{"id":710,"date":"2026-01-22T22:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/?p=710"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:43:29","slug":"deep-dialogues-the-role-of-transnational-education-in-advancing-higher-education-strategies-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/deep-dialogues-the-role-of-transnational-education-in-advancing-higher-education-strategies-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Dialogues – The role of transnational education in advancing higher education strategies in the Middle East and North Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, countries are investing in higher education (HE) reform as part of broader national development visions, recognising that the economies of the future will be knowledge-driven. International partnerships are often seen as an important part of national efforts to strengthen the education system, empower students, open research collaboration, and create regional education hubs. Specifically, ambitions to increase transnational education (TNE) feature in national strategies across the region, with Governments expanding infrastructure, streamlining regulation, and developing plans for both domestic and international recruitment. The diverse TNE landscapes across MENA reflect varying levels of maturity and distinct visions for TNE’s role. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) offers a well-established hub model; Egypt has developed international branch campuses (see Figure 1); and Saudi Arabia is taking proactive steps to build structured partnerships [1]. For the UK HE sector, TNE continues to grow steadily. According to the most recent data for 2023-24, the number of UK TNE students (653,570) was approaching the number of onshore international students recruited to the UK (704,405) [1,2]. MENA features prominently in UK TNE delivery, with three countries from the region in the top ten host countries globally \u2013 Egypt (4th), UAE (7th) and Saudi Arabia (8th) \u2013 and all three recording strong growth in the number of UK TNE students since the 2019-20 academic year [1,3].<\/p>\n

\"Coventry
Figure 1. Coventry University branch campus, New Cairo, Egypt, 21st January 2026. Photo: Dr (PhD) Diana Contreras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aiming to discuss the diverse TNE models within MENA and to reflect on how successfully these models are responding to the priorities of students, institutions and national governments [1], the British Council organised the Deep Dialogues – The role of TNE in advancing HE in the MENA region between the 2oth and the 22nd January 2026 in Cairo, Egypt. This meeting brought together 126 participants from 47 Universities, 7 Ministries from other countries, and 17 Higher organisations. Delegates from countries such as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the UAE\u00a0 and the United Kingdom (UK) participated in the meeting. The first day, the meeting started with the welcome and opening remarks from Mark Howard, Country Director, British Council Egypt, Mr Mark Bryson-Richardson, His Majesty\u2019s Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt and Professor Mohamed Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher
\nEducation and Scientific Research, Egypt [4]. These interventions were followed by the introduction of the British Council TNE strategy, presented by Mr Eduardo Ramos, Head of HE Systems and Internationalisation at the British Council in the UK [5].\u00a0 On the first day of the meeting, answers to questions such as: What does TNE play within national strategies for tertiary education, what different models are being developed across the MENA region, and how do different TNE models take shape at the institutional level? were discussed in panels. After the first panel, the memorandum of understanding between the Supreme Council of Universities in Egypt and the British Council in Egypt was signed. An image of the participants’ discussion during the first panel is presented in Figure 2.\u00a0 Excerpts of\u00a0 the intervention of Professor May Tan-Mullins, CEO and Provost, and Professor in Sustainability, University of Reading Malaysia, can be watched at: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U3q6g8eRgWs<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Panel:
Figure 2. Panel: What role does TNE play within national strategies for tertiary education, and what different models are being developed across the MENA region? chaired by Mr Eduardo Ramos, Head of Higher Education Systems and Internationalisation, British Council, UK, 20th January 2026, el Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Dr. (PhD) Diana Contreras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the second day, the meeting included a visit to the Coventry University branch campus in New Cairo, as shown in Figure 1, where participants toured the facilities and interacted with students enrolled in TNE programmes. On the third day, the Principal Investigator from Cardiff for the projects: ‘Reducing gender disparity in STEM from Kindergarten to Professional Life’ founded by the Wellcome Trust through the Ignite programme at Cardiff University and ‘Reducing Gender Disparity in Higher Education in Science and Engineering from High School to Higher Education (GDSE)’ funded by the British Council, Dr (PhD) Diana Contreras, was invited to answer the question: What role can TNE play in widening access to international education for diverse groups? In a panel chaired by Ms Susana Carmody. According to Dr (PhD) Contreras, the answer is already in the question: Access to international HE, to a degree granted by a local and an international institution, which adds value and an advantage when applying for international positions, especially when you are from a diverse background. The possibility of pursuing international education can attract more young adults from diverse backgrounds to choose HE rather than go straight to work after high school. TNE implies interchange of knowledge and culture, because at least two institutions are involved, maybe one from the Global North and one from the Global South, which means that students can access an international but less Eurocentric curriculum. TNE is contributing to the decolonisation of the curriculum and provides opportunities for women to enrol in STEM subjects. The other panellist who answered this question were: Ben Webster, CEO, Mosaik Education, UK, Dr Bassant Hassib, Assistant Professor of Political Science in the London School of Economics and Political Science\u00a0 Programmes, University of London Branch, European Universities in Egypt, Professor\u00a0 Rasha Abd El Aziz, Professor and Head of the Business Information Systems Department, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and\u00a0 Maritime Transport, Egypt and Professor Richard Butt, Deputy Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.<\/p>\n

