Catching Up: Middle East North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and South-West Asia

Abstract

Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and South West Asia are regions where the proportion of women that have chosen hard science among all scientific specializations at tertiary (i.e: bachelor, and master) level is above 50 %. In Middle East and North Africa, results from PISA show that girls outperform boys in science and express a level of confidence in themselves which is higher than the OECD average, that added to strong parental support could explain the increasing choice to study hard science after college. For instance women represent 52 % of graduates in physical science, 53 % in maths and statistics and 47 % in computing. Those are among the highest levels of feminization observed globally in these fields. In South and West Asian countries also, despite unfavourable economic and social conditions, more women are choosing hard science. The specializations in which parity is strongly progressing are manufacturing and processing: 42 %; physical science: 62 %; maths and statistics: 70 % and computing where women represent 54 % of tertiary graduates. In Sub-Saharan Africa the proportion of women studying engineering or science jumps from 42 % to 55 %. Impressive growth of graduated women is observed in engineering and science over the past 10 years (multiplied by 19 in engineering/manufacturing/construction and 27 in science); however despite these progresses the level of feminization within each specialization remains well below 50 %. The fact that in each of these regions women suffer from the most difficult social, cultural and economical conditions according to the SIGI index from the OECD demonstrates women determination and resilience.