Dorothy Shea, of the American Consulate General in Israel (formerly of the State Department), believes palestinians should be applauded for “largely eliminating the gender gap” in education.
Palestinians should be applauded for largely eliminating the gender gap in education.
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Palestinians should be applauded for largely eliminating the gender gap in education. Unlike in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, Palestinian girls and young women enjoy equal access to education as their male counterparts. In 2012, girls accounted for half of all students enrolled at Palestinian schools, making up 50% of the primary school population and 54% of secondary school students. In fact, last year’s statistics show an even stronger female presence in higher education, where 58% of students were young women. Among graduates, too, women form a clear majority – around 60?% in 2012. The literacy rate is 94% for women, one of the highest rates in the Middle East.
However, Palestinians still have a gender gap in the workplace, and this is where greater attention is needed. In 2014, 72% of men were employed as opposed to just 19% of women, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Paradoxically in Palestinian society, employment opportunity among Palestinian women decreases as their level of education increases. Palestinian women with 13 years of schooling or more suffer from the highest rate of unemployment, at over 53 percent. As a result, many more women than men with higher-education degrees are forced to accept jobs that are far below their qualifications. Female graduates from Gaza to Jenin to Jericho file away their diplomas and go to work in hair salons or tailor shops. They conclude they have no chance of working in their professional field, but they can contribute to their household income as low-skilled workers.
I dunno. I think the gender gap in the palestinian workplace is somewhat exaggerated.
