Encouraging High School Student Interest in Computing Studies in GCC: UAE Case Study

Abstract

Computational studies have an impact on fields like biology, chemistry, linguistics, psychology, economics and statistics. They develop skills such as problem solving and systems design and improve understanding about the power and limits of human and machine intelligence. The Global Science Forum emphasizes on collecting accurate and unbiased information as important strategy to increase the attractiveness of Science and Technology studies and careers. Such information should not only be shared with students but also to the education community and parents. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no research into student recruitment for computing studies in the GCC. To study recruitment in this research paper we focused on three groups: Parents, high school teachers and students. Sustainable communication and efforts with these groups will certainly be central to encouraging high school student interest in computing studies in the GCC. This study suggests a list of actions that may increase the enrollment in the fields of computing and represents a leading effort for other countries in the GCC specifically and the Arab world in general.