In several countries in the Arab World, women face significant obstacles to obtaining higher education and entering the workforce. We propose an e-Scholarships for Women Initiative to mitigate access, equality, and labor participation challenges through online education.

1. e-Scholarships for Women Initiative
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2. In several countries in the Arab World, women face significant obstacles to obtaining
higher education and entering the work force
Summary of the challenges Arab women face to obtaining higher education
Access
• In approximately 50% of Arab countries, more men than women benefit from increased access to higher education
• No statistics for Somalia and the Comoros Islands, anecdotal evidence suggests they face significant accessibility problems
• Regional open universities use English language as language of instruction, limiting access for women who are Arabic speakers
Equality
• Community and social pressure and familial obligations limit equal access
• Social obligations hinder women from traveling and engaging in educational programs
• Lack of financial support - females are passed over in favor of men for education when household resources are constrained
Participation
• Poverty stricken countries (Djibouti, Somalia, Syria) have high rates of female labor participation and low education access,
countries such as Algeria, Iraq, and Morocco have low access and medium levels of female labor participation rates; these
countries indicate a potential for developmental impact through higher education
• Female-friendly schooling is difficult in some countries due to cultural norms and necessity of female instructors
• Critical infrastructure (computers, electricity, internet access) lacking
• Several potential partner organizations are delivering training to position women to work in high growth, highly skilled jobs and
as a way of sustaining the education of women in the long term through role modeling
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3. There is wide disparity in female access to education; labor participation varies significantly
Key
Low access, high partic.
Low access, med to high partic.
Educational Access Labor Participation
% Females enrolled in HE of Indicative Benchmarks
Female Labor
5 year age group following Australia 80%
Country Force
secondary school leaving China 20%
Particpation
age Japan 52%
Libya 59% 28% Korea 70%
Lebanon 54% 30% France 64%
Bahrain 50% 29% Canada 72%
Jordan 40% 26% UK 70%
Palestinian Territories 39% NA US 97%
UAE 39% 36%
Tunisia 35% 27%
Saudi Arabia 34% 17% Key Takeaways
Egypt 33% 21%
Qatar 33% 36% • Strategic decision not to target GCC Countries
Kuwait 25% 45%
Algeria 20% 34% • Though no statistics exist, Somalia, the Comoros
Oman 19% 20%
Islands, and Eritrea likely also face significant accessibility
Iraq 11% 20%
Morocco 10% 27%
problems
Yemen 5% 29%
Djibouti 2% 53%
Mauritania 2% 54%
Sudan NA 23%
Syria NA 37%
Average Participation Rate 31%
No statistics for Somailia, Comoros, Eritrea
Sources: 2007 Education for All Global Monitoring Report for Arab States, UNESCO Global Education Digest 2007 | 3

4. Equal representation in higher education is a problem in several countries
F/M Ratio HE
% Females to all Country
Country Enrollment (GPI)
students in HE
UAE 3.24
Qatar 68% Qatar 3.05
Bahrain 68% Kuwait 2.72
UAE 66% Bahrain 1.84
Kuwait 66% Saudi Arabia 1.5
Saudi Arabia 58% Oman 1.37
Tunisia 57% Tunisia 1.36
Lebanon 53% Lebanon 1.12
Oman 51% Jordan 1.1
Libya 51% Libya 1.09
Algeria 51% Algeria 1.08
Palestinian Territories 50%
Palestinian Territories 1.04
Jordan 50%
Morocco 0.87
Morocco 45%
Djibouti 0.82
Djibouti 42%
Iraq 0.59
Iraq 36%
Yemen 0.38
Yemen 26%
Mauritania 0.31
Mauritania 25%
Syria NA
Egypt NA
Sudan NA Sudan NA
Egypt NA Syria NA
No statistics for Somailia, Comoros, Eritrea No statistics for Somailia, Comoros, Eritrea
Indicative Benchmarks Indicative Benchmarks
Australia 54% Australia 1.25
China 47% China 0.95
Japan 46% Japan 0.89
Korea 37% Korea 0.63
France 55% France 1.00
Canada 56% Canada 0.98
UK 57% UK 1.01
US 57% US 1.00
Sources: 2007 Education for All Global Monitoring Report for Arab States, UNESCO Global Education Digest 2007 | 4

5. The majority of female students are enrolled in ISCED 5A courses leading to Bachelor's
degrees; However, many are also enrolled in vocational programs
Female Students By ISCED Level
Country 5A 5B 6 Definitions
Bahrain 69% 52% 30%
Qatar 68% 87% 39% 5A - Prepare for entry into advanced research programmes and
professions with high skill requirements (e.g. medicine, dentistry,
Kuwait 66% NA 51% architecture, etc.)
Saudi Arabia 65% 21% 40%
Algeria 57% 26% 43%
5B - Practically oriented/occupationally specific and designed to for
Lebanon 54% 47% 35% employment in a particular occupation or trade; provides
Oman 54% 41% 22% participants with a labour-market relevant qualification.
Libya 52% 50% 38%
Palestinian Territories 50% 49% NA 6 - Advanced study/original research require the submission of a
Jordan 49% 61% 28% publishable thesis/dissertation which is the product of original
research and represents a significant contribution to knowledge.
Morocco 46% 45% 32%
Djibouti 39% 48% NA Indicative Benchmarks
Iraq 39% 22% 35% 5A 5B 6
World 50% 50% 43%
Mauritania 25% 13% NA Arab States 52% 35% 40%
Egypt NA NA NA Cent./East Europe 56% 52% 55%
Sudan NA NA NA Central Asia 51% 52% 50%
Syria NA NA NA East Asia and Pacific 47% 47% 34%
Latin Amer./Carribean 54% 53% 50%
Tunisia NA NA NA
North Amer./West Eur. 55% 59% 48%
UAE NA NA NA South and West Asia 41% 38% 36%
Yemen NA NA 31% Sub Saharan Africa 34% 45% 32%
No statistics for Somailia, Comoros, Eritrea
Sources: 2007 Education for All Global Monitoring Report for Arab States, UNESCO Global Education Digest 2007 | 5

