Fostering a culture of qualitative research and scholarly publication in a leading university in the West Bank: a Palestinian-UK capacity-building collaboration

Research practices in Arab universities, especially the use of qualitative methods, tend to fall behind international standards of excellence; hence, the relatively small number of qualitative journal articles published by Arab academics. Conducting research in Palestine is particularly problematic due to the continued Israeli occupation and its negative impact on Palestinian education. Certain cultural and historical factors pose further difficulties, specifically for qualitative researchers. To address the challenges with conducting qualitative research for its own staff and students, An-Najah National University (West Bank) collaborated with Coventry University (UK) to design and deliver a joint researcher-development programme on the uses of qualitative research methods, and the process and requirements of scholarly publication. Whilst implementing the programme, the team of British and Palestinian academics sought to examine the socio-cultural challenges of capacity-building between higher education institutions in the Global North and South – specifically in relation to qualitative research practice – and answer the question of how an equitable partnership between Global North and South institutions can be built. By engaging in Action Research, the North-South collaborators observed and analysed how Western researcher-development practices and assumptions were questioned, re-examined and adapted to give rise to a near-symmetrical relationship between the two institutions.