Improving Educational Gender Equality in Religious Societies: Human Rights and Modernization Pre-Arab Spring

205 Pages·2018·2.66 MB·English

by  Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani (auth.)

I m p r o v i n g
E d u c a t i o n a l
G e n d e r E q u a l i t y
I n R e l i g i o u s
S o c i e t i e s
Human Rights and Modernization
Pre-Arab Spring
SUMAIA A. AL-KOHLANI
Improving Educational Gender Equality in
Religious Societies
Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani
Improving
Educational Gender
Equality in Religious
Societies
Human Rights and Modernization Pre-Arab Spring
Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani
United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
ISBN 978-3-319-70535-4 ISBN 978-3-319-70536-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70536-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017962331
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I dedicate this book to all Yemeni women, girls, and children, who bear most
of the consequences of political instability. I also dedicate it to Yemeni
teachers, who did not give up their duties even though they have not received
their salary for months.
P
reface
The idea for this book came to me in 2010, when Turkey was considered
a good example of a successful secular Muslim country. This positive per-
ception about Turkey made me wonder if females’ rights there are far bet-
ter than in Iran and Saudi Arabia when it comes to the basic right to
education and joining the labor force. When females’ rights in Iran are
compared to females’ rights in Turkey, the dress code stands out as the
most obvious difference. However, I tried to avoid the argument over the
dress code for women and girls, because forcing them to wear a hijab, as
is the case in Iran, or to remove it, as was the case in Turkey before 2010,
are, in my opinion, against females’ right to choose. What made this topic
more interesting was the Arab Spring in 2011 and the demand for sub-
stantial change in the political system in several countries.
The demand for a different political system comes from the failure of
several previous regimes to meet the economic and political demands of
the new generation. Some of those political movements demanded more
a religious political system, claiming that Islam is the solution, while oth-
ers were looking for a more liberal political system, arguing that the suc-
cess of Turkey was just an extension of its success in implementing a secular
political system. However, even today, several Muslim countries are still
embroiled in debates over whether a more religious or less religious politi-
cal system is better for the new, young governments that are struggling to
rise. Muslim countries that managed to avoid the Arab Spring, such as
Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Thailand, are also debating whether they should
liberalize their constitutions, laws, and regulations to avoid future political
chaos. Therefore, a key element in deciding which would be the more
vii
viii PREFACE
beneficial—a more religious or a less religious political system—is the
effect on gender equality, both for human rights and for economic devel-
opment reasons.
This book intends to respond to the “religious theory” that associates
certain religions with gender inequality, and to the “modernization the-
ory” that downplays the role of religion in gender inequity and associates
gender inequality with socioeconomic factors. This book tests both theo-
ries and determines which is more applicable, and how the results could
help policy-makers. It aims to answer several questions with regard to this
subject. For example, would the choice of a more religiously liberal con-
stitution mean better gender equality in education? Also, would the domi-
nance of a religiously conservative constitution result in weak gender
equality in education? Does modernization change the impact of a reli-
giously conservative constitution on gender equality in education?
This book contributes to the ongoing debate over what impact Islam
has on gender equality in education. It studies the impact of religious
constitutions and several modernization factors, such as urbanization, fer-
tility, oil, and income, on educational gender equality in 55 Muslim and
non-Muslim countries.
The book is an interdisciplinary study drawn from the fields of world
politics, public policy in education, and political religion. Combining
these disciplines also involves considerable engagement with the quantita-
tive and qualitative methods of comparative politics, religion, and educa-
tion. As such, this work exists in a unique space in the broader political,
religious, and educational literatures.
As I write, my hope is that this book will be useful complementary
reading for courses that discuss religion, politics, and education; Islam and
education; the impact of secularism and religious conservativism on edu-
cational gender equality; and differences in educational gender equality
between Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Also, due to the Arab Spring
and other events that raise the profile and importance of this topic, the
book could be of interest to the general public as well.
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates Sumaia A. Al-Kohlani
a
cknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who supported me during
the time I was writing this book. In particular, I would like to thank my
family and husband for taking a special interest in following my progress
and providing all the support and comfort I needed to finish the book.
Thanks to Professor Heather Campbell for her advice and encourage-
ment, and for all the support I have received from her since the day we
met. Also, I am thankful to Dr. Emily Saunders for her interest in the book
and her valuable suggestions. I am also thankful to the publisher and edi-
torial assistant, who were supportive, patient, and helpful. I ask for for-
giveness from my husband, from whom I was taken away during this
experience, and from those whose names I have failed to mention.
ix
c
ontents
1 I ntroduction 1
Gender Equality Before the Arab Spring 8
Historical Background 10
Western Feminist Theories 12
Religious Feminist Theories 16
Education and Gender Equality 30
Female Education and Economy 32
Conclusion 34
Outline of the Book 35
References 38
2 Religious Theory vs. Modernization Theory 43
Religious Theory 43
Modernization Theory 54
Conclusion 60
References 63
3 Research Design and Methodology 67
Research Questions 71
First Hypotheses 71
Alternative Hypotheses 72
Data 73
Dependent Variable 73
xi
xii CONTENTS
Key Independent Variables 75
Control Variables 80
Interaction Variables 82
The Statistical Models 83
Expectations 84
Method 85
Conclusion 86
References 87
4 Empirical Testing and Analysis of Data 89
Empirical Testing and Analysis for Muslim and Non- Muslim
Countries 90
Empirical Testing and Analysis for Muslim Countries 103
Empirical Testing and Analysis for Non-Muslim Countries 111
Analysis of the Results 114
Conclusion 119
References 122
5 Case Study 123
Turkey’s Religious History 125
Iran’s Religious History 129
Females’ Education and Labor Force Participation 134
Females’ Education in Turkey 135
Females’ Education in Iran 136
Data Description 138
Empirical Testing 138
Results for Education Enrollment 138
Results for Labor-Force Participation 144
Analysis of the Data 148
Conclusion 150
References 153
6 Conclusion and Policy Implications 155
Policy Recommendations 159
Future Studies 161
References 162