Marital status and gender as predictors of undergraduate academic performance: a United Arab Emirates context
Justin Thomas, Monique Raynor, Amal Al-Marzooqi
Zayed University, UAE

Introduction
There is a considerable international body of literature exploring the predictors and determinants of undergraduate academic performance (Barrow et al., 2009; Betts & Morell, 1999; Cohn et al., 2004; Smith & Naylor, 2001). The predictor variables explored encompass a full biopsychosocial spectrum, from familial socio-economic status, to institutional class sizes. Two of the most immediately accessible factors for exploration are gender and marital status. While these proposed predictors of academic performance have been widely explored across many nations, relatively little work has been undertaken within the Gulf region (Harb & El-Shaarawi, 2007). It is likely that region-specific socio-cultural factors will affect how, and to what extent, gender and marital status influence academic performance. Given that many of the Gulf nations are presently attempting to develop knowledge based economies, such research may inform the development of undergraduate educational strategy and policy. The small body of research within the Gulf region focusing on gender and marital status is fairly unequivocal. Using either cumulative grade point averages (CGPA), or specific course grades as indicators of performance, virtually all of the published studies report females as outperforming males. Hedjazi and Omidi (2008) found that amongst undergraduate agricultural students at the university of Tehran in Iran, female students significantly outperformed their male counterparts. Similarly, Harb and El-Shaarawi (2007) found that female undergraduates studying within the college of business and economics at UAE University, significantly outperformed their male colleagues. In Kuwait Al-Otaibi (1996)