A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON MOTIVATION OF INDIAN EXPAT STUDENTS IN PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UAE

Education and literacy is given priority by the UAE ever since the establishment of the federation. The agenda of the rulers of the country is to implement knowledge based economy by the application of knowledge management. The country has established a wide range of universities that could lay down an excellent and diversified system of higher education during a very short span of time. This prioritization is emphasized by the current strategic education plan for 2017-2021 which opts to promote the upper secondary graduation rate to nearly 98% from 96.7% now (WENR, 2018). Despite these efforts, it could be observed that the enrollment of Indian expat students for higher education in the UAE universities has been found to be disappointing due to various factors such as lack of financial ability to pursue higher education in the country, preference to opt for education in the western world, increasing opportunity to get jobs without higher educational qualifications etc. Among these factors, one of the noteworthy factors is the lack of motivation to go for higher studies among Indian expat students has been found to be the access to grab a job for a beginner without much qualification at a relatively better salary as compared to their home country, India. Hence Indian expat students are found to be motivated to enter job market at an younger age due to the attraction imposed by the financial independence, as a major chunk of the Indian expats belong to middle income families. Based on the background of this visible trend, the study is conducted to explore the impact of certain physical and economic environmental factors on the motivation of Indian expat students to opt for job opportunities irrespective of the fact that better avenues of higher education are offered by the country.