On December 18, 2023 I spoke to a group of secondary girls at the central Ibdaa exhibitionin Jeddah about the friendships they built through participating in Mawhiba programmes – they weren’t sure where to start. They commented on how they struggled to find a community in their own schools sometimes, being seen as the ‘weird’ students who had interests that were quirky or just plain boring to their peers at school (with the occasional bullying referenced in passing). But not at Mawhiba. They told me how friendly everyone is, how keen to help each other they were. Everyone had a vested interest in making everyone else succeed. Students were forming WhatsApp communities to soundboard projects and connect others to better mentors, help eachother through the application phase, etc. They were forming volunteer groups that came together every few weeks for different community service projects that they created and they managed and activated. This was a solid network and these students were so excited to share. As one young woman looked at my notes she said, ohhhh you’re totally spilling our tea. كبيتي الشاي. Apparently that means that I was exposing them – but not in a bad way – because I was asking them about the other side of Mawhiba (cat out of the bag ?). Adults come to Mawhiba to hear about the projects and the science. Defend your idea. Tell me about the methodology. Where did you make your prototype? Which summer programme did you attend? Who is your mentor? They don’t often get asked about their friendships, their networks, the support, and the community that is a by-product of the deep scientific thinking that they initially enrol for. The dopamine rush from competing against each other is a very big draw. But it is the friendships that apparently keep them coming back for more.

In general, all students benefit from the relationships they have formed in their family, community and schools. These relationships tend to influence their academic achievement. 

This research project will explore how strong, dense ties with family members, the school community and the broader community motivate or distract students in relation to matters related to their Mawhiba participation. As students across the Kingdom join these competitions, the nature of their relationships with family and broader tribal networks inevitably shift.  This research will further explore the way new and relatively weaker social ties they form with new acquaintances that are made through the gifted student journey are shifting the ties that bind students with their society, and broadening social circles to form larger networks that they can draw on for support and motivation. 

These new relationships are underpinned by a communal desire to elevate the Kingdom’s status as a leader in science and technology, and therefore, we ask how dense and durable social networks influence individual academic achievement and thus success in competitions, and how in turn, weaker and newer social networks are enhancing social cohesion and access to a new form of social safety nets beyond the family and local community.

“موهبة غرفتين وصالة”

— A student from the Jeddah Central Exhibition on how intimate the Mawhiba community is