Muslim Women in Science

[PsychoDad]

Muslim Women in Science
9/21/2005 - Education Social - Article Ref: IC0509-2797
By: Corey Habbas
IslamiCity* -

http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC0509-2797

"...very seldom do positive depictions of Muslim women get portrayed by the western mainstream media. In some cases, media profit depends upon a production team's ability to feed the myopic fantasies and stereotypes etched in the minds of many non-Muslims. Westerners are comfortable with stereotypes that Muslim women are oppressed because of Islam, which could not be further from the truth. The Islamic message, which stresses gender equity and rights for women, is often corrupted by competing cultural values that have no basis in Islam scripture.

....
Muslim women in science have become leaders in their fields, receiving awards, earning patents and making contribution that further man's knowledge of the world, and yet the eyes of western cameras see through these women as if they do not exist. A tendency to avoid praise for Muslim achievements hides the seldom explored comparisons.

The fact is that the United States falls behind six Muslim countries in the percentage of women graduating in science to the total science graduate population. The countries whose ratio of women science graduates exceeds that of the United States are Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey. Morocco exceeds the United States in the ratio of women engineering graduates as a percentage of the science graduate population.
....

The data for years 2002/2003 contained in these tables describes the percentage of women graduates in science and engineering out of the total science and engineering graduate population in each country, and pertains to higher-education in science (life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and statistics, computer sciences) and Engineering (engineering and engineering trades, manufacturing and processing, architecture and building) fields in countries with Muslim majorities for which data was available. (Statistics from the "Global Education Digest" report released from UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2005)


Woman Graduates in Science

Bahrain 74%
Bangladesh 24%
Brunei Darussalam 49%
Kyrgyzstan 64%
Lebanon 47%
Qatar 71%
Turkey 44%

Compared with...

U.S. 43%
Japan 25%

Women Graduates in Engineering

Eritrea 4%
Morocco 25%

Compared with...
U.S. 19%
Japan 13%



Very interesting article discribing the hurdles to education in poorer countries in general and Muslim countries in particular. Also very interesting in light of the western perceptions of Muslim women.

Peace.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. worse yet, in our red states, that ignorance is willful, deliberate

Yet, I suspect that some of the worst of the christian fundies will celebrate these statistics as yet another reason to proclaim theirs the superior religion. "We KNOW our earth was created 6,127 years ago because the only book worth knowing tells us so."

I was watching more of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Part of this episode discussed the millions of learned treatises, scrolls and collected poetry, literature, and scientific materials at Alexandria.

I learned that a great thinker mentioned the most treasured book in the library, a huge 3 volume history of man. The first volume began with a great flood which caused much destruction and dispair, but allowed humanity to start over again - some 450,000 years earlier - and continued until it reached its own version of ancient times. The second and third volumes led to the time of building of the library some 2300 BCE.

Ah, to have such knowledge and insight at one's fingertips, to learn the ancients' ideas and understanding, to see just how much we have forgotten over time.

Clearly, modern man has seriously surpassed the ancient knowledge in many ways. BUt, given what is happening to our current world, one is forced to wonder whether modern man has even close to ancient wisdom. Today, we spend our time fighting about creationism and PNAC ideals. In the ancient times, they built a center, a repository of knowledge and study called Alexandria. That alone tell us how far we have fallen from ancient wisdom.

[PsychoDad]

2. We are indeed a species

That suffers from chronic amnesia.

We as a species cannot seem to learn from our past, even what we can remember of it.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. never was an observation more true and timely than today.

the worst of it is, there is a large segment of society which appears bent on destroying our scientific base, our education and our future. Just look at their approach on stem cells, on science R&D, on medicine.

For women's issues at the FDA, they promote an animal treater, a vet?
The EPA is rolling back hard fought gains in our environment and health - to help out the biggest of the big business supporters of Bush.
The list is endless. Our society, under Bush, is truly sick. We need a radical change, a re-awakening, a rebirth of sorts. I just don't see our democratic leaders as having the wisdom, the backbone or the insight to do it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Important points. Nominated.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. love your quote.

can you inform a mere neanderthal who Ms. Goldman is/was/will be?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Thanks. Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was an anarchist who was once called "the most dangerous woman in America". I don't usually have much time for anarchists, per se, due to the violence often associated with them, rightly or wrongly. She had a very interesting history, including advocating women's rights and ultimately rejecting violence. There is no denying the wisdom and the power of the quote.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldman/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. My former neighbor from Kuwait had a master's degree in electrical

engineering. But her husband didn't want to her to work so she didn't get to use it.