Gender equality in Jordan: а quantitative analysis of Jordanians’ attitudes

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Introduction Modernization efforts in Jordan have led to radical changes to the cultural and gender perceptions of Jordanian society. Women’s participation has increased at almost all levels in Jordan, and many of the obstacles that previously prevailed to women’s empowerment have disappeared. However, USAID’s 2013-2017 Country Development Cooperation Strategy asserts that “traditional attitudes and inequities continue to limit women’s participation in civil society, political life, and the economy. Women are underrepresented in leadership positions, including in the Cabinet, CSOs, professional unions, and political parties. On a more fundamental level, despite constitutional rights and recent policy and legal reforms, in practice, women lack stature as citizens and most interact with the state through male relatives”[93]. In addition, the Jordanian nationality law still discriminates based on gender, depriving the Jordanian woman married to a non- Jordanian of her right to pass on her citizenship to her husband and children [1]. Purpose of the Study This study aims to explore Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality and investigate the underlying factors, such as religion, education, and gender that shape these attitudes. The significance of this research lies in its potential to offer valuable insights into the complex socio- cultural dynamics that influence gender perceptions in Jordan, a country where gender equality remains a contentious issue. First, by examining how religion impacts attitudes toward gender equality, the study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the intersection between faith and social norms in a Middle Eastern context. Religion plays a pivotal role in shaping the values and behaviors of individuals in Jordan, and this study will provide crucial insights into whether religious beliefs promote, hinder, or have no impact on progress toward gender equality in the country. Second, the role of education in shaping gender attitudes cannot be underestimated. By investigating how education levels and access to gender- related content influence individuals’ perspectives on gender equality, this study will shed light on the importance of educational reform in advancing societal change. The findings could inform policies aimed at enhancing gender- sensitive curricula and fostering a more inclusive educational environment. Finally, the gender of the participants themselves plays an integral role in how individuals perceive gender equality. By examining both male and female perspectives on gender roles, the research will highlight the nuanced differences in attitudes between genders. Overall, this study will be significant in providing evidence- based data that can guide policymakers, educators, and civil society organizations in their efforts to promote gender equality in Jordan. Moreover, it will contribute to the broader academic discourse on gender, religion, and education in the Arab world, offering comparative insights that could be applicable to other countries in the region. This quantitative study aims to answer the following questions: 1. What are Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality? 2. How do gender, religion, and education affect Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality? This study is grounded in feminism, a major theory of critical peace studies. Feminist research studies are based on critical theory and thus they are emancipatory. “Critical theory is committed to understanding the world in order to try to change it” [2]. Sarantakos states that “feminist research studies the social conditions of women in a sexist, ‘malestream’ and patriarchal society [3], and enlightens people about taken- for-granted sexist practices and the gender- blindness of government and community practices (including publications) that displaced, ignored and silenced women, led to an unequal and discriminating social order and held them captive for millennia”. Feminists believe that “gender analysis” must be included to be able to fully understand “the differential impact of the state system on the lives of women and men” [2]. They argue “women’s equality can be achieved by removing legal and other obstacles that have denied them the same rights and opportunities as men” [2]. Literature Review Research on attitudes towards gender equality reveals complex and varied perspectives across different populations. Studies have found that women generally hold more favorable attitudes towards gender equality compared to men [4; 5]. A study has explored determinants of attitudes toward gender inequality in China, finding that education is the most crucial factor, with higher education being positively correlated with more egalitarian attitudes, and that traditional patrilineal values conflict with attitudes toward gender equality [6]. Another study examines the relationship between the level of democracy in a society and the egalitarian gender attitudes of its citizens, finding that more democratic countries have more egalitarian gender attitudes in various domains [7]. Shteiwi’s study has examined sociodemographic cohorts encompassing sex, age, education, work status, urban/rural residency, and level of support for democracy and their relation to attitudes towards gender roles in Jordan [8]. His findings showed that attitudes of female respondents exhibited more support for women’s participation in the public and economic spheres than males. However, his study showed that there is a negative relationship between education and attitudes towards gender roles, and that “urban resident respondents exhibited more egalitarian views towards gender equality in comparison with rural resident respondents and those who hold attitudes supportive of democracy were found to be more supportive of gender equality” [8]. Ponarin and Kostenko used the 2008 “Arab Barometer” data set to test the hypothesis that age has a positive relationship on holding more traditional attitudes towards gender equality [9]. They hypothesized that older respondents would tend to hold more traditional attitudes, while younger cohorts will