\"Panel.
Panel. What role can TNE play in widening access to international education for diverse groups? 22nd March 2026, El Cairo, Egypt.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr (PhD) Contreras took the opportunity to explain that the topic of women in STEM comprises four stages: attraction, enrolment\/recruitment, employability, and retention. She stated, ‘While in the West we have problems with attraction and recruitment, it seems that in the MENA region the problem is employability and retention,’ a phenomenon the literature has called the MENA paradox [6,7,8]. Within the GDSE, we have purchased materials aimed at girls to spark their interest in STEM in Cardiff, and for the MENA region, it would be great to share these materials with role models. Among the list of 50 women in the sciences in the book: ‘Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World’ by Rachel Ignotofsky, only Mariam Mirzahkani, an Iranian mathematician, is highlighted from the MENA region, and there are more relevant female models in STEM within the MENA region: Sarah Amiri, Minister of Education of the United Arab Emirates, a computer scientist; Dr Nadine Rouphael (MD), from Lebanon, a Distinguished Professor of Vaccinology and Infectious Diseases at Emory University in Atlanta, USA. Heba El Deghaidy, professor of science education and leads the STEAM education initiative at the American University in Cairo, and Zahra Almasabi, from Saudi Arabia, who is an advocate for the inclusion of women in STEM. Dr (PhD) Contreras finished her intervention, stating that: ‘(…) It is essential that governments support projects aimed at reducing gender disparities in STEM, which could improve women’s lives, foster a fairer society, and boost the country’s development. More countries moving to a knowledge economy have placed greater importance on gender equality in STEM. It is essential that, when funding is obtained to reduce gender disparity in STEM, it be used to promote the attraction, recruitment, employability, and retention of women in STEAM. It is not a matter of doing research in STEM, hiring a woman as an intern, and saying that, with that, you are promoting employability in STEM, because that is only one case. The fact that, in a household, a man and a woman both work in STEM careers and that she may earn more money does not mean there is no gender disparity in STEM or a pay gap; we cannot generalise based on the particular situation of a household (…)’. The books oriented to attract girls aged 3 to 12 years old to STEM subjects were exposed for the rest of the day to be reviewed by the participants of the meeting, as depicted in Figure 3. The panel session can be watched at: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DC6Ctht6chc&t=2651s<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Libros
Books to attract girls aged 3 to 12 years old to science, 22nd March 2026, El Cairo, Egypt . Photo: Dr (PhD) Diana Contreras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Carmody, S. (2026). Deep Dialogues – The role of transnational education in advancing higher education strategies in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 6). Cairo, Egypt, British Council.<\/p>\n

2. UUKi, The scale of UK higher education transnational education 2023-24 summary report, 2025, p. 4, https:\/\/www.universitiesuk.ac.uk\/topics\/international\/scale-uk-higher-education-transnational-0<\/a><\/p>\n

3. UUKi, The scale of UK higher education transnational education 2023-24 summary report, 2025, p. 15, https:\/\/www.universitiesuk.ac.uk\/topics\/international\/scale-uk-higher-education-transnational-0<\/p>\n

4.Contreras, D. (2026). Opening speech by Prof. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Egypt. Deep Dialogues MENA [Video]. Cardiff, UK: Gender Disparity Higher Education. Retrieved from: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MXrbE3Lmjho<\/a><\/p>\n

5.Contreras, D. (2026). Welcome remark by the Head of HE systems and internationalisation at British Council: Mr. Eduardo Ramos. Deep Dialogues MENA [Video ]. Cardiff, UK: Gender Disparity Higher Education.<\/p>\n

6.El-Deghaidy, H., Almasabi, Z., Elkholy, A., & Mansour, N. (2025). Mapping STEM Gender Disparities: A Scoping Review of the MENA Region. Journal for STEM Education Research, 8(4), 531\u2013560. doi:10.1007\/s41979-025-00149-0.<\/p>\n

7.Weingarten, E. (n.d.). The STEM Paradox: Why are Muslim-Majority Countries Producing So Many Female Engineers? Purdue University>School of Engineering Education>News Retrieved from https:\/\/engineering.purdue.edu\/ENE\/News\/the-stem-paradox-why-are-muslimmajority-countries-producing-so-many-female-engineers<\/p>\n

8. n.d. (2021, 8th March 2021). Women and engineering in the Middle East: a different way of understanding the world. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.acciona-me.com\/updates\/stories\/women-engineering-middle-east-different-way-understanding-world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, countries are investing in higher education (HE) reform as part of broader national development visions, recognising that the economies of the […]","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[72,99,74,90,101],"cu_profile":[],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-genderdisparity","tag-genderequality","tag-stem","tag-womenequality-women-equality","tag-womeninstem"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710"},{"taxonomy":"cu_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/reducing-gender-disparity-in-higher-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_profile?post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}