Women, Education, and Socialization in Modern Lebanon

Much has been theorized about the positive correlation between formal education and the change in women's social and legal status. In 2000, however, a United Nations report on gender discrimination indicated that bias was overwhelmingly due to socialization, or informal learning, as expressed through cultural values, norms, and traditions. Governments investigated in the UN report cited cultural relativity, such as harmful laws and customs, as a major element of concern. In a study on women and higher education in modern Lebanon one finds the Lebanese case mimics international trends in the unwillingness to confront and reinterpret strict and rigid ideologies, which limit the transformation of female educational progress into change in women's societal roles. Women, Education, and Socialization in Modern Lebanon provides a historical background for these socio/political influences on the Lebanese educational system.

Mirna Lattouf is lecturer at Arizona State University. Professor Lattouf holds a Ph.D. in Middle East Studies and Cultures from the University of Arizona.