RQ1: The country system and people in authority.

Respondent 1

RQ1: The country system and people in authority.

RQ2: Yes, undoubtedly.

RQ3: Wasta is based on acquaintances and connections.

RQ4: Yes, there is a correlation, for example, if an applicant who is entitled to a job but has been diminished because he has no Wasta will feel dissatisfied.

RQ5: The person holding the highest position has the advantage in facilitating Wasta by virtue of his power and usually employees obey their superiors. If I had acquaintances that would enable me to reach the highest hierarchy in power, I would not bother having to go to a lower degree than him and suffer in fulfilling my interest. On the contrary, my interest would speed up with him and be guaranteed.

RQ6: It may have an effect, but a slight effect, because the employed person will learn by time. Probably the negative implications will impact the school only in the first year until he adapts to the teaching environment because this person had a university degree and not a lower degree, so it is unexpected that he does not know anything at all.

RQ7: Some students receive recommendations while others do not. Also, some teachers sympathize with students of the same family or tribe.

RQ8: Yes, it will cause the parents to change their childrens enrollment. This is because Wasta is less prevalent in private schools and private schools are profit-driven so they cannot tolerate these issues that will demolish the school's reputation.

RQ9: Wasta will gradually disappear if sectarian, tribal and racism considerations go away.

Respondents 2

RQ1: He might be a minister, a department head, or he could be a prime minister. I have seen a book signed by one of the former prime ministers for a guy to confirm a scholarship which was Wasta-based.

RQ2: Based on the provenance level. Some areas have a strong presence of Wasta while others do not.

RQ3: Of course not.

RQ4: Yes, hiring unqualified employees increases the chance of potential workplace colleagues dissatisfaction.

RQ5: There is a strong relationship, if the Wasta has been required from a high position it should be fulfilled otherwise the person will face pressure.

RQ6: Absolutely, the teacher might be low qualified so the students will suffer.

RQ7: Of course, especially, if the teacher belongs to the same ethnic group of the students. The students always feel happy if the teacher is from their tribe because they have the general conception that their success will be guaranteed.

RQ8: It depends. Maybe if every student in the school can succeed due to the Wasta practice, the parents will keep their children enrolled. On the other hand, if the parents have the budget and at the same time want a better learning quality then the best solution is to enroll their children in a private school because the Wasta is less.

RQ9: I believe Wasta is evil and will not end easily, it requires a huge effort and cultural awareness.

Respondent 3

RQ1: Influencers and people in authority

RQ2: Absolutely, I think so

RQ3: No, it is not, it depends on the acquaintances. If someone knows powerful people will get Wasta otherwise it is not possible (It depends on who you know).

RQ4: I think Wasta has a relationship with satisfaction. For example, if I changed my career to something else or something more profitable through Wasta, I will be satisfied.

RQ5: If the Wasta is powerful it will help me in the promotion much easier.

R6: Yes, of course, Wasta-based employment will affect students level

RQ7: 100%, Maybe some teachers are being asked to help certain students during exams. Therefore, this process will move on to classes causing favouritism. Also these actions will teach and condition young students to accept Wasta at an early age.

RQ8: We said previously, that Wasta is not accessible to everyone. If the teachers are qualified, my children will be safe in public schools, if otherwise, I will harm my children. Therefore, I might escape this environment by enrolling my child in schools with a good reputation rather than private ones because I cannot guarantee that Wasta will be zero in private schools which is going to be a waste of money.

RQ9: Wasta exists a long time ago, and the best thing to confront Wasta is to raise awareness and remind people that Wasta is Haram (forbidden in Islam).

Respondent 4

RQ1: I do not know ironically said. The policy of the country.

RQ2: Yes, it is spread in all the ministries of the state, and its spread in the ministries is more than in the schools.

RQ3: Yes, this is noticeable.

RQ4: The Wasta affected the job opportunities that the recent graduates wished for, so they went to places less desirable than what they aspired to. If you were qualified and you saw unqualified people in your place, this will lead to dissatisfaction and lack of productivity.

RQ5: I feel that Wasta is present in supervisory and administrative positions, but not in a strong way, we can say relatively. For example, if two of the same degree are to apply somewhere, the one with stronger Wasta will get his job for granted definitely, regardless of the application measurements.

RQ6: It is normal, but let me tell you a more accurate word, it is possible, but not a rule of thumb. The one who is appointed by Wasta may be a good teacher, especially when Wasta has become an important matter in securing a job. However, the unqualified among them who relied on Wasta in recruitment will affect their evaluation and perhaps their working routine. For example, I have my group and I have my tribe in the workplace, I take sick leaves for no reason and ask my acquaintances to cover my working duties and vice versa.

R7: Yes, it exists in the classroom. Wasta occurs for a particular student who has connections because of the concentrated social relations in which Kuwait is distinguished. For example, tribes are distinguished by the number of their people. Will their students fail if their connections were found in the school? Of course not. In addition, the sympathy of the communities towards each other in terms of sectarian and groups. For example, the Egyptians sympathise with each other, and so on. However, whoever helps someone succeed, everyone must succeed, otherwise, they will raise suspicions

RQ8: Yes, it is normal. It is one of the motives because it is precisely for us as parents , we are keen on the first aspect of morality before knowledge. Behavioural problems that occur among students push parents to preserve their children and their behaviours to live in a healthy environment for educational attainment, as well as the level of efficiency of private schools in education quality and the passion for teaching. However, there are private schools I have known where students succeed without effort and merits. I want to tell you a story that I will not forget. I was sitting with my friends and a parent has been asked in front of me why does he always enroll his son in private schools. By God, I was greatly surprised, but I do not blame him. He had a child who failed although he used to bring private teachers throughout the year. The sums he spent on private teachers, which did not work out at the end of the year for him to succeed, are the same as those he pays on private schools and succeed without effort. The quality of education in general in Kuwait calls for the idea of private teachers. The teachers do not make an effort in schools as much as they make in private teaching, consequently, this affects families from the inside, psychologically and financially.

RQ9: Although Wasta is present in schools, it has not been developed significantly to extent of predominant. But the last question that I ask myself now the dense continuation of scientific subjects beyond the students' ability and the deterioration of the quality of education...What will happen next in the education sector because of all these drawbacks?

Respondent 5

During the interview, the respondent was amazed when I introduced the topic. He said that just before you came to the school, we were talking about the Wasta, particularly an article about Wasta written in Al-Rai newspaper today 5th June. The article was written this month coinciding with the final examination month under the title of Wasta facilitates cheating in exams.

RQ1: People of interest and power

RQ2: In every governmental sector including public schools.

Probe question/ is it prevalent in Egypt as it does in Kuwait?

Probe answer: No, it is not prevalent as it is in Kuwait.

RQ3: Wasta is accessible to people of acquaintances and who have public relations.

RQ4: The Wasta is a contagious disease. It will affect other qualified colleagues who happen to be with people who got the job unrightfully which will cause some sort of distress because the work environment requires working collaboratively.

RQ5 Yes, when Wasta occurs, we respond to the favour from people of interest and power, otherwise, there will be clashes and pressures with those people such as administrators or managers, hence, affecting our evaluation.

RQ6: Of course, because Wasta- based employment might open doors for unqualified teachers (lack of experience) because the teacher is hired based on interest rather than subjective assessment.

RQ7: Yes, it is. Sometimes, the teacher focuses on certain students because they do him a favour like getting a car license.

RQ8: Yes, it is. Before you arrive at the school, we were discussing that matter with a Kuwaiti teacher with regards to enrolling his daughter in a private school. He said he will enroll her in a private school to avoid Wasta in public schools.

RQ9: Unfortunately, our community perceive Wasta in a positive sense I wish we change this view and put an end to this problem, especially in education.

Respondent 6

RQ1: I think businessmen and some politicians are the only responsible people who set the way straight for Wasta in recruiting and employing others, getting some privileges out of this.

RQ2: For sure the public sector is the most convenient environment for Wasta in the process of employing people also in replacing some employees with others having Wasta.

Prob question: is Wasta prevalent in public schools in Syria as much as it is in Kuwait?

Prob answer: Yes, it is, it is more prevalent because no one can talk about domestic issues as they can do and protest in Kuwait at the Al-Erada Square in front of the Kuwait National Assembly Building.

RQ3: It is accessible to people who are friends with the authority.

RQ4: of course, a lot of employees feel dissatisfied with the Wasta employment system and that some employees do not deserve to be in their current places.

