National Service Information Networks of Emirati Fathers and Mothers

ABSTRACT: Youths rely on parents for information at critical life moments such as national service enlistment. However, parents themselves have to seek information to provide the guidance needed. Hence this study identified national service information sources utilized by Emirati parents. 59 parents were surveyed with Fathers comprising 44.1% of the sample. It found differences in selection of information sources based on parental gender. The top three sources used by Mothers were all Social but Fathers used Social and Institutional sources. Government websites and Military Recruiter are emergent national service information disseminators. It also found that Father and Mother participants would rely mainly on both Social and Institutional sources in future information-seeking behavior. Also, more distant sources; linked by weak ties to participants, would be utilized. These trends suggest that parent information networks would become more heterogeneous. It is recommended that the UAE military increases communication to parents through the use of Military Recruiters and by strengthening its digital media presence in Internet sites or social media. Moreover, the UAE military could tailor information delivery to each parental gender that would support parental engagement with the national service program for promoting its relevance to youths and the Emirati community.

KEYWORDS : Emirati parents, information sources, national service, strong and weak ties, United Arab Emirates