express more egalitarian attitudes. They also examined the relationship between Islam and gender role perceptions in the Middle East. Their findings were the opposite regarding age. They found that older participants were less conservative than the youth despite their lower education. Moreover, they found that “less religious people demonstrate a strong tendency to support equality and gender equality in particular. Moreover, females are more egalitarian in their set of values than males” [9]. Brajdic- Vukovic, Birkelund, and Stulhofer have analyzed gender attitudes in Croatia [10]. They have investigated how variables such as education, gender, religion and age affect the respondents’ attitudes towards women’s employment. They found that “In general, respondent’s gender, education, and age, together with attendance at religious services, type of residence at age fourteen, and mother’s employment were found to be important predictors of gender role attitudes. As was assumed, men, older, and less educated respondents are less likely to hold nontraditional (or more egalitarian) views on gender roles. Religious beliefs remain an important predictor of traditionalism. Religion plays a significant role in Croatian society, particularly, it seems, in the context of gender and sexuality” [10]. The study “Attitudes towards gender equality and perception of democracy in the Arab world” by Kostenko, Kuzmuchev and Ponarin have used the first wave of the Arab Barometer project and analyzed the relationship between support of democracy and attitudes that support gender equality [11]. The have found that: “correlation between support of democracy and gender equality is very low in the Arab countries … Yet, controlling for age, education does have a positive effect on gender equality attitudes” [11]. After reviewing the previous literature, it was found that there is a severe scarcity of research that seeks to understand the factors influencing the formation of Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality. Therefore, my paper supports previous research and reveals the role of factors such as participants’ gender, education, and level of religiosity in shaping such attitudes. Materials and Methods of Research The study is based the descriptive correlational approach. It aimed to explore Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality in Jordan. In addition, it correlated the role of religion, education, and gender in shaping these attitudes. Quantitatively, the study analyzed the 2021-2022 Arab Barometer survey dataset[94]. Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: Jordanian females support gender equality more than Jordanian males. Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between educational level and the attitudes that support gender equality. The higher the participant’s educational level, the more supportive his/her attitudes toward gender equality are. Hypothesis 3: There is inverse relationship between religiosity and the attitudes that support gender equality. The more religious a person is, the less he/ she supports gender equality. Respondents The survey included 2,399 interviews with randomly selected citizens from different governorates in Jordan. The survey was conducted between February 13 and April 4, 2022, using the multi- stage pooled sampling method. The margin of error in reporting the results is 2 percentage points. The surveys mentioned are part of the seventh wave of the Arab Barometer, the largest publicly available survey of citizen opinions across the Middle East and North Africa since the spread of the Corona pandemic. Data Sources The author has used the Arab Barometer Wave VII Questionnaire as the main data source[95]. The seventh wave of the Arab Barometer is the most extensive publicly available survey of Jordanian citizens’ views and attitudes on a broad array of topics. These include, but are not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, trust in government and its performance, gender norms and the status of women, identity and discrimination, the environment, and international relations. The survey was conducted through 45-minute, tablet- based interviews, carried out in person with randomly selected individuals to ensure a fair representation of their communities. Most of the questions were multiple choice, with some allowing respondents to provide more detailed answers in follow- up questions. The study will analyze the 2021-2022 Arab Barometer survey dataset to explore Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality in Jordan and examine the relationship of several independent factors, namely gender, religiosity, and education, to the dependent variable gender- equality’s attitudes among Jordanians. Data analysis This study will examine the relationship of several factors to gender- equality’s attitudes among Jordanians in the years 2021-2022. • First, I have filtered the cases from Jordan only, using “If condition is satisfied”, COUNTRY=8. • Second, I have set the “don’t know” & “refused” answers as missing values for all the variables. • The outcome -dependent, effect- variables in the study are the attitudes towards gender equality, an ordinal variable (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) measured according to the sample’s answers to opinion questions [Q601_3, Q601_4, Q601_20A, Q601_18]. • I have recoded these ordinal variables into dummy variables: a. Q601_3: “In general, men are better at political leadership than women” was recoded as (political: agree=0, disagree=1). b. Q601_4: “University education for males is more important than university education for females” was recoded as (equaledu: agree=0, disagree=1). c. Q601_20A: “A woman who marries a foreigner should be able to pass on her citizenship to her children” was recoded as (citizenship: agree=0, disagree=1). d. Q601_18: “A man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family” was recoded as (famdecisions: agree=0, disagree=1). • I have three predictors -independent, cause-variables: Q1002 (binary: Male=1, Female=2), Q609 (ordinal: Religious, Somewhat religious, Not religious) and Q1003 (ordinal: No formal education, Elementary, Preparatory/Basic, Secondary, Mid- level diploma/professional or technical, BA, MA and