RQ5: In my field, powerful Wasta plays a vital role in many aspects like recruiting teachers and moving them as if they were on a chess set. Also, Wasta plays a clear role in accepting students in schools that are not in their areas just to be close to some people in charge to facilitate the process of passing from a year to the higher.

RQ6: According to students, they suffer a lot from the existence of some teachers only because of Wasta. All of a sudden teachers come, and others go just for the sake of rest, not for the sake of students.

RQ7: As to the class atmosphere, we can find Wasta in crystal-clear case that students with Wasta will be awarded all the time and will be privileged, especially during the exams.

RQ8: It is not to that extent that Wasta spurs parents to enrol their children in private schools. Some parents register their children from the beginning in private schools.

RQ9: It is really a big problem that should be solved soon. If you want to develop the teaching process, Wasta should be avoided. The best should get over the power for the sake of students and their parents to feel satisfied and for a fruitful teaching and learning process.

Respondent 7

RQ1: Basically, managers and leaders are the most responsible people who hired people through Wasta in Kuwait. Because they accepted it, and if not, it will not be there. It is so difficult to get rid of it.

RQ2: Yes, it is.

RQ3: No, it is not accessible for everyone, only for relatives and close friends.

RQ4: Yes, because many people after being hired with Wasta, did not train well before the job, and did not have a good experience.

RQ5: Yes, there is a relationship, even when I received the promotion as department head, I feel I cannot confront the pressure of Wasta from the administration.

RQ6: Yes, as I said previously, some of the teachers have not got that experience in teaching the programs of the school, they did not even have the basic skills.

RQ7: Yes, it can. It can spread out among students while they are talking to each other, showing each other that they have a back who can support them with the exams.

RQ8: Yes, for sure. Some parents who care about their kids want to make a better future for them in terms of learning from qualified teachers and to depend on themselves away from Wasta benefits.

RQ9: Wasta is evil in our society. Responsible people must work to solve it for a better educated generation.

Respondent 8

RQ1: I think that the nature of the Kuwaiti tribal society and its culture, considering hiring as an acquired right and does not require talent or qualifications, are responsible for the spread of this problem.

RQ2: Yes, I think it is widely spread.

Prob question: is Wasta prevalent in public schools in Syria as it is in Kuwait?

Yes, and more widely and spread on three aspects. The first aspect is the political aspect in terms of voting, the second aspect is the social norms, and the third aspect is the moral blackmail, which is the worst kind of doing a favour... committing forbidden relations with officials to promote women.

RQ3: No, it isnt.

RQ4: Yes, there is. Work pressure and relations inside some institutions make employees dissatisfied thus changing their department or perhaps their job because they cannot work properly under Wasta pressure.

RQ5: Yes. Schools administrators always use their authority and interfere with teachers work to manipulate students grades. You know it Abdullah, and I believe you experienced something like this since you are a teacher. The Wasta starts from people benefiting from Wasta outside the school and reaches the schools administration and these recommendations are transferred into our departments through the administration.

RQ6: Yes, I think so. Hiring through Wasta and ignoring qualifications will have bad effects on the education outcomes. Unqualified teachers will lower students learning levels.

RQ7: Surely. If the teacher has relatives inside the classroom, Wasta will prevail as he will not be impartial in assessing their abilities.

RQ8: I think those who invest in their children will not change, whereas others will find that a way to get rid of high fees in private schools due to easy passing at public schools.

RQ9: Practising Wasta in education will lead to catastrophic effects in the future as this will destroy generations for decades.

Respondent 9

RQ1: The government and politicians.

RQ2: Yes, Wasta exists everywhere and surely in the school.

RQ3: No, it is exclusively for people who have relationships.

RQ4: Some people steal other peoples jobs through Wasta which creates dissatisfaction.

RQ5: Yes, I saw this incident. The head of the department did not want the student to succeed because of his low level, but the pressure came from the schools principal, so he had to adhere to the principal order.

Prob question: Was the department head non-Kuwait?

Answer: Yes, he was Egyptian

Question: Do you believe being a non- Kuwaiti department head encourages the managers to use them to achieve Wasta?

Answers: In most cases yes. Unlike Kuwaitis, the foreigners mostly obey whatever is being asked from the administration probably because they have some concerns about the annual evaluation, or the principal can easily replace them with another department head through Wasta.

RQ6: Yes, unqualified teachers will not be skilful or knowledgeable, thus they will affect the learners quality.

RQ7: As a teacher, sometimes when I enter the class, I look at the student based on his connections, e.g., this student reminds me of the principal and this one reminds me of a friend I know and so on.

R8: This is a real story. A person who graduated from the UK, majoring in Electricity and Electronics, when the human resource in the ministry met him in order to be appointed as a teacher of the same specialisation (electricity and electronics) they told him that since his certificate is from the UK, we will make him an English language teacher because presumably, his English is good. He has been an English teacher ever since.

I have another story in which I was involved. The school opened by order of the principal two days ago at 4 pm in the afternoon after the official working time. We stayed until after midnight at 2 AM in order to reconsider and manipulate the students grades so they all can succeed in order to avoid the accumulation of a large number of failures in the second term. They were 200 but we reduced the number to 15.

RQ9: I hope in the future that Wasta ends because it has destroyed society.

Respondents 10

RQ1: From the ministers and the parliament members.

RQ2: Yes, it is.

RQ3: No, it is for those who have acquaintances in general and a strong network of influencers.

RQ4: There is a link, for example, people graduating from the Ministry of Education and being appointed in ministries that have no professional connection to their certificate will be disappointed because the vacancies were the share of people who had Wasta.

Probe question: Do you think people who are benefiting from Wasta will be in debt?

Answer: well this is a difficult question. Not necessarily, sometimes teachers feel happy because they feel important when they receive calls and recommendations from students networks to help them succeed without anything in return. Others hate it and do not allow for such things.

RQ5: Yes, for sure. Your influence is based on your position at the school. For example, in many cases, we see how the principal pop up during examination marking into departments and hints some recommendations for students those students are our children, be merciful which means I do not want a high percentage of failure this year. After that, the whole department complain to each other privately because some of the students do not deserve to succeed and if they do, they will not behave and disrespect us in the class the next year because they pass for granted. However, the department head responds to the principal and always tries to convince us, these are orders we do not want to upset him.

RQ6: Of course, because Wastas employment means that teachers 100% did not pass the interview, so their performance in the school is going to be weak.

RQ7: Yes, we always experience pressure from students relatives either in the school or outside to help their relatives inside the class. Sometimes teachers help the students because they are within the same network. I believe sometimes teachers help the students based on their ethnicity and the religious doctrine, Sunna or Shia.

RQ8: Yes. I give you an example about my sister and our house. My sister enrolled in a private school because the level of education in the public school is bad because of the Wasta and the poor quality of education in general. There is unfairness in grades and sometimes there is no observance during the exam so everyone can cheat. I personally encouraged my family to enrol my sister in a private school. Eventually, there was a notable improvement in her grades. I believe this is due to the fairness and transparency in employment, also teachers are trained, and they focus on fewer students in one class.

Probe question: do not you think that it is normal to focus on fewer students in private schools than in public schools as it is the nature of both sectors?

Answer: Yes, it is normal, my class has a reasonable number of students but what I hear from other schools is that they have an unreasonable number of students in one class.

RQ9: I hope that Wasta ends because when students graduate, they become illiterate, they know neither how to write nor read and are appointed to high positions.

Respondent 11

RQ: parliaments members

RQ2: Yes, it is.

RQ3: No, not everybody. However, the majority are tribalists.

RQ4: Yes, everyone getting Wasta unrightfully will cause dissatisfaction for people who are entitled to the position.

RQ5: One of my tribalistic colleagues in the geography department tried to move to another school, a high school. The supervisor in charge told him that he cannot permit it because our school is suffering from a shortage thus, against the policy of supervision. After that, this teacher discovered that the schools principal talked to the head of supervisors who happened to be from the same tribe and told him to refuse this teachers request, otherwise the department will be harmed by the shortage. Soon, the teacher knew what happened and he began to spread the word in Dewanniyaas of what the principal did so he can find someone who can act like Wasta. Things have been accelerated to tribal Wasta-based clashes until the teacher found the protagonist who changed the head of the supervisors mind.

Probe question: do you think people who are benefiting from Wasta will be in debt?

Answer: In education, I do not think the students who are benefiting from Wasta will be in debt. The situation in the schools is different, especially for the tribalists, if they do not help their relatives, they will be ashamed, and everyone will criticise them in the Dewaniyaa. Therefore, it is a must to do it without any interest. In other cases, people might benefit from Wasta through politicians for securing a job, but they should vote for them in the elections.

