Developing Frameworks of Emirati Youth Goals by Understanding Enlistment Propensity and Motivation

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented compulsory national service in 2014 for male Emiratis. When recruits include those who are positively and negatively propensed toward the service, an understanding of the relationship between enlistment propensity and motivations of these youths is vital to improving military recruitment and retention strategies. Hence, this study examined national service enlistment propensities and motivations of Emirati male youths in order to develop Frameworks of Emirati Youth Goals that can shed light on their goals and expectations from the service. Surveys, individual and focus group interviews were conducted with 120 male Emirati high school and college students. Results showed that college participants were more negatively propensed than high school participants which suggests that negative propensity rises with increasing educational attainment. Between group differences were found in the importance of positive propensity motivators. For high school participants, positive propensity motivators are associated with the factors of Benefits and Challenge whereas for college participants, positive propensity motivators are associated with Benefits and Dignity. The findings suggest the need to develop finer Frameworks that reflect the separate needs of different recruits to further understanding of youth goals and support sustainability of the UAE national service program.