above). a. I have recoded Q1002 variable into the dummy variable “female”: (male=0, female=1). b. I have recoded Q1003 variable into the ordinal variable “education”: (No formal education=0, Elementary=1, Preparatory/Basic=2, Secondary=3, Mid- level diploma/professional or technical=4, BA=5, MA and above=6). c. I have recoded Q609 variable into the dummy variable “religiosity”: (Religious=0, non- religious=1). Results a. Fig. 1. shows respondents’ opinions about four agree/disagree statements related to gender equality. The mean in table 1 indicates whether they are more likely to disagree (closer to .00) or more likely to agree (closer to 1). The majority of Jordanians in the sample (about 52%) agree that a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family, compared to 48% who do not (figure 2). Fig. 1. Descriptive statistics of Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data[96] using SPSS. Fig. 2. Jordanians’ attitudes concerning family decisions: 0: agree, 1: disagree Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data7 using SPSS. With a 95% confidence interval, the study found that between 45 to 51% of Jordanians disagree to the statement which states that a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family. b. Most Jordanians in the sample (about 76%) agree that a woman who marries a foreigner should be able to pass on her citizenship to her children, compared to only 24% who do not (figure 3). Fig. 3. Jordanians’ attitudes concerning citizenship: 0: agree, 1: disagree Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data8 using SPSS. With a 95% confidence interval, the study found that only between 21 to 26% of Jordanians disagree to the statement, which states that a woman who marries a foreigner should be able to pass on her citizenship to her children. c. The majority of Jordanians in the sample (about 66%) believe that men are better at political leadership than women compared to only 34% who do not believe so (figure 4). 7 8 Fig. 4. Jordanians’ attitudes concerning political leadership: 0: agree, 1: disagree Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data9 using SPSS. With a 95% confidence interval, the study found that only between 32 and 36% of Jordanians do not agree that men are better at political leadership than women. d. Most Jordanians in the sample (about 86%) disagree to the statement that states that university education for males is more important than university education for females, compared to only 14% who agree to this statement (figure 5). Fig. 5. Jordanians’ attitudes concerning university education for males and females: 0: agree, 1: disagree Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data10 using SPSS. With a 95% confidence interval, the study found that between 84 to 87% of Jordanians disagree to the statement that states that “university education for males is more important than university education for females”. The results indicate that Jordanians generally support the attitudes that call for giving equal education and equal right to women to pass on their Jordanian 9 10 nationality to her children and non- Jordanian spouses. However, the results also indicate that Jordanian attitudes do not support women’s political empowerment. We cannot determine whether most Jordanians support gender equality in terms of family decisions or not since between 45 to 51% of Jordanians disagree that a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family. 1. The Role of Gender Regressions of dependent dummy variables were run: (political leadership, education, citizenship, family decisions) and the independent dummy variable: (female). a. The regression coefficient indicates that females tend to agree less to the statement “Men are better at political leadership than women” than males in the sample (Figure 6). The relationship between gender and holding attitudes that support women’s political empowerment is statistically significant (t=6.520). Therefore, females support women’s political empowerment more than males in the population. Fig. 6. Correlation between female and political leadership Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data11 using SPSS. b. The regression coefficient indicates that females in the sample tend to disagree more to the statement that states that university education for males is more important than university education for females (Figure 7). The relationship between gender and holding attitudes that support women’s education is statistically significant (t = 6.458). Therefore, females support women’s education more than males in the population. Fig. 7. Correlation between female and university education Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data12 using SPSS. c. The regression coefficient indicates that females in the sample tend to agree more to the statement that states that “a woman who marries a foreigner 11 12 should be able to pass on her citizenship to her children” than males (Figure 8). The relationship between gender and holding attitudes that support women’s right to pass on their citizenship is statistically significant (t=-3.804). Therefore, females support women’s right to pass on their citizenship to their children more than males in the population. Fig. 8. Correlation between female and citizenship Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data13 using SPSS. The regression coefficient indicates that females in the sample tend to agree less to the statement that states that “a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family” than males in the sample (Figure 9). The relationship between sex and holding attitudes that support women’s right to make decisions in the family is statistically significant (t=8.002). Therefore, females support women’s right to make decisions in the family more than males in the population. Fig. 9. Correlation between female and family decisions Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data14 using SPSS. Expectedly, data results confirmed Hypothesis 1 in showing a significant relationship between gender and supporting gender equality. Indeed, Jordanian female respondents supported gender equality more than Jordanian males. 