RQ6: Yes, it is. The same tribalistic teacher I have just mentioned who has moved to our school by Wasta in the first place had some issues with the curriculum. I remember that he did not know the location of the Arabian Gulf on the map.

RQ7: Yes, maybe a student needs a few grades to pass, he will take these grades if he was from the same ethnic group as the teacher or the administrators.

RQ8: On the contrary, tribal students will carry on in these schools whereas urban families tend to move their children to private schools. For example, once, my nephew was extremely upset, he told me a tribal teacher came to the class to support his tribe, he went around 4 students during the exam and when I called him to help me, he said look at your paper.

RQ9: Yes, the minister of education has been hired through Wasta, not through his qualifications. The ministers here are being hired through their backgrounds and their powerful names, evidently many ministers from the same background are being hired throughout the years, the appointment is based on quotas rather than objective measurements. The educational hierarchy should be changed from the top first to fix the education system.

Respondent 12

RQ1: The human resources and parliament members

RQ2: Yes, it is.

RQ3: No, it is not. It is only accessible to people who have connections with influencers.

RQ4: Yes, there is a link. It will be painful to see someone get my job because he has Wasta and I do not.

Probe question: even if he was entitled to the job in terms of qualifications and requirements?

Answer: No in this case it is his ) rizq).

RQ5: As far as I can tell from my experience, teachers do not disobey or argue with administrators especially if they were freshmen teachers. However, I see teachers many times argue with each other or the department head to show their strong personalities to avoid being assigned to the departments extra duties in the future.

RQ6: Of course, the quality of students learning will be weak, and this will affect their GPA as well as open the doors for private teachers.

RQ7: Yes, of course, we know many cases where some students are privileged and get support during exams. Personally, when I was a student in the last year of high school, I experienced that sort of Wasta. I was lucky that one of the administrators nephews was in our class, therefore, in most of our exams, a teacher popped up and provided us with all what we needed especially the multiple-choice questions that were the fastest to provide. This mass cheating was not meant for us it was for him, but we were lucky.

RQ8: Yes, of course, I will enroll my future children in private schools, because they are free of Wasta and better in general, with smart classes, interesting activities, clean buildings, also the subjects are taught in English which is very important in this time.

RQ9: The education system is crucial to the development of the country; therefore, it should be free from this disease.

Literature review

Types of favouritismNepotism

Nepotism is derived from the Latin word Nepot which means grandson or nephew in English. Signorotto and Visceglia (2002) highlight the instances of nepotism by referring to the practice of popes and bishops. They argue that from medieval times until the 17th-century Catholic popes and bishops, who had taken vows of chastity, were deprived of having legitimate children, consequently, they granted their nephews the same dominant position as if they were their own sons (Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002). Today, nepotism is used to grant favours only to families at all levels within organisations (Ombanda, 2018; Ramady, 2016). The phenomenon has been described according to four different types of hiring. Two of which are described by Padgett and Morris (2005): cross-generational nepotism and paired employees. Cross-generational nepotism occurs when family members from the first two or older generations are employed i.e., usually happens between family members and the owner of the family firm. Paired employees are the hiring of a spouse in the same workplace. (Laker and Williams, 2003) describe two additional types: political nepotism and organisational nepotism. Political nepotism is assisting a family member in obtaining a specific political position. While organisational nepotism is the hiring of a person who is connected to an existing employee but is not the firm's owner. Some have argued that organisational policies prohibiting paired employees from working in the same organisation is a form of anti-nepotism (Laker and Williams, 2003). Preventing the recruitment of paired employees demonstrates an insensitivity to the needs of dual-career couples which may imply more work-family conflict than single-career couples, therefore, minimising conflicts and work inconveniency. However, it is believed that most of these types are based on personal preferences without regard to the qualifications. Muravchik and Shields (2020) assume that nepotism entails a social exchange relationship centred on reciprocity and personalism rather than meritocracy or ideology. For this reason, nepotism is mostly perceived negatively (Laker and Williams, 2003).

cronyism

Cronyism is another term that has been used in literature as synonymous with nepotism. The term cronyism may be traced back to the Greek language. By 1840, the term meant friend of long-standing and had received a positive connotation in the English language (Ignatowski, 2019). However, during President Harry Truman's administration, the American government was accused of appointing friends irrespective of their qualifications which disclosed the term ever since (Ignatowski, 2019). In line with that position, researchers such as Aydogan (2012), Arasli and Tumer (2008) and Begley, Khatri and Tsang (2009) define cronyism as the practice of providing privileges only to close friends regardless of their qualification. By contrast, Hodgson (2019) and Khatri, Tsang and Begley (2006) agreed that cronyism incorporates kinship, close friends, and other social network relations. However, Khatri, Tsang and Begley (2006) claim that the term is not precise enough in its definition and relies on surrogate measures. Therefore, Ignatowski (2019) suggests that with the help of the term Favoritism we may refer to special privileges extended to friends, acquaintances, and familial ties (Begley, Khatri and Tsang ,2009) in employment decisions and personnel selection. On the other hand, Bramoulle and Goyal (2009) define favouritism as behaving better towards one person than another and showing preferences for those in the same social class. In a nutshell, Ozler and buyukaslan (2011) claim that nepotism and cronyism are examples of favouritism that plague all organisations worldwide.

Social exchange theory in practice

Since nepotism and cronyism occur in established social interactions, we must better understand social exchange relationships to better comprehend the phenomenon (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). Social exchange theory (SET) helps us understand how and why this type of nepotism is practised and the ramifications these practices have for organisations (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). According to SET, human behaviour results from people weighing the costs and benefits of interacting with their social and natural environments. A person will engage in a conduct if he/she believes that the benefit of doing so outweighs the risk of not doing it. As a result, if the person believes that the costs outweigh the benefits, the behaviour or the service will not be carried out (Jonason, 2015). Based on that theory, there are two types of social exchange relationships, 'Generalised and Restricted Exchange' (Uehara, 1990). It is believed that in these exchanges a person will feel that the other person will reciprocate at some point in the future (Long and Mathews, 2011).

More specifically, Uehara (1990) distinguished between such types: in generalised exchange, reciprocate is indirect, which might be a third person rather than direct. This type is trust-based and person-oriented, and each exchange attempts to improve the underlying connection (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). By contrast, restricted social exchange is built on the quid pro quo principle. Subsequently, they are transactional in nature and centredon reciprocity in exchanging interests (Long and Mathews, 2011). Consequently, two distinct types of nepotism have evolved that influence employee performance.

Entitlement Nepotism

This typically takes place when company employment is based only on familial connections. In other words, inheritance nepotism; originates from family or cultural traditions and norms that are widespread in many cultures (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). In this case, nepotism might be founded on unbalanced or asymmetrical altruistic preferences (Kellermanns and Eddleston, 2004). An example is when the family adopts the traditional idea of primogeniture. Primogeniture, by definition, favours the oldest son as a legitimate successor who might not be qualified while discriminating against other family members and nonfamily members. When succession is determined at birth, it is more likely to result in restricted exchange connections because interdependent transactions between father and son are not required (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). Hence entitled members may face pressure to meet performance goals (Bloom and Van Reenen, 2007), by experiencing a direct reciprocity type of restricted exchange based on the quid pro quo concept (Long and Mathews, 2011). Empirical research demonstrates the negative impact of entitlement nepotism on business performance by being selfish in hiring nonbeneficial family members. In addition, the negative influence on the parent-child connection by increasing the child's sense of entitlement because this asymmetrical altruism represents restricted exchange relationships (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013).

Reciprocal Nepotism

In reciprocal nepotism, hiring is based on these conditions: interdependence, the extent of exchange, and cultural norms that support that kind of obligation (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). Unlike entitlement nepotism, this type has the potential for a long-term, generalised exchange, and indirect reciprocity with nonfamily partnerships. For example, an employee who has a generalised social exchange relationship with a manager in an organisation will show concern and assistance to other employees in the company (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). Nevertheless, it is possible to choose a family member through the practice of nepotism in this position; in this scenario, the nepot will feel indebted to be hired by the family decision-maker, thus improving the social exchanges (Molm, Collett, & Schaeffer, 2007). This type is called psychosocial altruism, which favours family members. Therefore, interestingly, reciprocity is probably not from the I have to perspective; it has some sort of willingness and stewardship I want to because it is not based on asymmetrical altruistic or restricted exchange. Indeed, Stewardship theory originated in psychology and sociology and was developed to examine situations where executives are motivated to act in the best interest of their organisations (Davis, Schoorman and Donaldson, 1997). Thus, it may influence cultural aspects and values, making pro-organisational-collectivistic behaviours more valuable than individualistic-self-serving actions (Davis, Schoorman and Donaldson, 1997). The stewardship principle is when individuals put their own interests aside to prioritise the organisation's benefit based on mutual trust (Davis, Schoorman and Donaldson, 1997). However, unlike entitlement nepotism, the family decision-maker must have confidence in the family member's competence and integrity which is the key to maintaining a trusted relationship before employment (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013). This process will serve to protect the organisation from nepots who are less likely to disappoint thecommunity members who hired them (Long and Mathews, 2011) and foster indirect familial reciprocity because they are interdependent in nature (Stewart, 2003). Thus, facilitating generalised social exchange among non-family members, which is a type of social capital.

