UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Survey – Religion a Guiding Force for Girls

They may wear make-up and fashionable clothes
under their abayas and hang out at Western food joints but most
middle-class UAE national girls still remain firmly rooted in
Islamic values, a study suggests.

Although national girls are
more assertive, independent-minded and likely to postpone marriage
behind the blowing winds of Westernisation they retain core Islamic
values.

“The girls are at the crossroads between culture and
the winds of change,” said Dr Maher Khalifa, chairman of the Social
and Behavioural Sciences Department at Zayed University (ZU), who
led the group that conducted the study.

The online survey,
conducted among the university’s all-female students, was discussed
during a research forum at the university’s campus at Dubai Media
City.

The study suggests traits identified as “Western” which
the respondents said they have learned to adopt did not necessarily
clash with their creed.

Of the 736 students randomly picked
among the 1,847 student population in the university’s campuses in
Abu Dhabi and Dubai, only 103 completed the 83-item
questionnaire.

The participants were on average 20 years old
and mostly unmarried.

Of those who responded, 51 per cent
said they wanted to finish their studies first before settling
down.

“The select Western values adopted seem to go along
with modernisation and the new realities of the country but do not
conflict with Islamic values,” said Dr Khalifa.

Two students,
Hassa Mohammad and Jameela Abdulla, helped collate information from
the online responses.

Other academics said, however, the
study was not conclusive because of the tiny sample
base.

National pride

The survey measured the students’
perception of the degree of their modernity and the degree of
perceived independence in choosing a profession, friends and a
husband.

Two out of five women agreed they made their own
decisions.

Dr Khalifa, however, pointed out certain Western
values, like being more assertive and individualistic, did not
conflict with Islam and were in line with the new face of the
UAE.

Some 9 out of 10 students, mostly from Abu Dhabi and
Dubai, said they strongly affirm a sense of national pride and
prefer to wear a full body cover and headscarf in public.

The
foreign influence was attributed to better access to education, mass
media and the internet, changes in their family structure and the
country’s tolerance towards expatriates’ habits and beliefs.

Dr Khalifa’s team recommended other researchers continue
research with a larger sample size and include men and the elderly
so a clearer picture of the UAE’s cultural change can be mapped
soon.

Computer randomly selected respondents
103 students
responded to a selected pool of 736 girls from two ZU campuses (Abu
Dhabi and Dubai)
A computer randomly selected the samples out of
1,847 students
The survey was posted online and asked 83
questions
Most questions were close-ended, that is, respondents
had to choose from a list of answers
A Windows-based computer
program was used to analyse the students’ response
Open-ended
answers were reviewed by an ad hoc panel of experts who used
qualitative
analysis