6. Computers, electricity, internet access are lacking in potential target countries; Arabic is
widely spoken in countries where female education access is lowest
Internet
Country Penetration (% Teaching Language
Population)
UAE 38.40% Arabic/English
Kuwait 32.60% Arabic/English
Qatar 32.00% Arabic/English
Lebanon 24.20% Arabic/French/English
Bahrain 22.20% Arabic/English
Morocco 18.10% Arabic/French
Saudi Arabia 17.00% Arabic/English
Tunisia 15.70% Arabic/French
Jordan 13.20% Arabic/English
Palestine 10.50% Arabic/English
Oman 10.00% Arabic/English
Sudan 8.60% Arabic
Syria 7.80% Arabic
Egypt 7.50% Arabic
Algeria 7.40% Arabic/French
Libya 3.80% Arabic
Mauritania 3.10% Arabic
Comoros 3.00% Arabic/French
Djibouti 2.20% Arabic/French
Eritrea 2.00% Arabic/English
Yemen 1.20% Arabic
Somalia 0.80% Arabic/Somali
Iraq 0.10% Arabic
Sources: Wikipedia and www.internetworldstats.com | 6

7. Women tend to focus studies on Education and other fields outside S&T, resulting in a low
number of female graduates in higher value added economic segments
Science and Technology Other Fields
Total Graduates Total Science Enginering/Manu/Const Total Education
Country MF F% MF F% MF F% MF F% MF F% MF F%
Bahrain NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Qatar 3,184 68% 20% 54% 10% 81% 10% 28% 71% 71% 8% 67%
Kuwait 280 45% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Saudi Arabia NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Algeria 87,849 33% 29% 16% 4% 51% 26% 11% 71% 40% 16% 53%
Lebanon 42,294 56% 28% 35% 19% 49% 9% 3% 68% 65% 16% 100%
Oman NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Libya 25,700 54% 21% 29% 8% 45% 13% 19% 79% 60% 5% 92%
Palestinian Territories NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Jordan 2,602 25% 5% 28% 5% 28% NA NA 29% 24% NA NA
Morocco 48,162 42% 15% 27% 15% 31% 6% 23% 68% 46% 12% 50%
Djibouti 8,280 60% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Iraq 12,567 55% 21% 48% 21% 58% 9% 35% 79% 57% 28% 71%
Mauritania 1,149 34% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Egypt 82,659 52% 18% 40% 18% 46% 3% 4% 77% 55% NA 74%
Sudan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Syria NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Tunisia 28,565 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
UAE NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Yemen NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Sources: 2007 Education for All Global Monitoring Report for Arab States, UNESCO Global Education Digest 2007 | 7

8. An e-Scholarships for Women Initiative will mitigate access, equality, and labor participation
challenges in the Arab World through online education
Initiative Summary
Strategic Objectives
• Provide financial and infrastructural support for up to 100 Arab women for enrollment in online education programs
leading to a Bachelor degree
• Increase access for women to higher education to achieve gender parity and equality in 10 target countries
• Influence women to study subjects which are aligned with emerging and higher valued added economic segments
• Raise the status of the social roles of women in society at large – showing that women can and do achieve the same
levels of status, employment, and power as men
• Educating women to sustain the education of women and girls in the long term and become role models
Initiative will achieve these objectives by catalyzing change and providing infrastructure in the following four areas
Access Equality Participation Infrastructure
Focus countries include Target women who are Arabic Programs Foundation provides
• Bachelor in Business student/ partners with
Phase 1 Phase 2 Underprivileged but
Administration
motivated and aspiring
• Student/partner computers
Algeria Comoros Isl. with financial need and • Technology Training • Student/partner int. access
Morocco Djibouti familial/social obligations
• Student/educator travel
Sudan Mauritania that have hindered • Career guidance and training • Female friendly transport
Syria Somalia attainment of higher through partners to increase
Yemen education labor market participation
Iraq (possibly)
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9. Partnerships along the distance learning value chain can create access in countries with the
most pressing gender inequities
Partner Roles and Responsibilities
Financial Support Marketing Candidate Selection Infrastructure Course Delivery Alumni
• Tuition & books • Locate/encourage • Receive • Laptops • Deliver program • Alumni network
• Travel/training costs candidates to apply applications • Internet • Professors • Virtual clubs
• Select recipients • Study facilities • Exams/degrees • Mentorship
• Approve study
track
• Indicative University Partner: Syrian Virtual University
Strategic Rationale: Regional scope, need for programs in Arabic to accommodate language limitations
• Indicative Infrastructure Partner: British Council
Strategic Rationale: On the ground presence in targeted countries, supplementary training, complementary goals
• Indicative Technology Partner: Microsoft
Strategic Rationale: ICT skills (Arabic), computers
• Indicative Long Term Partner: Arab Open University
Strategic Rationale: Accreditation, though important over the long term, is of less importance initially. Currently no
Arabic, regionally accredited distance programs. Potential to develop Arabic content and gain accreditation.
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