Zachary (2011) claims that families play a major role in social capital, human capital, financial capital, etc). Franklin (2004) defines social capital as a form of economic and cultural capital in which social networks are central and marked by trust and reciprocity where people do things and support each other not mainly for themselves, but for economic productivity and for the common good. Therefore, reciprocal nepotism exploits both generalised exchange relationships between family members and family social capital for the benefit of their family businesses.

Building on the details above, we introduced the social capital aspect of hiring non-family members from the social exchange theory perspective (SET). However, the influence of social capital that underpins social networks has another type of employment practice rather than familial favouritism whether in generalised or restricted exchange. I believe that social network requires an understanding to address their effect on social exchange and favouritism.

Social network

The social network metaphor has been used for almost a century to denote complex sets of social network analysis between members of social systems at various levels, among those sets, kinships, ethnicity, workplace, religion, and friendship that all have a direct effect on favouritism (Khatri, Tsang and Begley, 2006; Begley, Khatri and Tsang, 2009). However, Begley, Khatri and Tsang, (2009) claim that although network analysis offers a vital tool for examining relations structures, it is weak in addressing their processes. The type of reciprocal exchange that happens among the social network members is called cronyism, in which party A favours party B because of common features in this circle, at the expense of outsiders' equal or superior claim to the valued resource (Begley, Khatri and Tsang, 2009). On the other hand, Ignatowski, (2019) recommends that it's important not to mix cronyism with another sort of favouritism such as nepotism. Unlike nepotism, cronyism happens when people with influence in an organisation unfairly hire their friends for high-level jobs based on something of value in return, albeit knowing when it is going to be reciprocated or perhaps due to reciprocating something earlier. Obviously, (Begley, Khatri and Tsang, 2009) social network proposal has blended two distinct elements of two different ideologies in mentioning kinship unit with that cronyism social exchange circle. However, both cronyism and nepotism fall under (SET) which includes two main core principles. First, all conduct is driven by rewards and penalties, and second, most interactions involve the exchange of valuable resources, albeit not always tangible (Cook and Whitmeyer, 1992), e.g., (a promotion) or something intangible, e.g., (information) (Khatri, Tsang and Begley, 2006). Therefore, we might reasonably conclude that nepotism and cronyism are sorts of favouritism that treats individuals among social network as reciprocity exchange.

Understanding Wasta and its Origin

Wasta is a very well-known Arabic expression referring to a social custom practised widely throughout the Arab world (Ramady, 2016). Many researchers have defined Wasta differently but perhaps ideologically the same (Hutchings and Weir, 2006; Alwerthan, 2016; Barnett, Yandle and Naufal, 2013; Whiteoak, Crawford and Mapstone, 2006). For example, Hutchings and Weir (2006b) and Alwerthan (2016) agreed that Wasta refers to favouritism and nepotism. On the other hand, Barnett, Yandle and Naufal (2013) indicate that Wasta refers to nepotism and cronyism. The tension between both definitions might lead to slight changing in meaning. Therefore, it is essential to break down the term.

The Arabic root of the word (Wasta ) means (connectionism) (Cunningham and Sarayrah, 1993). Cunnigham and Sarayrah (1993) distinguished between two categories embedded in Wasta practice, intermediary and intercessory Wasta. Historically, the former was used in family affairs between relatives and tribes to maintain the balance of familial ties by referring to the sheikh (Cunningham and Sarayah, 1993). The (Sheikh ) is commonly referred to as the tribalistic nomadic groups head ( Qabail) (Mohammad et al., 2009). On the other hand, the (Chancellor ) is the head of people who do not consider themselves nomads but rather of urban families (); these two different nicknames are to distinguish between both cultures although they are almost meet each other in meaning and ideologies. The lateral category, intercessory Wasta is the subject of this study since it is practised in many organisations of Arab society, including education (Ramady, 2016).

Tlaiss and Kauser (2011) define intercessory Wasta as the protagonist who acts on behalf of a client to get a benefit for the client, such as a new job, etc. The definition did not entail the status of the protagonist neither a nepot nor a crony. It is my contention that this position supports a better overarching definition of Wasta, whom Barnett, Yandle and Naufal (2013) define as "a source of nepotism, cronyism and corruption generally" (P.42). This is because, throughout my upbringing experience in Kuwait as an Arab culture representative, intercessory Wasta has never been understood as nepotism only, but as cronyism as well. Today Wasta in research is often used as an intercessory in organisations, unlike its outdated and exclusive use as an intermediary, yet it is segmented from its holistic nature. An example is (Alwerthan, 2016) study of Wasta consequences from a school personnel perspective; he uses Wasta as nepotism and favouritism based on (Hutchings and Weir, 2006) point of view of Wasta definition. In the definition, they use favouritism to describe Wasta; however, just like Wastas varied definitions, favouritism has been defined differently in literature; on the one hand, it is demonstrated by excluding nepotism (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013), and on the other hand, favouritism is inseparable from nepotism and cronyism (Ozler and Buyukaslan, 2011). This raises the question if Wasta is understood as intercessory, not intermediary, why is it detracted from cronyism and mostly being attached to nepotism, even when favouritism to some researchers described as both cronyism and nepotism in practice (Ozler and Buyukaslan, 2011). This suggests that intercessory Wasta needs to be clarified due to its lack of inconsistency. This is not strange, surprisingly, there is no single English term to convey the meaning; Wasta's lack of clarity has enabled a variety of interpretations under the same label, which has caused confusion (Ramady, 2016). However, all of these researchers agreed that Wasta involves granting others privileges through personal relationships, whether rightfully or not.

Therefore, I believe intercessory Wasta in Arab cultures practically is best described by (Cunningham and Sarayah, 1993) and (Barnett, Yandle and Naufal, 2013), who convery both terms nepotism and cronyism and understood as favouritism provided that it indicates both meaning.

Cultural values shape types of corruption.

Favouritism across cultures

Favouritism exists in both individualistic and collectivistic communities; it is a widespread practice worldwide. The UN report shows that no country is entirely free of favouritism (Cunningham and Sarayrah, 1993). For example, its folk concept is guanxi in China, (Hutchings and Weir, 2006a), blat in Russia (Puffer, McCarthy and Boisot, 2010), le piston in Maghreb countries (Branine and Pollard, 2010), Wasta in the Arab world (Ramady, 2016), and Pulling strings in the UK (Smith et al., 2011). These terms are spread worldwide and take different colloquial names based on the regions. This raises the question are these terms considered indigenous in practice or have the same characteristics and processes in other cultural contexts?

In pursuit of an answer, Wasta is common and understandable in the Arab world, yet the term is dominant in GCC countries (Ramady, 2016). It could take other connotations around the region like maarifa (who you know) in north Africa (Smith et al., 2011). However, the process is not identical and differs. Similarly, the practice of such terms are well known in Western societies Anglosphere, such as the so-called old-boy networks: which means helping members of the same social class (Ramady, 2016). However, by the same token, the term pulling strings is the dominant name in the UK (Smith et al., 2011).

These different regional terms Wasta and pulling strings and other folk names probably share some characteristics significantly, not identically. The reason might probably be due to the unique ideology of each term with consideration of cultural context and norms. Therefore, these terms are indigenous (Smith et al., 2011). The reason implies factors such as the type of network influence in society, interdependence, norms that influence obligation (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013), the degree of formality in recruitment (Smith et al., 2011), and the nature of the value differences in societies whether collectivists or individualists (Begley, Khatri and Tsang, 2009).

In my contention, individualism-collectivism cultural values contrasts described by (Triandis,1995) clarify the likelihood of regional practice and the process of favouritism across cultures such as pulling strings and Wasta. Triandis (1995) described how people in these contrasting cultures view themselves in relation to others.

