Searching for coherence: A study on education and identity construction in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

A Master of Arts in International Studies by Reem Al Mheiri entitled, “Searching for coherence: A study on education and identity construction in the United Arab Emirates”, submitted in July 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Neha Vora. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).As a federation of seven constituent monarchies, the United Arab Emirates recognized early on the need for a unifying force to transcend tribal allegiances and genealogical affiliations, particularly against the backdrop of a vibrant cosmopolitan past and a growing migrant population. A clear manifestation of this state effort was the construction and promotion of a homogenized national identity through educational systems. Curricular reforms thus reflected evolving articulations of the Emirati national identity, closely aligned with shifting state priorities. Nonetheless, citizens were not passive recipients of these state-sanctioned articulations. They actively negotiated and reinterpreted them to reflect their own social realities, paving the way for alternative articulations of identity. While extant literature has examined recent curricular reforms in the UAE’s educational system, the topic of how national identity is constructed for citizens through the subject of social studies remains unexplored. The study investigated how the Emirati national identity is constructed through social studies textbooks and the implications of imposing a homogenous national identity onto a heterogeneous populace. Data collection involved a qualitative content analysis of thirty-nine social studies textbooks targeting primary and secondary students across three terms for the academic year 2023/2024, alongside a series of semi-structured interviews to discern on how identity is constructed, negotiated, and expressed in the United Arab Emirates. The findings of this study suggest that the intricate interplay between tribalism, state narratives and ethnic heterogeneity generates varied levels of belonging and an incoherent understanding of national identity among the UAE’s citizens, due to the lack of synergy between the state-constructed national identity and it’s articulation by the populace.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of International StudiesMaster of Arts in International Studies (MAIS