2. The Role of Education Regressions of dependent dummy variables were run: (political leadership, education, citizenship, family decisions) and the independent ordinal variable: (education). a. The Y-intercept indicates that participants with no education tend to agree that men are better at political leadership than women. The regression coefficient indicates that as education level increases by one, participants 13 14 tend to agree a little bit more to the previous statement (Figure 10). However, there may be no relationship between education and attitudes that support women’s political empowerment in the population (t=-.103). Fig. 10. Correlation between education and political leadership Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data15 using SPSS. b. The Y-intercept indicates that participants with no education tend to disagree that university education for males is more important than university education for females. The regression coefficient indicates that as education level increases by one, participants tend to disagree a little bit more to the previous statement (Figure 11). The relationship between education and supporting women’s education is statistically significant (t=2.676). Therefore, there is a positive relationship between education and supporting women’s education in the population. We are 95% confident that as education level increases by one level, participants will tend to disagree between 004 to .025 more to the previous statement. Fig. 11. Correlation between education and university education Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data16 using SPSS. c. The Y-intercept indicates that participants with no education tend to agree that a woman who marries a foreigner should be able to pass on her citizenship to her children. The regression coefficient indicates that as education level increases by one, participants tend to agree a little bit more to the previous statement (Figure 12). However, there 15 16 may be no relationship between education and attitudes that support women’s right to pass on her citizenship in the population (t=-.696). Fig. 12. Correlation between education and citizenship Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data17 using SPSS. d. The Y-intercept indicates that participants with no education tend to agree that a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family. The regression coefficient indicates that as education level increases, participants tend to agree less to the previous statement (Figure 13). The relationship between education and holding attitudes that support gender equality in terms of family decisions is statistically significant (t=3.900). Therefore, there is a positive relationship between education and supporting gender equality in terms of equal decisions in the family in the population. Fig. 13. Correlation between education and family decisions Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data18 using SPSS. Data results confirmed Hypothesis 2 in showing a significant relationship between education and some attitudes that support gender equality. Higher educated participants expressed more support for attitudes that call for equal education and equal decisions in the family. However, there may be no relationship between education and attitudes that support women’s political empowerment and right to pass on their citizenship. 3. The Role of Religion Regressions of dependent dummy variables were run: (political leadership, education, citizenship, family decisions) and the independent dummy variable: (Religiosity). 17 18 a. The Y-intercept below indicates that religious participants tend to agree that men are better at political leadership than women. The regression coefficient indicates that non- religious participants tend to agree a little bit less to the previous statement than religious participants (Figure 14). However, there may be no relationship between religiosity and attitudes that support women’s political empowerment in the population (t =.985). Fig. 14. Correlation between religiosity and political leadership Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data19 using SPSS. b. The Y-intercept indicates that religious participants tend to disagree that university education for males is more important than university education for females. The regression coefficient indicates that non- religious participants tend to disagree a little bit less to the previous statement than religious people (Figure 15). However, there may be no relationship between religiosity and attitudes that support equal education opportunity in the population (t=-0.653). Fig. 15. Correlation between religiosity and university education Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data20 using SPSS. c. The Y-intercept indicates that religious participants tend to agree that a woman who marries a foreigner should be able to pass on her citizenship to her children. The regression coefficient indicates that non- religious participants tend to agree a little bit more to the previous statement than the non- religious participants (Figure 16). However, there may be no relationship between religiosity and attitudes that support giving equal right to women to pass on their citizenship to their children in the population (t = -.157). 19 20 Fig. 16. Correlation between religiosity and citizenship Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data21 using SPSS. d. The Y-intercept indicates that religious participants tend to agree that a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family. The regression coefficient indicates that non- religious participants tend to agree a little bit less to the previous statement than the religious participants (Figure 17). However, there may be no relationship between religiosity and attitudes that support giving equal right to women to make decisions in the family in the population (t=.399). Fig. 17. Correlation between religiosity and family decisions Source: made by H. Alhameedyeen, 2024, according to Arab Barometer Wave VII data22 using SPSS. Data results contradicted Hypothesis 3 in showing that there may be no relationship between religiosity and attitudes towards gender equality. Discussion The results show that Jordanians generally favor granting women equal access to university education and the right to