Collectivism-Individualism constructswho are we?

Researchers have generally found that living in a country alters how a person views themself (Markus and Kitayama, 1991) and that such differences can predict behaviours across a range of situations just as a personality trait can. This position finds agreement with (Khatri, Tsang and Begley, 2006) that culture determines how people behave in favouritism interactions because it defines when and how they are expected to do so. Individualistic and collectivistic cultural ideals differ in their focus on independence and interdependence on one's group (Markus and Kitayama,1991). Triandis (1995) denotes those individualists describe the self as an independent entity, whereas collectivists define themselves as a part of a larger community. Individualists prioritise task completion above relationships; collectivists prioritise harmonious relationships over task performance. Moreover, individualists social behaviours are shaped by their own beliefs, values, attitudes, and interests, whereas collectivists are shaped by social norms, duties, and obligations (Triandis, 1995). For this reason, sometimes Wasta is influenced by cultural norms that support that kind of behavioural obligation in Arab societies (Jaskiewicz et al., 2013), which demonstrates the correlation of Triandiss model (Triandiss,1995).

The influence of cultural values on recruitment across cultures

Some scholars, including Buchholz (1977), indicate an influence of collectivism and individualism cultures on organisations and decision-making. We get that impression of cultural influence by (Niblock,1980) observation in his study of Saudi culture that man's loyalty is first to his family, then to his tribe, then to his country. For this reason, there is no shame in being a nepotist, and it would be shameful for a man to refuse to hire a close relative (Niblock, 1982). This study might not explain the Wasta influence in Saudi society only but in Kuwait and Arab collectivist societies in general since collectivism is deeply rooted in Arabs culture (Ramady, 2016). In support of Triandis model, Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) concluded that Arab countries are more of a collectivist society since goals are set with major consideration of others and a tightly united culture. Additionally, Goncalo and Staw (2006) argue that most Asians are distinguished from Western cultures in such that they are predominantly collectivisticin nature.

In contrast to such collectivists, individualistic cultural norms emphasise being honest to oneself and one's unique set of values and goals. Therefore, a person may be encouraged to fight social pressure if it conflicts with their personal beliefs and principles (Goncalo and Staw, 2006). An example is the practice of Pulling Strings in the UK in relation to recruitment. The practice of pulling strings is highly disapproved, and formal measures are considered rightful and more reasonable in employment (Smith et al., 2011). From the above, it is my contention that Triandiss description has one of the best explanations of the relation between favouritism and cultural values.

Stereotypically, in collectivistic cultures, the formal procedures are not followed as they should be, and there is a lack of transparency and accountability; responsibility is assigned based on personal relationships, not recruitment procedures (Smith et al., 2011). The individualistic culture might expect individuals to stay true to their views regardless of any pressure. Whereas the collectivistic culture might consider people who refuse to yield to others rude and inconsiderate, also bribery does not cause the same moral agony as in individualistic societies (Goncalo and Staw, 2006; Niblock, 1982).

Reasons for Wasta spread in recruitment in Kuwait

DewaniyyaWasta is popular in Kuwait for playing an important part in the recruitment process. Interestingly Wastas euphemistic colloquial in Kuwait is vitamin W and B in Germany (Ramady, 2016). As previously mentioned, Kuwaiti society is classified as a collectivist society, and what distinguishes Kuwait from western cultures is its collectivist values and the role of Dewaniyya. Dewaniyya is a term used in Arab culture to refer to a big reception area used for male meetings (Kennedy, 2004) and it is used in Kuwait to refer to informal gatherings. Although these gatherings were often political in nature, the concept has changed since the establishment of the Kuwaiti Parliament (Segal, 2012) to become casual meetings and invite any person who has a connection with the Dewaniyya host (Al-Kandari, 2002). Today it is common among Kuwaitis the idea that the more Dewaniyyas you go, the higher the chance of getting Wasta. This is not strange; Mohamed and Mohamad (2011) point out that solid Wasta necessitates connections, and influential people are the only ones who receive it. This implies the disparity between rich and poor in society. Indeed, previous studies have shown that Wasta is reserved for the wealthy and powerful members of society and is out of reach for those on the margins (Makhoul and Harrison, 2004). However, nowadays many people can seek for Wasta to apply for a job regardless of their social status. The applicant with the powerful Wasta can get the job easily irrespective of his qualifications. By contrast, many of Wastas benefits will be unattainable to those with little or no Wasta (Tlaiss and Kauser, 2011). Powerful Wasta is always linked to influential and high-ranking people. Those kinds of people are found in our three different types of Dewaniyyas: family, friends and the public Dewaniyyas. The family Dewaniyya is for the close family, whereas the private is for private friends, and lastly, the public one occasionally happens for friends, acquaintances, and outsiders (Al-Kandari, 2002). I believe that the most powerful Wasta conducts, and relations happen in public Dewaniyyas because it is where politicians usually attend. The power of these informal gatherings is typically derived from the host and the importance of the participants, who probably have strong Wasta (Segal, 2012).

Therefore, to conclude, we can understand Wasta requires connections with influential people and those people are predetermined in Dewaniyya gatherings organised by a host with whom people in need would have a stronger Wasta if they attended and blended with them.

Finding a job in Kuwait

Kuwaits employment policy has contributed to Wastas spread besides the social and cultural attitude. There have been some concerns over the country's heavy reliance on expatriates in several economic sectors (Al-Enezi, 2002). During an interview in 2001, a member of the Kuwaiti Government stated that the public sector recruits too many nationals, even when they are unnecessary (Northam, 2001). As a result, studies demonstrate that the increasing number of foreign workers could seriously impact the gainful employment of Kuwaitis, drain Kuwaiti resources, provide expatriates undeserved right to various subsidies, and affect the development of national human resources (Al-Enezi, 2002). Due to over employing, the public sector began to disregard individuals' university degrees, except for certain professions like medicine and engineering (Al-Enzi, 2017). In response to these problems, the Kuwaiti Civil Service Commission established the localisation policy by increasing local workforce intake to 1% in the private sector and 10% in public sectors each year (Al-Enzi, 2017) so that jobs become adequate for Kuwaitis. This complies with Kuwaits national commitment to securing employment for all Kuwaitis based on Kuwaiti Constitution article 41 which states that Kuwaitis are entitled to work and choose the type of job they want (Kuwait Constitution, 1962; Al-Enezi, 2002). However, the private sector was not recruiting enough Kuwaitis, so the government has imposed quotas to make these companies hire more Kuwaitis (Al-Enzi, 2017). Despite the effort, the problem persisted because the private sector is considered profit-driven. Evidence reveals that employers in the private sector are likely to hire expatriate workers (Al-Enezi, 2002) who are seen as more patient, cheap, and productive to increase their profit (Salih, 2010).

In addition, an analysis by Madzikanda and Njoku (2008) finds that many private sector managers are unwilling to hire Kuwaitis because they are concerned about efficiency and high salaries. Al-Enezi (2002) explains that this has made public jobs even more appealing to Kuwaitis. Therefore, the issue in the public sector has remained unresolved, causing over-employment and disguised unemployment in the public sector (Al-Enezi, 2002).

Consequences of disguised unemployment and KuwaitisationOver-employing has led Kuwait University graduates who are looking for jobs to be automatically allocated in the public sector according to random departments shortages rather than their technical qualification-related desired jobs (Al-Enezi, 2002). In response, Kuwait has implemented a Kuwaitisation policy, which has enhanced the chance for native workers to abandon productive jobs for more socially acceptable and well-paying employment (Al-Enezi, 2002). However, the random employment keeps ongoing, albeit the Kuwaitisation strategy. This is due to the Kuwait Civil Service Commissions (CSC) mismanagement of employment which has been loosened, thus making it difficult to link educational qualifications to the right place (Al-Enezi, 2002) which will cause misallocation due to the high job demands in one sector (Kalleberg, 2008). Al-Enezi (2002) argues that this issue will lead Kuwaitis to request people in government authority to employ them by Wasta with or without consideration of their qualifications. This implies a breaching type of bureaucracy (Daffa, 2019) generated by bureaucracy (Baranik, Gorman, and Wright, 2021).

To conclude, we can infer that effectively, the chaos that Kuwait witnessed of increasing manpower of some expatriates, and disguised unemployment enhanced the prevailing social regime of Wasta and, thus, to act collectivist to be secured with connections in executing favours.

