Graphic Data & Charts
Here you can find Tables 1-11 from the study, and some context about them. Some charts I have created myself based on available data, and others are taken from sources, which are all cited here.
Table 1
Table 1 shows the discrepancy between male and female literacy rates across the Middle East in 2015 for the total population. Worldwide, female literacy rates lag behind those of males, but the global average for this discrepancy is about five percent for youths and nine percent for adults (International Literacy Data). In every Middle East nation evaluated here, female literacy follows this trend. However, there are wide differences in Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria, which all have female literacy rate at least ten percent below their male counterparts. This exceeds the global average, meaning that female literacy in these countries is a more substantial issue than in most countries. Egypt and Syria will be examined more closely later in the study.
Table 2
Table 2 more closely examines female illiteracy in women ages 15 to 24 across the Middle East. In every country except Qatar, the latest data shows that at least 40 percent of females are illiterate. Most countries have seen no major changes in female illiteracy since 2005, though Bahrain and Jordan have seen slight decreases. Troublingly, Palestine and the UAE have both seen substantial increases in illiteracy.
Investing in women’s access to quality education should be a priority in order to lower this rate as much as possible in every country.
In this graph, Qatar is an interesting example because of its already-low female illiteracy rate. This is because Qatar is a rich, oil-funded rentier state, and its expenditure on education in 2008 was 2.44 percent, which represented 7.35 percent of its total government expenditure (UIS). While these numbers are seemingly low, Qatar’s vast resources and relatively small population mean that its GDP per capita is actually much higher than other nations in the region. While Qatar could afford a GDP per capita of 84,628 USD in 2008, the next highest GDP per capita in the region was just 46,309 USD, in the also oil-rich UAE (UIS). Even there, they only afford slightly more than half of Qatar’s rich value. Because Qatar’s resources mean it can afford to invest in its people, female education and literacy are a priority. Therefore, this graph indicates that one of the most important factors that contributes to female literacy is government expenditure on education. Without priority status at the state level, easy access to education for women cannot be achieved.
Tables 3A-3D
Tables 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D show the overall inequity of teacher distribution by gender. Although in some countries women make up 50 percent of tertiary-level teachers, in other countries they make up only about 18 percent (UIS). Meanwhile, almost 100 percent of all pre-primary teachers are female. Ideally, each of these graphs would show an even 50 percent. Not only are females underrepresented as teaching level increases, but males are also vastly underrepresented in pre-primary and primary teaching positions.
These graphs demonstrate the fact that in this region, it is much easier for women to be taught by women and receive the education level of young children (through primary school). However, as they grow older, and education grows more complex, more of the teaching responsibility is shared by males. This is a problem in some Middle Eastern countries where cultural values make it inappropriate for females to be taught by male teachers. Thus, they cannot reach the secondary or tertiary level of education if there are no female teachers, and females are not widely assuming these high-level teaching positions. This could be due to lack of qualification, since they themselves have not reached a high enough level of education to teach. Another explanation could be due to gender discrimination on any number of levels (initial hiring, the work environment, wage differences, and the like) which prevents them from obtaining or keeping these jobs, despite equal qualifications.
Table 4
Table 4 shows the percentage of total girls enrolled in primary and secondary school through the Middle Eastern region. The highest value for both primary and secondary enrollment is in Bahrain, with 49 percent and 53.5 percent respectively. However, the lowest values are in Yemen, with only 28 percent and 21 percent. Overall, the average primary enrollment rate is 44.08 percent, and the average secondary enrollment rate is 44.81 percent.
Table 5
However, in some nations, gender equality seems close, at least statistically. Consider the individual case of Qatar. As shown in Table 5, the percent of male and female students attending early childhood education there is equal (40.8 percent).
