Improving educational gender equality in religious societies : human rights and modernization pre-Arab spring / Sumaia A Al-Kohlani

This book examines the link between educational gender equality and the religious and Modernization theories post-Arab Spring. Al-Kohlani examines fifty-five Muslim and non-Muslim countries from 1960 to 2010 in response to "religious theory" which associates certain religions with gender inequality and "Modernization theory" which downplays the role of religion on gender inequity and associates gender inequality with socioeconomic factors. The author explores both schools of thought and posits that, on average, Muslim countries have lower educational equality in comparison to non-Muslim countries with less religious constitution. This interdisciplinary study, drawn from the fields of world politics, public policy in education, and political religion, responds not only to debates within academia, but also to larger debates surrounding the role of religion in society--back cover.