Female teachers in the Middle East
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.