Cultural perspectives on Wasta practice

Wasta is an ambiguous ethical concept with multidimensional characteristics (Ramady, 2016). Gliding (2000) conducted research in western society, and there were two extremes of opinions expressed by the participants regarding family business. Some businessmen have gone so far as to reject family ties completely in favour of professionalism. This is not strange since nepotism is often contradicted with professionalism, bureaucracy (Dahlstrm, Lapuente and Teorell, 2011), and accused of discrimination and a non-meritocratic mechanism (Fershtman, Gneezy and Verboven, 2005; Raitano and Vona, 2021). They justified that if you bring in a person who lacks the necessary skills because he is your child, it creates an entirely different atmosphere, especially when the employees know that they will only be promoted based on their abilities and nothing else. On the other hand, other extremes strongly preferred family management since the business would be meaningless without their family. Consequently, in the words of one individual, "he lost competent personnel" because his father promoted him to a higher position inside the family firm. Hence, employees lose motivation and loyalty due to selecting relatives who are perhaps less capable candidates for the job (Ignatowski, 2019). It is noticeable that people of the latter extreme consider their family the most important priority. This is not strange since our society's most vital socioeconomic institution (Alesina and Giuliano, 2007) was formed long before trade began (Zachary, 2011). However, the latter extreme measurably indicates that nepotism harms the long-term viability and economic viability of family businesses (Salvato and Mellin 2008).

On the other hand, Wasta has different connotations over collectivist cultures. According to some researchers (Goncalo and Staw, 2006), workplaces that involve families enhance the workforce to promote cooperation and productivity and nepotism is more accepted by some stakeholders. Ramady (2016) states that people can find jobs faster using wasta, and it does not always end in mismatches between people and jobs or injustice. This is usually called positive Wasta; it occurs when a special assessment must be accomplished to ensure applicants are qualified for their position in the organisation after introducing the relationship between the intercessor and the applicant. If the applicant failed in the assessment and has not been disqualified, this is considered a negative Wasta. Another line of thought on Wasta, Alwerthan (2016) demonstrates that Wasta has been perceived as a factor of psychological distress based on self-determination theory (SDT) which relates to autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This is because Wasta has some sort of discrimination that provides opportunities for people who have connections unfairly (Cunningham, 1993). Discrimination in the psychological domain causes anxiety and distress (Alwerthan, 2016).

To conclude, Wasta impacts job satisfaction, which probably affects productivity. Wasta mostly works in a relationship culture such as China (Hutchings and Weir, 2006a) and collectivist cultures such as Arab societies but not in Western cultures. Western societies, which are rule-based cultures, tend to regard nepotism mostly negatively (Sidani and Thornberry, 2013).

Religious debate on Wasta

Islam is often identified as the religion of Arabs, and it is one of the most central and powerful sources of Arab cultural beliefs that influence and regulate individuals' behaviours. This power derives from the responsibilities commanded by Islamic conventions, as specified by the Shariaa and the sources upon which it is founded, namely the Qur'an and Sunnah, and the model pattern of behaviour of the Prophet Mohammad (Salvatore, 2004). This undoubtedly implies that Islamic values impact the workplace (Robertson, Al-Khatib and Al-Habib, 2002). Muslims are guided by the Qur'an and the Prophet's prescriptions to conduct their business and family matters fairly, which emphasises the responsibilities between one person and his family (Ali and Azim, 1996). In addition, in the Islamic context, Wasta allows benefits to people in need without harming others during the process. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad was sent for human beings to achieve noble morality and ethics (innama buthtu li utammima makarim al-akhlaq) (Ramady, 2016). This conveys that Islam is opposed to any kind of transgression of noble ethics, such as corruption and injustice among others.

However, Wasta has become inconsistent with Islamic rules regarding recruitment (Mohamed and Mohamad, 2011) which is embedded in the social fabric of Middle Eastern society and is practised openly, without apparent shame, remorse or guilt. This is true, sometimes the motivation behind offering Wasta is derived from social norms, or the importance of the family based on religious appraisal as false justification which people rely on mischievously, e.g., (verse 26 chapter 17 al-Isra) and (verse 215 chapter 2 al-Baqarah) in the QURAN whom these two verses explicitly emphasise the importance of relatives. Those kinds of people represent a skilful manipulating extreme (Salvatore, 2004) who utilise holy scripts to fulfil their own desires. In Islamic culture, ironically, they are infamously known as people who do not complete the related verses of the holy script rather than their favourite segments. Their departure and distortion of meaning are compared with people who recite (verse 4, chapter 107 al-Maun) without the second verse (So woe to those who pray. Those who are heedless of their prayers). As shown, it will be nonsense to recite the first verse only. Similarly, other verses stress the importance of family but they do not encourage people to take priority for families over other people unfairly by any means.

In a nutshell, Islamic principles are overshadowed by Wasta and authoritarian power relations (Branine and Pollard, 2010). Arab cultures are more collectively oriented than western cultures (Ramady, 2016) and their Islamic values are observed in organisations and their religious commitment tends to impact many organisational behaviours (Ali, Taqi and Krishnan, 1997).

Wastas impact on Kuwaits education

Education is one of the most essential components that measure human development in societies (Sims, Gong and Ruppel, 2012). Wasta can be found in education and university admission in Arab society (Ramady, 2016). It is believed that Wasta is prevalent in the public education sector in Kuwait. A study of 310 teachers and 50 principals in Kuwait found that Wasta is practised and principals witnessed it more frequently than teachers (Al-Enizi, 2006). Wasta can be performed in education in different ways, i.e., during employment and discrimination between students in classrooms based on ascriptive attributes such as social class and ethnicity (Heyneman, 2004). Heyneman (2004) defines Wasta practice in education as a form of education corruption and can be characterised by different elements which affect education fairness and thus negatively affect the schools output. Subsequently affects the prosperity and economic growth of a country because education depends on professional standards. These elements will either cause professional misconduct in recruitment or in practice:

Accepting gifts and manipulating grades, and assessments positively in return to students.

The assignment of grades based on a student's race, culture, or ethnicity.

Being hired based on privileges rather than qualifications.

Professional misconduct has serious implications for teachers and students regarding productivity and job satisfaction (Heyneman, 2004; Ramady, 2016). Carr (2020) argues that Wasta-based employment will cause conflict among teachers and dissatisfaction due to the possibility of hiring inexperienced employees, which implies stealing the job from more qualified others. This type of corrupt hiring makes teachers lazier and undevoted because they are Wasta secured. Sometimes managers promote an unmerited person of low qualification and constantly assign him to perform distinctive tasks to appear in the scene even if he does not contribute to a better outcome (Ombanda, 2018). This oppressive practice raises other qualified teachers concerns regarding the unappreciation of their effort under unfair measurements and administration. Such situations eventually will lead to stress and depression (Ferguson, Frost and Hall, 2012)

Collectivist society, as in Kuwait, plays a major role in Wasta spreading in schools (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010), especially in the public sector, whose Kuwaiti managers have been reported to be extremely tribalistic (Ali and Al-Kazemi, 2005). Unlike the private schools, which are less common in Wasta practice. This is probably because Wasta involves family and kinship relationships (Hutchings and Weir 2006b) who are unlikely to be in private schools that adopt different educational systems of hiring foreign teachers (Burney et al., 2013) and against the typical Kuwaitis who generally prefer working in public sectors because of high salaries and less work (Ali and Al-Kazemi, 2005). A collectivist society keeps in-group and out-group distinctions from their culture at school so that students from different backgrounds will find it challenging to integrate into one group. Accordingly, it is expected that students who come from the same ethnic group as the teacher or other school officials will receive preferential treatment (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010). Consequently, Wasta philosophy encourages students to bend rules, offer their services to teachers and rely on their networks to solve issues instead of tackling them, which intensely devalues education and the effort that has to be put into it (Ramady, 2016).

Conversely, in an individualist classroom, students expect to be treated as individuals and impartially, regardless of their background; therefore, forming new group tasks would be easier. Any group preferential treatment will be considered intensely favouritism (Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov, 2010). This phenomenon foreshadows lower levels of productivity and lower education (Ramady, 2016). We can get that impression from a study of data collected from Uganda that found a correlation between better education and better knowledge of corruption reporting (Deininger and Mpuga, 2005).

We conclude that Wasta practice in collectivist societies is a significant drawback in education; the harm caused by Wasta extends not only to students who receive it but also to those who do not receive it who will become victims of discrimination (Alwerthan, 2016).

