Two major research findings on women in sport and physical education inclusion in GCC schools from The British University in Dubai (BUiD) and University of Birmingham, were presented at a global sports conference addressing women in sport.

The 16th International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW) World Congress that recently took place in South Africa aims to support and bring together interested professionals from around the world who are working in the fields of physical education, dance, and sport.

Collaborative work by Dr Eman Gaad, senior lecturer in Education at BUiD, and Dr. Tansin Benn from the University of Birmingham, a BUiD partner, was presented at the conference, which focused on improving opportunities for Muslim girls and women to participate in physical education, and a comparative study on inclusion in physical education and sports in GCC schools.

“It is a great honour to be able to contribute to IAPESGW’s mission to promote the interests of girls and women at all levels and in all areas of physical education, said Dr Gaad.

'The Middle East is a region that has seen improvement in the field of women in sport but there is still a lot we can do to support and encourage women of all ages and abilities to have an interest in sport,” Dr Gaad observed.

The findings included ways to improve opportunities for Muslim girls to participate in sporting activity. Other outcomes included the Routledge International Series book, “Muslim Women in Sport and Physical Education,” to which Dr. Gaad contributed, and will be published in 2010.

The book is co-edited by Dr. Tansin Benn from BUiD university partner, the University of Birmingham in the UK.

'Through our strong and longstanding partnership with BUiD, we are able to help build on the studies of women in sport in an area like the Middle East, which little is known about the subject,' Dr Benn commented.

'We have seen a lot of talent and potential and with our close links and academic successes, we aim is to continue to promote and support the highly-gifted women athletes in the region and integrate a strong sporting culture into schools and the community at large,” she added.

Dr. Gaad and Dr. Benn also contributed to a second presentation highlighting a study on “Gender and Disability Inclusion in the Field of Physical Education in Schools and Teacher Training across the GCC Countries”.

The research participants also included Dr. Yousra Al-Sinani from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, and Dr. Mona Al-Ansari from the University of Bahrain. The presentation broke new ground and was well received in the international context where so little is known about the subject and experiences of girls and women in the Gulf area.

University of Birmingham is one of the first partner universities to work with BUiD on its educational programmes. The Faculty of Education at BUiD provides modern and innovative programmes to support the development needs of the education system in the UAE, the Gulf and the wider Middle/Far Eastern context.-TradeArabia News Service