Empowering Refugee Higher Education Girl Students to Protest Socio-cultural Norms in Egypt

• In Event: Fostering and promoting gender equality in higher education

Proposal

The CRS Egypt Education Program provides refugees and asylum seekers age three to 24 years old with access to safe, relevant, and quality formal and non-formal education opportunities in Egypt serving approximately 60,000 families, teachers, and school administrators including around 500 higher education scholars per year.

Egypt currently hosts more than a quarter of a million refugees and asylum-seekers and 15% of that population (44,875 people) is between the ages of 18-24. Refugee girls struggle to access education at the same rate as boys. Per UNHCR, in 2019, only 27% of eligible refugee girls were enrolled in secondary education, compared to 36% of eligible refugee boys. A low level of secondary education completion is one of the most significant barriers to higher education access, particularly among girls. Per CRS’s data, 1,943 refugee girls finished their secondary school and were eligible to enroll in higher education in the academic year 2022-2023. However, CRS received applications for The Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative, known as the DAFI scholarship, from just 12% of this female population.

Pre-existing cultural traditions and gender norms that prioritize the role of girls as wives and mothers, or that
consider girls should earn less than boys and that girls should not attend school during adolescence, are prevalent in many of the societies from which refugees living in Egypt hail. Following the pandemic and Egypt’s economic crisis, many refugee families view female education as less important compared to other priorities. Girls also have limited access to information on registration processes and Higher Education opportunities due to cultural restrictions prohibiting their direct communication with men and/ or leaving home, and concerns about their safety commuting alone, especially for some nationalities (i.e., Syrians and Yemenis).

In response, CRS had to consider two challenges: how can we encourage more female registration in higher education opportunities and ensure equal gender representation? And how can we build the capacity of female scholars through the DAFI scholarship’s activities for successful higher education completion and future gainful employment? The Education Team considers gendered barriers to higher education access both during their outreach activities to the refugee community and in the implementation of the project’s interventions. During outreach, the team specifically encourages females to continue their education and apply for the scholarship during community awareness sessions; clearly mentions encouraging females to apply in the scholarship application announcement; considers gendered barriers in the scholarship selection assessment forms (i.e., additional assessment scores that consider barriers that may prevent young women from succeeding in a competitive selection process; women headed households, wives and mothers), and supporting students to advocate with their families to protest negative socio-cultural norms that assume that girls should not be (and/or do not need to be) educated beyond primary or secondary school nor participate in social and professional activities. In addition, CRS builds the capacity of female scholars by encouraging them to lead DAFI social clubs' activities delivered to their peers and to the community. Finally, CRS tailors career coaching content and maps out internship opportunities including those might be more accessible for female scholars and do not contradict with their parents’ restrictions and concerns (i.e, virtual freelancing opportunities).

CRS’s approach has seen success: female enrollment rate increased from 42% in the first cohort of DAFI scholars in 2012 to 56% in academic year 2022-2023; and an increased number of female youth-led initiatives that support other refugees in the community. For example, in in 2022, seven female scholars led digital literacy related initiatives and delivered educational and motivational sessions for younger students.

However, barriers in accessing education and complementary services continue to differ by gender due to the cultural norms and restrictions. Lessons learned included the need to examine the socio-cultural norms by conducting interviews with students and to tailor education awareness raising content to the community, specifically to parents, focusing on the importance of education especially for girls, and how education opens the door for their children’s participation in social and professional activities, improved mental health, and other relevant topics from the assessment’s findings. Another lesson learned is to showcase the inspiring stories of young women who faced similar challenges and have been successful in continuing their education and moving forwards.

The research will be presented through case studies of at least ten young refugee women from different nationalities who have been successful in furthering their education. You will hear from these young women through their responses to surveys and interviews where they will discuss their family structure, their families’ and communities’ perception about higher education, and how they worked access secondary and higher education even in the face of pervasive negative socio-cultural norms. The information from the surveys and interviews will be analyzed and presented to identify the specific challenges that stand in the way of refugee girls accessing and completing higher education. It will also pinpoint the specific ingredients for success for young refugee women who were able to access higher education; including personal factors, family and community dynamics, and the types of support and interventions that were valuable from their communities including CBO and NGO actors. This presentation will suggest the types of interventions that can be most helpful to encourage refugee girls (and those from similar backgrounds of vulnerability) to pursue higher education, ensure higher retention rates, empower their abilities and accessibility to academic and non-academic opportunities. It will show how young refugee women can be supported to advocate in their communities and the actions that actors such as NGOs can take to ensure an enabling environment so that every girl, regardless of refugee status, can reach her full potential.

Authors

• Amira Salama, Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

• Sarah Mills, Catholic Relief Services (CRS)