Handbook of Families in the Arab Gulf States

Md Mizanur Rahman is Research Associate Professor and graduate Faculty in the Gulf Studies Program and Center, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the National University of Singapore (NUS), for which he was supported by the prestigious NUS research scholar award and the Social Science Research Council (US) fellowship. Prior to joining Qatar University in 2018, Dr Rahman served various institutions including Asia Research Institute (NUS, Singapore), Department of Sociology (NUS, Singapore), Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS, Singapore), and University Brunei Darussalam (UBD, Brunei Darussalam). In his research and teaching, he focuses on Area Studies, migration, and development in the context of the Arab Gulf States. His research sites are interregional, encompassing the Arab Gulf States, Southeast Asia and South Asia. His publications include twelve books, fifteen book chapters, and thirty-five journal articles. His books have been published by reputed academic publishers like Oxford University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, and Springer Nature, among others. Four of his articles are ranked as the top ten cited and/or downloaded articles in ISI journals in various years. Rahman is an editor of two Springer Nature book series – Gulf Studies and South-South Migration Series - and sits on several editorial boards of international journals. He was a member of Migration Research Leaders Syndicate for the 2018 Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, formed and spearheaded by the IOM - the UN Migration Agency based in Geneva. In 2024, he received the Research Excellence Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences from the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University.

Kaltham Al-Ghanim is a Professor of Sociology and the director of the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) of Qatar University, Doha, Qatar. Prof Kaltham held the position of the Head of the Department of Sociology from 2005-2006. Prof Kaltham conducted several research related to social issues, culture and human development. She is an author of three specialized academic books and published several articles in internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals. Her interests cover a wide range of issues including woman studies, social problems, values and attitudes, family relations, marriage, gender roles, sustainable development, indigenous culture, and heritage. She led several interdisciplinary research projects funded by various national and international institutions. Prof. Kaltham has working relationships with many national, regional and international institutions as an expert in socio-cultural studies and human development. She contributed to the preparation of many national strategies and plans. She led the Ministry of Culture Strategy Development Plan Team 2011-2013, the Women Strategy Team 2002, the Youth Strategy Team 2002, the Supreme Council of Family Affairs Strategic Plan 1998-1999, the Social Rehabilitation Center Strategy 2010-2011, the Qatar Heritage and Identity Center Strategy 20012, the Preservation of the Arabic Language Strategy 2013, the Center for Behavioral Health Care First Strategic Plan 2014 and the National Strategy for the Workforce 2008-2009. She was also the Head of the team to develop the first Human Development Report for the State of Qatar 2006, and she was a major reviewer of the second and third Arab Knowledge Report. Prof. Kaltham won several prizes; Faculty Service Award AY 2014-2015, Qatar University Research Excellence Award AY 2015-2016, Abdul Hameed Shoman Award, Overall Scientific Production, Alwatini National Award for Voluntary Work.

Ziarat Hossain is a Professor of Family and Child Studies and Regents’ Lecturer at the University of New Mexico. He was Chair of the Department of Individual, Family and Community Education and worked as interim Associate Dean in the College of Education and Human Sciences at UNM. He received a PhD in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University in New York and did post-doctoral research training at the University of Miami Medical School in Florida. His research focuses on parenting, child development, globalization, and sex roles across cultural communities. His research systematically documents patterns of fathers’ and mothers’ involvement in childcare and household labor in diverse cultural groups. He is a former Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR) president and Fulbright Scholar.

Sharique Umar is a Ph.D. student in the Gulf Studies Program & Center at Qatar University, where he also works as a graduate assistant. Sharique’s research lies at the intersection of international politics, migration, and economics, particularly in the context of South-South migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. His current work explores temporary migration, migrant entrepreneurship, and the socio-economic dimension of migration flows in the region, while also examining how these movements shape and are shaped by the cultures and societies of the Gulf region. Sharique has collaborated on various projects with organizations including Qatar Foundation, the Stimson Center in Washington, and the Schumacher Society in New Delhi.