In the United Arab Emirates, economic and cultural forces are affecting the development of public relations. A high imbalance of expatriates to locals (Emiratis) in the population has left the field of public relations lacking in local representation. Without adequate representation across the major sectors of the society, Emirati can lose influence and control over their own homeland where they are a significant minority. A contributing factor to success in any field is the development of professional socialization and construction of a professional identity in the post-secondary environment. This is an exploratory study examining Emirati public relations students and their professional development. It is a qualitative study of semi-structured interviews of 10 Emirati public relations students, utilizing a grounded theory approach. Findings reveal that Emirati public relations students are developing in their professional identities at institutional and relational levels, but there is more that can be done by the students, themselves, to support the construction of their professional identities in their post-secondary environment. This would likely increase their chances for career placement and success in the area of public relations, and further greater representation of locals in the society.