Table 6
Meanwhile, in Iraq, a much larger country than Qatar, there is substantial variation. This MICS map (Table 6) represents the percentage of primary school aged children that are currently attending their first year of primary school, in Iraq in 2006 by governorate. The darker areas represent areas of relatively high attendance compared to the lighter areas. It is important to understand school attendance in Iraq by different geographical areas, since Iraq is not a homogeneous nation: its different regions are home to different social, cultural, and religious sects, which accordingly have different economic backgrounds. Each of these factors impacts the availability of education to the children in these areas. The large western governorate and the central regions, which are primarily Sunni, and most of the northern governorates, which is primarily Kurdish, have fairly high attendance rates, as well as high petroleum and chemical resources. However, the densely populated Salahuddin region, as well as the majority of the south which is mostly Shiite and relatively devoid of resources, have much lower percentages.
Table 7
Meanwhile, Table 7 represents the percentage of net attendance rate in secondary schools in Iraq in 2006. Overall, 48 percent of secondary school aged children are not in school, but this figure is 58 percent for females. It is also important to note that in the northern oil-rich Kurdistan region, the figure is much smaller, at 30 percent, while in the poorer Southern and Center governorates, it is higher, at 53 percent. This indicates that while Iraqi girls are, overall, less likely to be in school than Iraqi boys, there may be variations in this gender inequity in different regions of Iraq.
Tables 8A-8B
This reinforcement of gender roles in society has contributed to women’s subordination and has created a major obstacle to education and employment. Since only a few careers are accepted as suitable for women, the available labor force is severely underemployed. As seen in Tables 8A and 8B, while in 2014 the nation’s unemployment rate was estimated at 11.2 percent (normal for developing countries), women’s unemployment was 32 percent (CIA World Factbook, “Unshackling themselves”). Meanwhile, in 2012 for young people between the ages of 15 and 24, the national unemployment rate was much higher at 28.3 percent; the young female unemployment rate was an enormous 54.4 percent (CIA World Factbook). While in the Middle East region a gender gap of about 10 percentage points is normal, Saudi Arabia’s gap is about 22 percent nationally, and 26 percent for youths (Mahmood).
Table 9
While all pre-primary teachers are female, the percent of female teachers at the tertiary level dips to about 33 percent, as evidenced in Table 9 (UIS). At the primary and secondary levels, near equal amounts of male and female teachers are employed. However, the extremely high and low figures at either end are troubling. At the pre-primary level, all jobs are given to female teachers and there is little to no opportunity for males; at the tertiary level, many more males are employed. This could indicate that while women’s education and teaching positions are widely accepted at low levels, as the complexity of the content increases, more positions are available to males. It could also indicate a self-reinforcing structure: as there are not many female teachers, many Saudi women are forced to drop out before the tertiary level, and thus do not receive the necessary credentials to become teachers at the tertiary level.
Table 10
As of 2001, there were 10,783 Syrian primary schools. Like Saudi Arabia, six years of formal schooling are compulsory (Bryant 1345). As in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the female enrollment rate declines with level of education, with 96 percent enrolled in primary, 40 percent in secondary, and just 13 percent enrolled in tertiary education (Bryant 1345). About 86.4 percent of the total population of Syria is literate, but the female literacy rate is below this at 81 percent (CIA World Factbook). As of 2007, Syria spent about 4.9 percent of its GDP on education (CIA World Factbook). This represented about 18.9 percent of total government expenditure for the same year (UIS). However, as seen in Table 10, in 2002, the labor-force population was primarily educated only at the primary level (Huitfeldt 9).
Table 11
The lack of female participation in the labor force, as in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, presents a problem for female access to quality education. Though the Ba’ath regime promised full participation for women in the workplace when it seized political control in 1963, many Syrian women finish primary school, but never enter the labor force. In 2010, Syria ranked quite close to last for female participation in the labor force (Dervis 315). Those that do start working around the age of 12 are likely to leave around age 20 (Huitfeldt 12). However, as evident in Table 11, an even greater proportion is likely to never even seek employment in the first place. However, those women that do continue their education to the secondary or tertiary level are much more likely to enter the labor force; furthermore, marginal rates of return in reported wages per year of additional public schooling for Syrian females can be up to 18 percent (Huitfeldt 23). Even in light of this encouraging trend for Syrian women who continue their education, most drop out after primary school.