and in the top administrative officials (from 3.59 to 1.67). Pearson's correlations identified the complexities associated with trust in public administration, and the hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis confirmed those complexities as well as the continual nature of trust during the pandemic. Trust at wave 1 explained 41% of the variance in trust, and when other independent variables—gender, overall government's performance, satisfaction, success in managing the crises, confidence, personal exposure to COVID-19 and receiving public service—were added, the regression model explained around 60% of the variance in trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve their course learning outcomes, public affairs instructors can train students to solve real community problems (SRCP). This approach focuses on the learners themselves and aims to transform the role of college professors from traditional teaching (lecturing) to facilitating and coaching students' learning activities. This study aims at reporting the processes and findings of adopting SRCP in teaching public affairs courses in the United Arab Emirates. The study examines the impact of SRCP on achieving four learning outcomes. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bivariate Pearson correlation matrix reveal that six factors are significant in achieving the desired learning outcomes--namely, students' having an interest in SRCP, students' gender, students' having experience with similar pedagogies, the role of the instructor, students' in-advance preparation, and students' level in college. These results and their implications for instructors and researchers are discussed.

The literature on political participation indicates that initiating contacts with the government is a vital form of civic engagement. Using this criterion to define participation, some researchers claim that students in general are apathetic about government and have poor efficacy about public affairs. The present study examines this assumption by exploring 18 factors that may influence college-student-initiated contact with federal, state, and local governments. A survey is administered to a random sample of 3500 students in five American states, namely Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. Findings suggest that students are neither apathetic nor lacking efficacy as 64% of them have initiated at least one contact in a 12-month period and many have even contacted more than once. Using multiple regression reveals that 11 factors influence students' contacting, namely age, level at college, gender, needs, efficacy, political and civic affiliation, final recipient of services, goods and information, role of teachers, class discussions, campus environment, and availability of computers and the Internet. These findings and their implications are discussed in detail. (Contains 3 tables and 2 notes.)

Jordanian policymakers rely on trained supervisors to lead organizational change in public administration. The impact of training, however, remains weak unless trainees apply what they have learned (training transfer). In order to assess training transfer, the present study validates a Classic Arabic version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory (CALTSI). The instrument was administered to a random sample of 500 supervisors. Exploratory factor analysis with oblique factor rotation validates 15 of the original 16 factors of the LTSI and explains about 65% of the common variance. These findings and their implications are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

This study tests the validity of the Arabic version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI-version 4) and identifies the factors that impact transferring leadership training. The LTSI was administered to 242 academic managers, who had completed a series of leadership training a year before the study. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed that all 11 factors in the specific domain were validated, unlike the general domain, where only four factors were validated, and one factor was not validated. Leadership training transfer was primarily influenced by supervisor support, motivation to transfer, peer support, readiness to transfer, and self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine people's optimistic and pessimistic perceptions of the government's capacity, intention, and performance during and after the lockdowns declared in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic. An online survey was administered in Jordan and responses were collected from a convenience sample of 1245 citizens during April and May 2020. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and multiple regression reveal the following findings: (a) people expressed high levels of pessimism and low levels of trust and satisfaction concerning the government's intention, capacity, and performance, (b) people perceived the government to be a complex, multi‐faceted entity rather than a homogeneous entity, and (c) in assessing government performance, people considered the following dimensions: totality of government, institutions of public administration, high‐ranking public officials, and ordinary, public sector employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that women fail in leadership because men in one way or another target them and put them in unusual, difficult, and risky positions where chances for failure are high. The purpose of this article is to examine this argument based on its literature. The study also collects data from two waves of interviews with 62 women holding leadership positions in public and private sector organizations. The study finds that, while gender is the main theme in the glass cliff argument, the impact of other factors--such as jealousy, departmental politics, and self-interests--on women is inadequately examined. The study concludes that, because injustice in the workplace is oversimplified and reduced to a single factor (gender), the literature creates a glass prison that both confines women and reiterates stereotypical assumptions about women’s capabilities. The blaming and demonization of men therefore tends to have an alternative that has been neglected. Future research on women leadership should depart from the trap of genders, and engage in a wider examination of organizational, cultural, economic, political, psychological, and social factors. These factors shape not only the roles of women in leadership, but the entire the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart government is a public policy that aims to improve people’s happiness by utilizing information communication technology (ICT) in providing public services. The present article explores the perceptions of public sector managers about the state of smart government within their agencies. Thematic analysis of 34 in-depth interviews reveals that the policy is successful and the managers perceive smart government as relevant to good governance. Implementation of the policy seems to be driven by a combination of moral values (principles, duty, and virtues) and rational interests (public, personal, professional, organizational, and legal). Moreover, the managers indicate that smart government contributes to making people happy, and that the policy improves not only public sector services but also the relationship between people and the government. Although the policy is successful, moral, and rational, some challenges may exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring people’s Willingness to Pay (WTP) to protect the environment has ethical dimensions in addition to public policy relevance. This study analyzes WTP in light of four main environmental theories, namely, economic, attitude-behavior, public goods, and altruism. To this end, 1,805 surveys were administered to a national random sample in the United Arab Emirates. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses demonstrated that, albeit environmental attitudes were generally positive, WTP was conditional, fluctuating, and inconsistent. Citizens perceived environmental problems as social rather than personal; thus they shifted responsibility to the government (the other). The study found evidence that while citizens trusted the government as a moral agent that does good, they were overdependent on it to protect the environment. The ethical and public policy implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arab Journal of Administrative Sciences is the property of Kuwait University, Academic Publication Council and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Dirasat: Human & Social Sciences is the property of University of Jordan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)