pass on their Jordanian nationality to their children and non- Jordanian spouses. Supporting female education in Jordan can be attributed to several key factors. Women have become more aware of the importance of university education in shaping their futures. Additionally, the Hashemite leadership has consistently supported educational opportunities, enacting laws and regulations that promote equal education and tackle illiteracy. Over the previous decades, these policies and 21 22 efforts have contributed to the growing awareness for the importance of female education in Jordan [12]. Jordanians’ support for the right of Jordanian women to pass on their nationality to their children and non- Jordanian husbands, which is not stipulated yet in Jordanian law, reflects the Jordanians’ awareness that this is a basic civil right for Jordanian women on an equal footing with Jordanian men. Many Jordanians now believe that granting women more rights, including access to university education and the right to pass on nationality, aligns with principles of justice and fairness that are valued in both Islam and the broader cultural context of the country. This awareness is attributed as well to the significant advocacy from women’s rights groups and civil society organizations in Jordan. These movements have helped shift public opinion, with many Jordanians recognizing the importance of empowering women to ensure a more equitable society. However, the findings also reveal that there is limited support for women’s political empowerment. The limited support for women’s political empowerment in Jordan can stem from a combination of cultural, social, and structural factors, such as traditional gender roles and limited role models. Many Jordanians hold traditional views on gender, expecting men to lead in political and public spheres while women are often assigned domestic roles. These perceptions can affect how people view the idea of women in political positions. Moreover, the absence of female role models in high political positions can affect how women’s participation is perceived. Without visible examples of women successfully engaging in politics in Jordan, both men and women may be less likely to support such efforts. It remains unclear whether the majority of Jordanians support gender equality in family decision- making, as between 45 and 51% of respondents disagree with the notion that a man should have the final say in all family matters. The findings of this study reveal that male respondents displayed less support for gender equality, a trend that aligns with the results of Shteiwi [8] and Brajdic- Vukovic, Birkelund, and Stulhofer [10]. This can be attributed to the fact that progress in gender equality is sometimes seen as a threat to men’s privileged position, causing some men to pull back their support for gender equality efforts [13]. However, while Shteiwi’s study showed a negative relationship between education and attitudes towards gender roles, this study has showed a positive relationship between education and supporting some attitudes towards gender equality, such as supporting equal education and equal decisions in the family. These results are in line with Kostenko, Kuzmuchev and Ponarin’s findings [11]. Finally, this study showed that there may be no relation between religiosity and attitudes towards gender equality. The results of the current study indicate that one of the most important tools for achieving gender equality in Jordan is education, as educated Jordanians showed greater support for gender equality than the uneducated. This means that education can positively change Jordanians’ attitudes towards achieving gender equality. Conclusion This study aimed to examine Jordanians’ attitudes towards gender equality and identify the factors, such as religion, education, and gender that influence these views. The findings revealed that, overall, Jordanians favor equal access for women to education and the right to pass on their nationality to their children and non- Jordanian spouses. However, the study also showed limited support for women’s political empowerment. It was unclear whether most Jordanians support gender equality in family decision- making. Additionally, the study found that male respondents were less supportive of gender equality, that education positively influenced support for certain gender equality attitudes, and that religiosity did not appear to significantly affect attitudes towards gender equality. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that efforts to promote gender equality in Jordan focus on increasing education and awareness. Given the positive relationship between education and support for gender equality, integrating gender- focused curricula at various educational levels and launching public awareness campaigns could be key strategies. Additionally, it is important to address the limited support for women’s political empowerment by advocating for greater female participation in leadership roles through targeted initiatives and media campaigns. Engaging both men and women in discussions about shared family responsibilities and decision- making is also crucial, as mixed attitudes were observed in this area. Future research could explore the long- term effects of educational and awareness programs on shifting attitudes toward gender equality. Furthermore, investigating the role of religiosity in shaping gender equality attitudes could provide more nuanced insights, as this study found little to no significant correlation. Future studies might also explore how socio- economic factors or regional differences within Jordan influence attitudes toward gender equality. Lastly, research focusing on the impact of policy changes, such as laws promoting women’s rights, could further inform strategies for advancing gender equality in both the public and private spheres.

About the authors

Heyam Alhameedyeen

Kennesaw State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: heyam.alhameedyeen@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0008-8303-0673

PhD candidate of International Conflict Management

1000 Chastain Road NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA

References

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