The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the impacts from the 2022 World Cup preparations in Qatar influenced local residents’ attitudes, personal and community quality of life perceptions, excitement about hosting the event, and support toward the event. The examination of the way mega sport event impacts influence residents’ perceptions of personal and community quality of life is lacking in the literature. Data were collected using systematic sampling in October 2014 from Qatari nationals and white-collar expatriates. Overall, 2,163 interviews with Qatari nationals (1,058) and white-collar expatriates (1,105) were completed. The results revealed that eight years before the event, sociocultural impacts were the most influential type of impact for residents’ attitudes toward the event, community and personal quality of life, excitement about the event, and support of the FIFA decision to host the event in Qatar.

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Previous studies showed small-to-moderate associations between students’ performances in math and science and math anxiety and science anxiety, respectively. Accordingly, the high prevalence of these two forms of topic anxiety represent severe obstructions to the worldwide demand calling for improving the quality of math and science achievements and, subsequently, increasing career success in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) domains. Therefore, this study examined math anxiety and science anxiety among female and male students who were enrolled in Sciences vs Arts tracks in Grades 11 and 12 in a Middle Eastern Arabic-speaking country (Qatar), and investigated how gender, math anxiety and science anxiety could predict this enrollment. Results showed that students in the Arts track experienced higher levels of math anxiety and science anxiety than those in the Sciences track, regardless of the students’ gender. However, a binary logistic regression analysis showed that science learning anxiety, but not evaluation science anxiety nor math learning or evaluation anxieties, significantly predicts students’ enrollment in Arts and Sciences tracks. Therefore, STEM career success is associated with good knowledge of STEM domains and positive emotions towards math and science.

Mathematics performance has been measured in many different ways using, for example, mathematics tests and Grade Point Average (GPA) (Hart and Ganley, 2019). Several studies have found that there is a negative relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance (

The purpose of this study was to identify factors shaping career expectations of Qatari students. The study examined individual and motivational variables likely to influence career expectations in STEM fields, the public sector, and business. This study used survey data of 802 Qatari students and 543 parents from the 2012 Qatar Education Study. The results suggest a varied, context-dependent portrait of career expectations. The results indicate that the education system in Qatar influenced students' STEM career expectations and demonstrate that operating a private business or seeking a job in the public sector continues to rival their expectations about STEM careers in Qatar. The paper concludes with some important implications for policy as well as recommendations for further study and research.

A large sample (n = 1,799) of Qatari female and male students at the preparatory, secondary, and university levels responded to Likert items about their interest, attitude, and self-efficacy regarding science. The items were similar to those of TIMSS and PISA, but improved upon them in several ways. The findings suggest that Qatari students are positive in their interest, attitude, and self-efficacy, but not as positive as TIMSS and PISA report. The findings raise an important question: If the students' interest, attitude, and self-efficacy are positive, then why do the students have relatively low achievement scores on TIMSS and PISA? The answer may be the instructional methods and conditions of a developing educational system. The present findings have implications for all countries that use TIMSS and PISA, particularly those countries with developing educational systems, rapidly expanding economies, and an increasing need for students in science careers.

BackgroundThis study examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, measurement invariance, convergent and criterion validity, inter-correlations, and reliabilities) of an Arabic version of the modified-Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (m-AMAS) and gender differences in math anxiety in an Arabic speaking Middle Eastern country, Qatar.MethodsA large sample of students in grade 7 to 10 (N = 731) completed the m-AMAS, three different scales to measure science anxiety, test anxiety, and general anxiety, as well as a scholastic math achievement test.ResultsThe two-factor structure of the m-AMAS was confirmed, with good to adequate reliabilities, and its compositional measurement invariance was established across girls and boys in the four grades. In addition, math anxiety correlated positively with science anxiety, test anxiety, and general anxiety. Regression analyses showed that math anxiety was negatively associated with math achievement, even when test anxiety, science anxiety, and general anxiety were considered. Furthermore, girls showed higher math anxiety than boys.ConclusionThese adequate psychometric properties of the Arabic m-AMAS suggest that the construct of math anxiety has a cross-cultural similarity.