Tiffany Lachelle Smith, a PhD candidate in the Comparative and International Development Education (CIDE) program in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD), was recently selected for a one year doctoral fellowship with the Sheik Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The grant will provide Smith with financial support during the research phase of her dissertation, which will focus on African American Expatriate Educational Professionals who leave US K-12 schools for teaching opportunities abroad.

Smith plans to investigate the intersections of lived experience, intersectional identities, and motivation to understand why these expatriates leave US K-12 schools for schools abroad. Smith’s research focuses on the UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ras Al Khaimah, and she will be collecting primary data from September 2019 to August 2020.

“This partnership with the Al Qasimi Foundation is a unique opportunity, noted Smith. “It allows me to work alongside and receive mentorship from policymakers in the UAE, while providing opportunities to publish and present my research findings at conferences within the Gulf region.”

According to information on the foundation’s website,

The Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research was established in 2009 to aid in the social, cultural, and economic development of Ras Al Khaimah, a northern emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Established through Emiri decree, the Foundation is considered a non-profit, quasi-governmental organization and is the visionary initiative of Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. His Highness places great value on education and research, and the Al Qasimi Foundation was created to generate a world-class body of research on Ras Al Khaimah and the broader UAE region, develop local capacity in the public sector, and engage the community in its work. The Al Qasimi Foundation serves as a bridge between the research and policymaking communities—bringing to scholars’ attention public policy questions important to Ras Al Khaimah, and, in turn, disseminating research findings to promote innovative policy tools and models that will impact positive social change.

Smith also produces a podcast, (A)broad in Education, which features interviews with fellow Edpats working in education around the world.