This research focuses on the influence of institutions on entrepreneurship among Kuwaiti youth. It aims to capture the role played by institutions on youth entrepreneurship at the backdrop of a dampening ‘spirit’ for it. This research is currently very important due to various economic and geo-political factors leading to an economic downturn, which has led to the need for entrepreneurial ventures. It reviews and consolidates concepts and factors purported to facilitate and increase entrepreneurship for the benefit of the society and economy of Kuwait. This research uses a social constructionist approach to make sense of how institutions influence Kuwaiti youth in their quest to become entrepreneurs. It exposes institutional endorsement and legitimacy from formal and informal institutions. It shows the use of regulative, normative and cognitive dimensions and influences on entrepreneurial intentions and actions. This research shows how institutions interact with Kuwaiti youth and what role they play in the formulation of intentions and actions concerning entrepreneurship. A number of key formal and informal institutions have come to the fore that influence one another (in)directly as living entities, and likewise influence the youth (in)directly. The research contribution also shows that young people have to approach some key institutions and in return their desire to become entrepreneurs is strengthened or weakened depending on how institutions respond and what role they are willing to play in their lives.

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The need for a positive safety culture in healthcare is essential. It not only advances the prevention and reduction of possible medical errors and threats to patient safety, but also enhances the overall quality of healthcare services provided, especially in respect of medication safety. While the evolution and surge in hospital pharmacies has bolstered treatment possibilities, the risk of harm to patients has also increased as errors in the provision of medication by pharmacists create a threat to patient safety. The increasing need to deploy a protective measure to enhance patient safety culture in the healthcare is imperative suggesting the necessity for the inclusion of new knowledge through the process of organizational learning. Safety culture and organizational learning are complex constructs which may be measured, to some extent, by validated instruments. The current study seeks to assess the reliability and validity of a translated Arabic version of the learning organization survey short-form (LOS-27), and the pharmacy survey on patient safety culture (PSOPSC) through the evaluation of pharmacy staff’s knowledge about organizational learning and patient safety culture in public and private hospital pharmacies of Kuwait. The aim is to explore the relationship between organizational learning and patient safety culture in hospital pharmacy settings through the LOS-27 and PSPOSC instruments. In addition, the relationship between the different dimensions of organizational learning and pharmacy patient safety culture is explored. The results highlighted the adequacy of the Arabic translation of the LOS-27 and PSOPSC questionnaires as they depicted the reliability and validity consistent with the original surveys results. It was also found that in the context of Kuwaiti pharmacies, organizational learning was positively related to performance of the staff in creating a positive patient safety culture. Several dimensions of the organizational learning showed association with various elements of patient safety culture in pharmacy settings, specifically: training, management that reinforces learning, and a supportive learning environment had the strongest effects on the pharmacy patient safety culture dimensions. The contribution of this thesis is in three areas. First, it is the first research that links organizational learning with patient safety culture in a hospital pharmacy setting (theoretical contribution). Second, the research is useful for research scholars as it combines the two questionnaires, LOS-27 and PSOPSC, on the same participants using a single form to explore the relationship between organizational learning and patient safety culture in a hospital pharmacy setting and their dimensions (method contribution). Third, this research contributed to the currently limited literature that examines patient safety culture and organizational learning by considering the context of Kuwait (Contextual Contribution).

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This quantitative descriptive study investigated the attitudes of educational supervisors (i.e., head teachers) in Kuwaiti middle schools toward the involvement of families in the education of their adolescent children. Joyce Epstein's model of family involvement (1996c) provided the theoretical framework. A survey instrument, Supervisor's Attitudes toward Family Involvement in Kuwait Middle Schools, was adapted and translated into the Arabic language to collect data from male and female Kuwaiti middle schools supervisors in the six school districts. As anticipated, the results of this study identified (a) any significant differences, by gender and district, in attitudes about family involvement among Kuwaiti middle school supervisors; (b) the level of responsibility for encouraging family-school relationships among administrators, teachers, parents, and students; (c) the level of importance of different types of family involvement; (d) the barriers preventing families from being more involved in their children's middle schools in Kuwait; and (e) the degree of importance of each type of educational involvement for family participation during their children's middle school years. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare the mean scores by gender for supervisors' attitudes. One–way ANOVA was conducted to determine whether there were significant differences in the mean scores by district. The results indicated there were no significant differences in supervisors' attitudes by geographical district. There were some significant differences in supervisors' attitudes toward family involvement by gender. These findings might be related to traditional culture that affects women in Arabic societies, including the Kuwaiti community. Frequency distributions were calculated to determine the participants' responses to the subsequent research questions. The results indicated that administrators and families were perceived as more responsible for initiating family involvement than supervisors, teachers, and students. All six types of family involvement in Epstein's model (1996c) were important to the supervisors. Lack of time was a serious barrier to family involvement for both teachers and parents and the perceived problem of parent-adolescent conflict during later childhood was an additional barrier. Providing a home environment that supported learning, regular communication with teachers and administrators, and assisting students at home were considered to be highly important. / Ph. D.

