1

In the Name of Allah the

Most Gracious

The Most Merciful

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The Roles of Women in

Modern Arab Science Professor Samira Ibrahim Islam Ph.D.

Professor of PharmacologyFaculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences

Head Drug Monitoring UnitKing Fahd Medical Research Centre

King Abdulaziz University Jeddah, Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

American Association in the Advancement of Science Annual MeetingWashington, DC

17th – 22nd February 2005

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AcknowledgmentMany thanks to:

The American Achievement in the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting for their invitation.

Special thanks to :All who in one way or another

helped during the making of this presentation.

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Please note: • The population diversity of 307

millions from 22 Arab countries is not easy to demonstrate.

• At certain points one or more countries are selected as representatives or used as examples.

• The term science is used to express all scientifically and technically based disciplines.

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Purpose of the study

To document :

• The advancement of Arab women in the field of Science and technology.

• The contributions of Arab women to the development of modem Arab scientific community.

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Introduction

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The Role of Women in the

Arab World• High fertility rate reduces Arab women

mobility and chances of gaining remunerative employment outside the home.

• Islam advocates and promotes education for both men and women.

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Opportunities for Women in the Arab Region

•School Education•University Education•Careers and Employment

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•Schooling in the Arab Region

• Science education begins between the ages of 6 and 7 and is taught as an integrated compulsory subject to both boys and girls.

• Major science disciplines are studied separately in the last two or three years of high school.

• The first modern schools for women were opened in Egypt (1829), Lebanon (1835) and Iraq (1898).

• In other countries like Kuwait, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, modern education for women is a product of the 20th century. (Eg 1960 in Saudi Arabia)

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However stereotyping may occur due to:

• Misleading perceptions that science and technology are boys subjects.

• Failure of the curricula to relate science and technology to reality of both girls as well as boys.

•Schooling in the Arab Region

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•University Education• In Egypt women have attended

university since the 1920’s

• Saudi women were admitted to formal university in 1973

• Six of the eight major universities in Saudi Arabia teach science. Only one out of these six does not accept women.

• The percentage of females enrolled in science and technology university range from 82% in the UAE in 1999 to 8% in Djibouti.

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Percentage of females to the total enrolled students in

Science discipline in the Arab universities

4439

82

43 40

1

30

44

9

28

3945

65

3733

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Saudi Arabia Egypt UAE Yemen Syria

Science Engineering Health

Country

Year 97/99 98/99 98/99 99/00 00/01

%

Gender Statistics Program modified from ESCWA Social Statistics Datasets, 2004

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•Careers in S&T for Arab Women

• Female scientists excel in teaching, health and research.

• Although there is an increasing pool of highly qualified women scientists in some Arab countries, few women in universities and science institutes are holding top positions.

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• More women work in the education sector than the health sector.

• Reluctance of talented women to enter into a male dominated working world of scientists.

• Recent survey showing the 50 most powerful women in the Arab world, identifies only one that has a science background.

•Careers in S&T for Arab Women

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Perception of women scientist about their

work and professional opportunities In Arab Countries, career opportunities for female science

graduates are considerably more limited than those for men.

In Egypt and Saudi Arabia:• pharmacy and dentistry, more than 40% of the faculty are

women• In the sciences 25% of the faculty are women• Department of engineering and technology, less than 10% However these patterns are similar to those seen in U.S.

universities, where women constitute: • 50% of health sciences faculty• 23.8% of biological sciences faculty• 6.1% of engineering faculty

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Opportunities available in the

Arab Region

1. Research Grants

2. International Awards

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•Full time equivalent (FTE) research scientists and engineer per million population in the Arab Region is far lower than the average of the countries of the world.

• According to UNESCO’s report in 2003 expenditure on R&D by Arab countries does not exceed 10% of that spent by industrialized countries.

124

876

2458

4006

0500

10001500200025003000350040004500

Arab Region World EU USAFTE researchers per million population

Researchers in the Arab Region compared

with other countries

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Research Funds

48

141

180

238

0

50

100

150

200

250

Arab Region World EU USA

GERD per researcher (U$)•There are relatively few FTE researchers in the Arab region. Even so, because of the low level of spending on R&D, the GERD (General expenditure for R & D) (US$) per researcher is still less than the EU, the USA or even the world average.

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Research Grants in the Arab Region

Some national research institutes that provide research grants in the Arab region:

1. King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia.

2. Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. (KFAS)

3. The National Board for Scientific Research (NBSR) in Libya.

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KACST funded research in the year 2002

Grant type

Establishment date

No. of projects

Principal investigators

% Female

Male Female

National

1981 13 13 0 0

Grand 1979 68 66 2 2.9

Small 1996 118 103 15 12.7

Grad. Students

1991 131 59 72 55

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International Awards

1. Nobel Prize -Out of the 773 Laureates, 34 are women

(4.4%) -Of these women 17.6% are in science

2. King Faisal International Prize-Out of the 152 Laureates, 4 are women (2.6 %) -Of these women one is a scientist.

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Ongoing Efforts to Encourage Women in S&T

- Individual support by powerful women.

- L’Oreal/ UNESCO “For Women in Science”

- School student mentoring programs of girls.

The experience in Saudi Arabia:1. Postgraduate Degrees

2. Joint Supervision Programs

3. International Research Collaboration

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Individual Support by Powerful Women

1. Queen Rania of Jordan2. Sheikha Sabeeka Al Khalifa of Bahrain3. HH Princess Al Jawhara of Saudi Arabia

- Nursing Award- Science Award- Center for Molecular Medicine,

Genetics and Inherited Diseases in Bahrain

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L’Oreal/ UNESCO “For Women in Science”

• Out of the 29 female laureates, 2 were Arabs.

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The Experience in Saudi Arabia:

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Postgraduate degrees granted by Universities

• In the year 1999-2000, 372 graduates were granted Master Degree in Science subjects of which 39% were women. Ph.D. Degrees were granted to 52 graduates of which 79% were women.

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Joint Supervision ProgramsSpecialization Number Percentag

es

Science 13 40.6 %

Medicine 8 25.0 %

Economics 6 18.7 %

Educational Development

1 3.1 %

Humanities 3 9.5 %

Home Economics 1 3.1 %

Total (1990-2004)

32 100 %

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International Research Collaboration

• A research project was established with the L’Oreal Research Centre related to a “Skin & Menopause” study.

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New Developments and Opportunities

in Science and Technology

-Regional Organizations for Women in Science

-International Organizations for Women in Science

-E-learning and tele-medicine

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•Regional Organizations for Women

in Science• Saudi Science club, which has formed a

women’s division to support pre-university science students.

• Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF - Sharja, U.A.E.) recently formed the women’s committee in support of women members.

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International Organizations for Women in Science

International organizations whose members are mainly women in science:1. Arab Network for Women in Science & Technology

(ANWST), Dubai UAE2. International Network of Women Engineers and

Scientist (INWES)

International Organizations that support women in science:

1. ESCWA2. UNESCO3. STMRN

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Proposed Future Developments Regarding Women’s Career in

Science and Technology

-Overcoming the Language barrier

-Database for Arab women specialized in S & T

-Collaborative research between the Arab region and countries across the Atlantic.

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Summary In higher education all females have the same opportunities as males in most fields of science and health.

Limited top job opportunities for females .

Efforts to encourage women in S&T is ongoing, such as mentoring programs and joint supervision programs.

New developments, such as E-learning help provide opportunities to a greater number of women.