IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v102y2021i4p1920-1930.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Educational gender inequality in the Muslim world: A problem of a cultural heritage, religion, or modernization?

Author

Listed:
  • Sumaia A. Al‐Kohlani

Abstract

Objective The difference between the Muslim and non‐Muslim world in terms of educational gender equality has been blamed on the Islamic faith, and sometimes on a lack of modernization. Thus, I examine how Islam reduces educational gender equality and how/if its influence varies from one Muslim country to another. Method I use Time‐series–cross‐section (TSCS) analysis for 29 Muslim countries between 1980 and 2010 to examine the influence of Arab culture on educational gender parity. Result The result indicates that the religious culture of Arab states seems to be highly associated with the educational gender gap. Also, the positive effect of modernization is more significant in Non‐Arab Muslim countries than in Arab Muslim countries. Conclusion These findings are informative to educational policymakers since they explain why the international and local efforts on improving educational gender equality have not been as successful in the Muslim world as is the case in other societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumaia A. Al‐Kohlani, 2021. "Educational gender inequality in the Muslim world: A problem of a cultural heritage, religion, or modernization?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(4), pages 1920-1930, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:4:p:1920-1930
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.13046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13046
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.13046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    2. Cooray, Arusha & Potrafke, Niklas, 2011. "Gender inequality in education: Political institutions or culture and religion?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 268-280, June.
    3. Vani Borooah & Sriya Iyer, 2005. "Vidya, Veda, and Varna: The influence of religion and caste on education in rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(8), pages 1369-1404.
    4. Arusha Cooray, 2009. "Government Expenditure, Governance and Economic Growth," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 51(3), pages 401-418, September.
    5. Ross, Michael L., 2008. "Oil, Islam, and Women," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(1), pages 107-123, February.
    6. Dilshod Achilov, 2016. "Revisiting Political Islam: Explaining the Nexus Between Political Islam and Contentious Politics in the Arab World," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(2), pages 252-270, June.
    7. Robert J. Barro & Jong-Wha Lee, 1993. "Losers and Winners in Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 4341, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Groh, Matthew & Rothschild, Casey, 2012. "Oil, Islam, Women, and Geography: A Comment on Ross (2008)," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 7(1), pages 69-87, March.
    9. Noury, Abdul G. & Speciale, Biagio, 2016. "Social constraints and women's education: Evidence from Afghanistan under radical religious rule," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 821-841.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Policies against human trafficking: the role of religion and political institutions," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 353-386, November.
    2. Gouda, Moamen & Potrafke, Niklas, 2016. "Gender equality in Muslim-majority countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 683-698.
    3. Ragui Assaad & Rana Hendy & Moundir Lassassi & Shaimaa Yassin, 2020. "Explaining the MENA paradox: Rising educational attainment yet stagnant female labor force participation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(28), pages 817-850.
    4. Awoa Awoa, Paul & Atangana Ondoa, Henri & Ngoa Tabi, Henri, 2022. "Women's political empowerment and natural resource curse in developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Mahdi Majbouri, 2017. "Oil, Laws, and Female Labor Force Participation," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 23(1), pages 91-106, February.
    6. Jerg Gutmann & Stefan Voigt, 2015. "The rule of law and constitutionalism in Muslim countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 351-380, March.
    7. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Tarverdi, Yashar, 2019. "Gender and climate change: Do female parliamentarians make difference?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 151-164.
    8. Potrafke, Niklas & Ursprung, Heinrich W., 2012. "Globalization and gender equality in the course of development," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 399-413.
    9. Almutairi, Najla Tharman, 2022. "Does oil wealth matter to female labour force participation: New evidence from the oil-intensive economy of Saudi Arabia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Tojerow, Ilan, 2019. "The minority ethic: Rethinking religious denominations, minority status, and educational achievement across the globe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 196-214.
    11. Niklas Potrafke & Heinrich Ursprung, 2011. "Globalization and Gender Equality in Developing Countries," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2011-33, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    12. Davis, Lewis S. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2022. "Individualism and women's economic rights," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 579-597.
    13. Goli, Srinivas & Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Rammohan, Anu & Vu, Loan, 2022. "Conflicts and son preference: Micro-level evidence from 58 countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    14. M. Niaz Asadullah & Uma Kambhampati & Florencia Lopez Boo, 2014. "Social divisions in school participation and attainment in India: 1983–2004," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(4), pages 869-893.
    15. Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "A Tale of Parallel Processes of Gender (In-)Equality: How Big is the Glass Ceilings for Mena Women?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1062, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Tarverdi, Yashar, 2019. "Oil and women: A re-examination," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 191-200.
    17. Sanaz Fesharaki & Mahdi Majbouri, 2016. "Iran's multi-ethnic mosaic," WIDER Working Paper Series 117, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Moundir Lassassi & Aysit Tansel, 2022. "Female labor force participation in Egypt and Palestine: An age–period–cohort analysis," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 1997-2020, November.
    19. John C. Anyanwu, 2018. "Empirical Analysis of Key Drivers of Gender Equality in Tertiary Education Enrolment in Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(7), pages 197-213, 07-2018.
    20. Joslin, Knut-Eric & Nordvik, Frode Martin, 2021. "Does religion curtail women during booms? Evidence from resource discoveries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 205-224.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:4:p:1920-1930. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.