In Part 1 of Sarah's interview, she told us what it was like to live and teach English at a university in the United Arab Emirates. Here's more of what she had to say about her adventure in the Abu Dhabi and the Middle East.
P: How much can a university English teacher expect to earn in the UAE? Is it easy to save money?
S: You should expect to make anything between 13000DHS ($3500) to 19000DHS ($5000) per month (tax free) depending on qualifications and experience. ADEC (school teachers) can earn more. You can save at least half your salary but of course it depends on your lifestyle… many people get caught up in the parties and designer lifestyle and leave with nothing!
P: How many hours a week do you teach? How much vacation do you get?
Sarah with her students in Oman.
S: The uni contracts are 20 contact hours per week, they offer housing and flight allowance. We get approximately 11 weeks a year holiday plus extra weeks here and there for Islamic holidays and national holidays. A lot, basically. It’s a great hub to travel all over the world and you will have enough time off and money to do that too.
P: You also taught at a university in Oman. What was that like and why did you move to the UAE?
S: I felt that the place I worked at in Oman was unfortunately not very professional. There were poor standards, administration issues and I was unhappy there. I wanted to stay in the region and so I applied for a position in the UAE which had an excellent reputation.
P: Are you treated any differently in or out of work because you are a woman?
S: In Oman, I did feel that. I was definitely treated differently. But not by Omanis; It was the Expat men who were the worst! In this university I am not treated any differently; If you work well with the team you will be well-respected and liked and offered opportunities. Our management team is made up of mostly women and the Head of the University is an Emirati woman.
One of the misconceptions that I had before I came to this region, was that women were somehow treated as second-class citizens. There are certainly some things, which I find it hard to understand still about the role of women but I have come to learn that women here are strong and also make up 80% of the student body at university!
Downtown Dubai, the UAE's largest city, seen from "At The Top" Burj Khalifa. Photo courtesy of Martin Muller /CC.
In addition, you are not required to cover your hair or wear an abaya (some schools require this) in a university. I wear the same clothes that I would wear at home.
P: How does life and teaching there compare/contrast to Korea?
S: So very different in many ways. The students are very talkative and happy to chatter away in English but they are not very accurate. They do not know a lot of vocabulary or grammar. The students do not really ‘need’ the education for jobs in the same way Koreans do, so there is little competition or drive.
There are also many cultural sensitivities of which you must be aware. A male teacher may not touch a female student at all, there are subjects which you cannot discuss and the females are not allowed to have photos taken. These are just a few things on a long list. It’s another world actually. Male and female students do not mix at all. They attend different campuses and the female students are not allowed to leave during the day unaccompanied by a relative or permission from a relative.
P: Do you have any advice for someone considering to teach in the UAE or Middle East?
Inside the IBN Battuta Mall. Photo courtesy of Inrenichronda /CC.
S: Don’t expect the teaching to be the most stimulating job you’ve ever had. If you are thinking about doing a PhD/another Masters, it is a great place to work and do that. If you want to save lots of money, that is a great goal. There are opportunities though and if you can work inside the system and find outside interests you will be fine.
Also, if you are gay, I would think carefully about your reason for coming. Homosexuality is illegal and it’s hard to make meaningful bonds here.
Be flexible and prepared to keep your opinions to yourself. People who complain a lot or are considered ‘difficult’ don’t do well here.
P: Apart from scanning job boards on the internet, do you have any recommendations for finding uni jobs there?
S: A lot of the unis don’t advertise. You need to look on their own websites and apply directly.
[Do you want to teach in the UAE or Oman? Check out the Middle East job board.]
There are several misconceptions and generalizations here that need to be addressed. Where to start?
Contact/contracted hours: totally depends on where you’re working and what your real research/published journal articles output is expected to be. Different Unis in the region contract as few as 9 hours a week with 200 students. The former expect 2 to 3 published papers a year with presentations at Tier 1 conferences. The more research focused Unis tend to pay better and are much more difficult to get jobs in as they require a strong research/publishing history from applicants.
i worked at the same institution that the interviewee of this article worked at. i was never not paid on time. Perhaps there were problems within her department. The only time i was consistently not paid on time when working in the region was while working in the UAE on a Govt project.
Ms Calderwood’s stated experience in Oman is at one Uni so she can barely claim general knowledge of working conditions and ethos across the country. Her conjectures should, in no way, be seen as applicable to any and all Omani tertiary educational institutions. Her tarring of “Expat men” is far too broad-brushed. There are assholes (Sutton, 2007) everywhere, how you deal with them is up to you.
Not all Uni campuses in the region are gender segregated. The only country where one can definitely make this generalization is the KSA. i’ve many colleagues and friends with alternative lifestyles working in the region. They’ve, in no way, felt themselves impinged upon socially.
I would like to address some points. Firstly, I did find the university that I worked at to be unprofessional. It should read: The university in Oman, not universities. Even though I had reports from people at other universities in Oman about unprofessionalism, I understand that as I only worked in one and can’t generalise. I also heard about some very nice jobs in Oman.
Regarding expat men, my comment does make it sound like I’m referring to all. I apologise. My negative experience was only connected to a minority. I wanted to express that I had no negative gender based experiences from Omanis and the only time I experienced negative behaviour based on my gender was from expats. There are indeed bad eggs male and female everywhere. I was in no way was referring to my leaving with any of these comments.
This is indeed only one opinion of one small experience. There are many different institutions in Oman and Oman is an amazing country where I met fantastic people. I do, feel that there is more transparency and accountability and room for growth and professional development in the job I am in now. It is a fantastic institution. It is also only one institution in the country so I can’t say they are all the same.
I will stand by my comments about the middle east being a very different environment. Many people here do battle with it, but again, many don’t. I know some people with alternative lifestyles who find it challenging, and some who do not. It is something to consider.
Hi Melanie,
There have been about 60 job openings in the Middle East posted in the last two months. Almost all of those jobs are directly with the university (i.e. no recruiters), as are 99% of all the jobs on Profs Abroad.
Pete