Conclusion and research questions

Nations have traditionally funded public schools because of the social purpose of education (Heyneman, 2000). Previous investigations have demonstrated how teachers and administrators play a major role in distorting the aesthetic value of social cohesion by practising Wasta (Heyneman, 2000, Ramady, 2016). Social cohesion may be undermined if schools are no longer trusted, thus creating concerns for people to find other social bodies that bind individuals to moral norms and justice (Heyneman, 2000). In Kuwait, the level of Wasta in education is high; therefore, developing antinepotism policies is an excellent step to mitigate Wastas consequences. Due to administrators and teachers having a central role, this investigation aims to investigate the extent to which they accept this phenomenon and what is their future vision to confront it. To conduct this investigation, the following research questions will be examined:

RQ1: How does Wasta-based employment affect teaching quality?

RQ2: How does wasta-based employment influence students enrolment in Kuwaiti schools (from public to private).

Research Design and Methods

Previously published studies have been synthesised to support the notion that a strong theoretical framework can reveal existing predispositions concerning the same field of research to give a better conceptualisation of the research nature, data coding, and interpretation (Collins and Stockton, 2018). Ontology questions the existence, reality, and being of nature by assuming that things need to be done according to the way in which the world functions (Saunders et al., 2009). The study is about understanding how people perceive the consequences of Wasta in public schools which will be channelled to qualitative descriptive design. The research will be exploratory-based and employs the interpretive paradigm which rests on the assumption that social reality is in our minds and is subjective and multiple (Collins and Stockton, 2018; Collis and Hussey, 2009) and which explores the world through the participants mind and experiences (Creswell and Poth, 2017; Collins and Stockton, 2018). The research epistemological approach relies on the social construction of reality. Constructivists argue that there are many constructed realities that change according to who the researcher asks (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009). A key component of a socially created reality is the idea that habits become routines, and routines become legitimated knowledge. This is because Wastas practice differs from culture to culture in which different social norms may affect the phenomenons legitimacy and presence in a particular society (Simpson, Berger and Luckmann, 1967).

Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 12 participants are going to be used to elicit teachers experiences of Wastas implications on public schools and their perceptions of its process. It will enable me to identify elements that support participants' responses, attitudes, and beliefs about Wasta. Kvale (1996) provided an interview strategy in which he stated that it is critical to ask questions with 'how' and 'what' to elicit spontaneous responses from respondents. The questions are structured to justify participants answers to build a valid argument for the adopted theory (SET), social behaviour models and the research questions.

Identification and Recruitment of Participants

Recruiting participants will involve in-service teachers and head departments representing public intermediate schools. The reason behind my choice of this school grade is the fact me being a teacher at the same grade level, therefore reaching the target participants will be easier through my professional connections. It is an educational trend within the school support system in Kuwait that each public school has WhatsApp groups that include teachers from overall departments or private groups for each department. In like manner, other groups are designed in a wider sense including teachers from different schools to follow up on the ministry of educations latest updates. These groups are designed to address everything that is related to school and the educational field. Teachers work collaboratively in these groups and occasionally, some teachers ask group members to participate in their postgraduate projects. Therefore, participants were selected to participate randomly as volunteers from these groups.

Interviewees will be categorised in relation to 4 criteria, teachers positions whether head departments or below, years of service, nationalities, marital status, and other demographic information. Marital status is purposely considered to help answer the second question since some teachers are parents as well so they can have some sort of engagement with both questions. Some of these criteria were chosen as an attempt to correlate relevant theories and models in analysing interviewees answers. The questions are structured to justify participants answers to build a valid argument for the literature review.

Ethics and Informed Consent

Before conducting the interviews, Universitys ethical protocol has been followed and awarded before undertaking aspects of empirical data collection, (see appendix 1). All participants were adults, 21 and beyond). When participants decided to take part in the study by showing their interest by my personal contact number, another information sheet has been sent to them prior to the interview (see appendix 2). Before conducting the interviews, the interviewees have been contacted via phone to set up a time, and date, to allow them to set up their PC, dress professionally, and set up their space as well as introduce the nature of the research. On the day of the interview, I started by engaging the interviewee by starting short conversations related to our mutual job and ministry updates, avoiding the research topic until the interviewee felt comfortable (I need citation). Afterwards, I introduced the research topic, clarified the purpose of the research, assured confidentiality, and asked for permission to record the interview. The interviewee has been informed of the interview length which is 15-25 minutes. The interviewees have been told that recordings make it easier for the interviewer to capture large chunks of information in a short period of time, so I can deal with them later freely, confidently, and comfortably (Tinny, 2013). The fact that their recordings will be permanently deleted has been emphasised so they become aware.

Research Bias

The ethical concern in targeting a specific organisation such as the school in my research is of equal importance to the universitys ethical protocol. In compliance, to avoid bias in targeting a specific schools community, teachers recruitment has been from a range of different schools of Kuwaiti provenances. In addition, it is important for the researcher to practice the bracketing strategy before conducting interviews. Bracketing is the process through which the researcher sets aside his or her presumptions, biases, and opinions so that they do not interfere with or influence the experience of the participants. (Parahoo, 1997, p. 45). The interview was piloted on two retired former teachers at public schools. Communication with participants has been concise, transparent, and intelligible using clear and plain language. Participants have been provided with my contact details as well as University of Dundee contact details and identified with the purpose of the data collection and data will be processed according to a lawful basis that follows legal obligation.

Data collection

The research has been conducted in Kuwait. Data collection in my research has been through Internet-facilitated methods (Carter and Little, 2007) and the one I found useful in my method is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams features helped me record interviewees sessions and save them automatically to facilitate documentation and analysing them later. This implies an alternative remodeled notion of taking notes rather than the written ones in tablets or notebooks which may interfere with the interviewer's and respondent's ability to communicate effectively (Tinny, 2013). Because of the Covid pandemic, every teacher in public schools was requested to download Microsoft Teams to teach remotely, so there were no concerns in reaching the teachers through this application. As discussed earlier, the participants will be volunteering by using WhatsApp educational groups, therefore an organised form in respect to the undertaking study has been sent to the group to be viewed by the group members (appendix 2). The form was distributed after receiving the university ethics form approval on the 1st of June 2022 and the data were collected and transcribed between the 2nd of June and until the 14th of June (appendix 1).

Data analysis

The interviews were conducted in Arabic, and the transcripts needed to be translated. Since translation entails the transfer of meaning from the source language to the target language, a valid method should be taken to guarantee that a meaningful version is produced. Back translation (Neuman, 2006) has been utilised to ensure the accuracy of the translation process. This involves translating data of recorded material Via Microsoft Teams into a second language, then translating it back to the original and comparing the two translations. Due to my bilingual background, my previous experience as a minor speciality (translation) at Kuwait University as a student, and my previous career as a translator for one year, I will be able to translate the participants answers and their interpretation. One of the well-known qualitative data carried out to analyise the open-ended questions is thematic analysis (Dorneyi, 2007). An analysis of thematic data is a process of identifying, analysing, and describing patterns within a set of data. It describes the data set in rich detail and minimally organises it in using thematic analysis 2006). First, the data were transferred from Microsoft Teams to the Microsoft Word software. Then, the data analysis process included organisation of data, generation of categories, themes, sub-themes, and interpretation. The salient themes and subthemes were grouped into categories and evaluated. While reading and rereading the first respondents answers and transcribing data, I highlighted words and phrases, however, some answers were very short, identical to other respondetns and inadequate in terms of criticality. Therefore, I adopted probe questions to the remaining interviewees to make sure the elicitation of rich and discursive answers when needed to provide heuristics for understanding and covering the phenomenons aspects in a better way. The categories generated included the reasons and motivations behind Wasta, the implications of Wasta, perception of Wasta among the society, the influence of Wasta on students enrolment in Kuwaiti schools and other related categories. The emerging themes and subthemes were then analysed in relation to the participant demographic characteristics given in Table 1 below to identify patterns and rank responses pertaining to these characteristics. Demographers emphasise how important and complex it is to understand how individual motivations and behaviour fit into these patterns (Obermeyer, 1997).

Table.1 Semi-structured participants characteristics.

