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This thesis aims to examine the consequences of board diversity in Kuwait. The objectives are to measure the impact of gender, age, national diversity on earnings management (EM), besides firm performance (FP). This research study raises the following question: Does board diversity affect earnings management and firm performance? This thesis uses data from 103 non-financial Kuwaiti listed companies in the period from 2010 to 2017. The data was collected from secondary sources such as annual reports and S&P Capital IQ. The data analysis methods are correlation and multi-regression. Earnings management measured by using the model modified by Jones (1995) and Kothari et al. (2005). Firm performance measured by ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q. The independent variables are gender diversity, age diversity, nationality diversity. The findings show that there is no association between gender diversity and earnings management. Also, this study found a positive relationship between age diversity and earnings management, besides no relationship found between national diversity and earnings management. Moreover, the findings show a mix of results between gender, age, national diversity and firm performance, which is contrary to agency, resource dependency and social capital theories.

The thesis explores the benefit and use of audiovisual materials by teachers and lecturers in Kuwait. The educational system in Kuwait has relied upon traditional teaching styles which are mainly based on the use of printed texts, with very little independent or resource based learning. These approaches may not meet the needs of all learners, and the provision of multi media resources in many other countries inspired the author to explore current and potential AV use in Kuwait. School teachers were interviewed about their use of audiovisual materials, their views on the advantages for teaching, and the problems experienced in identifying and obtaining suitable materials. They provided examples to show how a specific lesson had been enriched by audiovisual materials. Lecturers were interviewed about their use of audiovisual media when teaching student teachers. The student teachers were asked about their response to the use of audiovisual materials by their lecturers, and about their experience of attending courses on AV techniques. The author discusses the general infrastructure for AV media provision in Kuwait and the role of the school library media centre in meeting teachers' needs for such materials. The study concludes that the use of audiovisual materials in teaching benefits both teachers and learners by making concepts easily understandable, overcoming physical difficulties, and stimulating enjoyment, confidence, concentration and teacher/learner communication. There are problems in the procurement and use of audiovisual materials and educational technology supervisors in many of the surveyed schools were considered by teachers to be a source of support if adequately trained and wisely used.