From the start of his reign in 1970, Sultan Qaboos bin Said prioritized education for all citizens. His establishment of Oman’s first national university in 1986, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), was a major pillar of Oman’s modernizing Nahda or “Renaissance.” Sultan Qaboos also created an external scholarship program under the authority of the newly created Department of Knowledge. The scholarships “aimed to send young Omanis to various countries for their higher education.” As a result, Oman was able to educate Omanis in different cultural, economic, and social contexts around the world. That international exchange helped to transform the perspectives of those Omani students, their families, and those they knew or employed. Beneficiaries of Sultan Qaboos’ study abroad scholarships returned to Oman with cosmopolitan perspectives and technical competencies that were necessary to support the development of a renewed society in the Sultanate.

Skills development and labor force growth are often highlighted as necessary steps in Oman’s move to nationalize its oil industry and move away from a reliance on foreign partnership and toward an independent business model. Study abroad opportunities also increased a sense of independence and a reinforced national identity. Research has demonstrated that there are few other experiences, outside study abroad, that produce such transformational benefits. This chapter compiles the results of a series of interviews of Omanis who received the scholarship. It focuses on the experiences they had and the skills they gained while studying outside Oman. The interviews also inquire into subsequent reintegration, after the scholarship, into Omani society. Woven throughout are recollections of Qaboos’ Renaissance in students’ reflections on their lived experiences.

The Interviews

I spoke to five Omani nationals at length about their experience abroad and its impact on their lives after returning to the Sultanate for this chapter. All five interviewees were benefactors of the Sultan Qaboos scholarship program. They studied in the United States and Australia before returning to the Sultanate after graduation. For their privacy, names and specific study locations have been changed.

Mouna studied in the United States in the early 1980s and is notably one of the first scholarship recipients to do so. From a Bedouin family, she had not encountered foreigners before her sojourn.