The 1991 oil fires that were set by the Iraqis as they retreated from Kuwait during the Gulf War are still considered the worst and biggest oil fires in the history of the world. An initial study was conducted in 1992 to investigate the negative effects of the pollution caused by the oil fires on the socio-psychological values of housing and the cultural meanings of home and homeownership of Kuwaiti households. In 1994, a follow-up study was conducted to examine how time between the two studies and treatments of residential interiors and exteriors might have affected Kuwaiti households' perceptions regarding the negative effects of ORP on the socio-psychological values of housing, cultural meanings of home and homeownership, and housing satisfaction. Three-hundred and forty-seven non-smoking and non-institutionalized Kuwaiti household members participated in the follow-up study. Only eighty-nine of the participants in the follow-up study has also participated in the initial study. All the participants were 18 years or older, and were randomly selected from 60 different cities and suburbs in Kuwait. Six trained interviewers collected the data via telephone using survey questionnaires constructed specifically for that purpose. A comparison of frequencies and percentages from both the initial and the follow-up studies showed that more than two-thirds of the participants continued to be very concerned about the unclear hazardous effects of ORP on their health and safety and the health and safety of their family members. There was a decrease in the negative effects of ORP on most of the socio-psychological values of housing and cultural meanings of home and homeownership. The overall housing satisfaction of Kuwaiti households with their contaminated homes remained high. It was concluded from this study that only time and treatment of residential interiors had significant influence on Kuwaiti households’ perceptions about the negative effects of ORP on the housing values, cultural meanings of home and homeownership, and housing satisfaction. The implications of this study could be beneficial mainly to Kuwaiti households who wish to solve their housing problems caused by ORP; to the Kuwaiti government to seek, through the United Nations, financial compensations from Iraq; and to Kuwait University and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to expand their research base and investigate the best methods to remedy the problem of ORP in the Kuwaiti residential environment. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the knowledge, skills, and experiences in the enameling arts and the attitudes and perceptions of in-service (n = 12) and pre-service Kuwaiti art teachers (n = 170), art supervisors at the Ministry of Education (MOE) (n = 3) and art education faculty members at the College of Basic Education (CBE) and Kuwait University (KU) (n = 8) about what they believed pre-service art teachers should know and be able to do in order to teach the enameling arts, and (2) to use this information to inform and guide the development of a content outline for an enameling course for pre-service Kuwaiti art teachers that is educationally (how to perform enameling arts skills and how to teach what they know), practically (safety issues, workshop management, etc), and culturally (its relation to Islamic culture) suitable. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. Most of the respondents revealed limited knowledge and skills and modest experiences in the enameling arts. All interviewees in the study expressed positive perceptions and attitudes about the enameling arts. Most agreed that a revision to the current art education curriculum at the CBE was needed and made suggestions about how the curriculum should be revised. It was clear that there is a disconnection and miscommunication between the MOE and the CBE with regards to the information about enameling that should be covered and taught in the art education classes. All respondents expressed support for the inclusion of a course in enameling in the art education curriculum at the CBE. Because of the limited knowledge of the participants in the study, they were not able to provide guidance in shaping the content for a course in the enameling arts. The researcher had to rely on the literature review and his expertise as an enameling artist to develop a content outline that was educationally, practically, and culturally suitable for the pre-service Kuwaiti art teachers. Further study was recommended in regard to curriculum issues, especially those related to the inclusion of Islamic culture, and methods of delivering instruction in the enameling arts.