Interviewee

code Gender Age Nationality Marital status OrganisationJob position Year of employment Governorate

A1 Male 36 Kuwaiti Married Public school department head 11 years HawaliA2 Male 31 Kuwaiti Single Public school Teacher 10 years Mubarak

A3 Male 27 Kuwaiti Single Public school Teacher 3 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

A4 Male 39 Kuwaiti Married Public school Department head 14 years HawalliA5 Male 60 Egyptian Married Public school Teacher 31 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

A6 Male 42 Syrian Married Public school Teacher 17 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

A7 Male 59 Syrian Married Public school Department head 25 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

A8 Male 43 Syrian Married Public school Teacher 17 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

A9 Male 31 Kuwaiti Married Public school Teacher 9 years Al-Ahmadi

A10 Male 29 Kuwaiti Single Public school Teacher 4 years Al-Asimah

A11 Male 30 Kuwaiti Single Public school Teacher 8 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

A12 Male 28 Kuwaiti Married Public schools- special education Teacher 4 years Mubarak Al-Kabeer

Results

Reasons and motivations behind Wasta

The implications of Wasta in education

Perception of Wasta among the society

,

Social norms influence

Power distance

The influence of Wasta on students enrolment in Kuwaiti schools

Discussion

Research Challenges

When the form was sent to WhatsApp groups not an adequate number of participants have contacted me, in fact, some previous colleagues who were already in contact with me volunteered and some of them had another reason to take part which is to ask me about the scholarship program out of curiosity. Those whom I know agreed on conducting interviews via Microsoft Teams and were four participants. A short idle period has been experienced while waiting for other volunteers, therefore the head of the department has been thought of to help me speed up the process. In response, another reminder form has been sent to the group by the researcher followed by the department heads academic urgent tone to help accomplishes and to contribute to the research. Afterwards other participants have corresponded to take part in the research.

Moreover, he applied the snowballing strategy, a technique for discovering networks of difficult-to-find populations (Dragan and Isaic-Maniu, 2013). Using snowball sampling was found suitable since it enables access to respondents that could not be obtained through any other way because of the sensitive nature of the subject matter. Moreover, he distributed the form to other groups he knew and made suggestions to go to some schools and interviewing his fellow acquaintances, thus more 4 respondents data were collected. Lastly, the final batch was collected in Dewaniyya. This host was already one of the respondents and informed me that every week he organises a Dewaniyya and all of the guests are teachers of our same titles. Therefore, I took the chance to complete the remaining data. There were many teachers, and they were willing to take part, so it was easy to target different teachers from different schools to expand the community to provide reliable results.

Limitation

The first limitation of this study was the sample size. The size of my sample was relatively small to generalise. It would have been better to have counted more participants to have been able to gather more data and have a broader view of the Wasta perception in the education sector. A reasonable number of 12 participants was considered to meet the challenge of the time in my research. I was hesitant about the number of interviewees to ensure efficient correlations. However, I adopted (Dworkin, 2012) recommendation that seems to be linked to this matter with variability. According to Dworkin (2012), there is a lot of variation in what is recommended as a minimum, but there is plenty of articles, book chapters, and books that give advice and recommend that anywhere from 5 to 50 people is convenient. When replying to the issue of "how many," all these works engage in detailed proceedings and typically respond with the ambiguous phrase "it depends.". However, others believe that it is crucial, considering "the quality of data, the nature of the issue, as well as the amount of valuable information gathered from each participant". Therefore a lot of effort has been given to collecting, and analysing data. Because of the Kuwaiti public schools policy on preventing the free association between men and women in schools, all the participants were males.

In addition, some of Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis felt uncomfortable when being asked about Wasta, as it is a private matter, even though the degree of reluctance differed between individuals. For this reason, respondents might give a normative answer to questions, especially about sensitive topics like Wasta (Bailey, 2008). Unlike the way information is shared in the everyday social conversation that is very different from how it is shared in a research interview. People often share secrets, express their personal opinions on the subject and let the conversation flow where it will in their social life (Price, 2002). Also, I noticed that the reluctance degree resulted in a sensitive topic in terms of recording the interview and the normative answers had a direct relationship with the nationality. Indeed, for example, I got that impression when non-Kuwaitis were more responsive in the questions and in recording the interview via Microsoft Teams as I managed to interview four, while other nationalities were hesitant to do so although I assured confidentiality to allay their concerns. Ironically, during the collecting data phase, in the word of one of the respondents (Syrian), one of my colleagues discussed my answers and told me seriously? You are going to put yourself in trouble. Soon enough I recognised that the concerns are high, and the recording idea might not be appropriate with respect to the topic sensitivity, therefore I changed into in-person interviews using typing method. It was manageable to attend different schools because Kuwait is relatively small in its geographical size. However, during this phase, I was aware of some of non-Kuwaitis reluctance from the initial data I received which were normative and abbreviated. I have sensed that the answers were not satisfying to cover all the themes. There I adopted managing space technique (Price, 2002) by small talk and talking in a friendly manner (I need to cite) to assure the respondents relaxation to decide when and where to probe for obtaining rich data. Contrastingly, the last Kuwaiti samples whom I met in Dewaniyya were to answer all the questions willingly and in detail without noticeable concerns, thus, I received critical information.

Recommendations

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Appendix 1

Appendix 2

4319754107257

The Relationship Between Wasta (Nepotism and Cronyism) and Parents Concerns in Public Schools in Kuwait: From Teachers Perspectives

Name of Main Investigator: Abdullah Al-KanderiEmail address: 2478202@dundee.ac.ukPhone number: 66639783

Dear colleagues, you are being invited to take part in my MA research study under the (School of Education and Social Work). The research measures the implication of Wasta consequences in public schools in Kuwait. Before you decide it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. There will be an information sheet contains 12 questions, which would take approximately 4 minutes from your time to read. The information sheet will address your questions with regard the research study. If there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information about the research, feel free to contact the main investigator. Take time to decide whether you wish to take part. If you are interested in taking part do not hesitate to contact the main investigator via email or phone.

Appendix 3

Informed Consent Sheet

What is the purpose of the study?

This study investigates the relationship between Wasta (Nepotism and Cronyism) and parents concerns in public schools in Kuwait. It will highlight the consequences of Wasta within public schools regarding teaching quality and whether it has a direct influence on students enrolment in Kuwaiti schools. To date, there has been scarcity of educational research on the impact of Wasta either on teaching quality or its direct influence on students enrolment in Kuwaiti schools (public and private). Therefore, this research aims to address the following question:

How does Wasta based employment affect teaching quality?

How does wasta-based employment influence students enrolment in Kuwaiti schools?

Who is doing this research?

This study is part of a student research project supported by University of Dundee. Abdullah Alkanderi, the main investigator, will be conducting the research under the supervision of Dr, Qudsia Kalsoom, faculty member of School of Education and Social Work.

The role of the interviewee?

You will be invited to take part in an interview to share your perceptions of the given questions. This should take no more than 20-25 minutes.

I understand that I can withdraw permission to use data after the interview and the material will be deleted. However, once the dissertation has been submitted (expected to be by July 2022), it will not be possible to withdraw your individual data from the research.

I give permission for the [recorded interview] that I provide to be deposited in [Microsoft Teams and transcribed in Microsoft Word] so it can be used for future research and learning.

Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?

All information which is collected will be strictly confidential and anonymised before the data is presented in the research in compliance with the University of Dundee Ethical Approval Involving Human Participants principals. Disguised extracts from my interview may be quoted and published without my name or any relatives name attached and every attempt will be made to ensure anonymity.

Will I be required to attend any sessions and where will these be?

You will have to attend a recorded meeting via Microsoft Teams after we coordinate the suitable date, so you have time to set your pc, dress professionally, and set up your space.

What personal information will be required from me?

Demographic questions, age, degree, nationality, your working position (head department or below), having children or not as well as questions regarding Wasta within teaching profession.

I have some more questions; who should I contact?

You should contact the main investigator, Abdullah Al-Kanderi for any further information. You may also contact the university enquiry team for enquiries on +44 (0)1382383838. You may also contact the supervisor of the research, Dr Qudsia Kalsoom qkalsoom001@dundee.ac.uk.

.

The Information may be published in a journal which is read worldwide or an online journal.

I have read and understood the information sheet and this consent form. Yes No

I have had an opportunity to ask questions about my participation. Yes NoSignature of research participant ---------------------------------

I believe the participant is giving informed consent to participate in this study

Signature of researcher ---------------------------------

Date -----------------

Research questions

Who is responsible for hiring people through wasta in Kuwait?

Do you think Wasta practice is generally prevalent in the public sector including public schools?

Is Wasta accessible for everybody?

Is there a relationship between Wasta and job dissatisfaction? how?

What is the relationship between power distance and Wasta practice in schools? Can you link it to your own experience?

Do you think that the quality of students' learning suffers if the teacher's employment is based on Wasta? If so, how?

Do you think Wasta can move into the classroom during the teaching profession between students? how?

Do you think the consequences of Wasta in public schools can change parents preference toward enrolling their children in private schools?

Any other information you would like to share with me about the practice of Wasta in education?