Tunisia
More information about our five locations
Tunisia
In three of the four countries identified (Jordan, Malaysia, and Tunisia), women’s participation in engineering is much higher than in the US.
Tunisian policymakers have historically embraced gender equality (Murphey, 2003). Yet recent studies found that Tunisian engineers indicate that traditional gender perceptions and expectations tied to familial roles did not fit with women’s engineering participation (DeBoer, 2007; Zghal, 2006). The overall educational enrollment figures are approximately equal for women and men in the secondary (89% for boys and 93% for girls, respectively) and tertiary (25% for men and 21% for women) levels (UIS, 2015). Researchers in STEM fields are nearly half women (UIS, 2015). The overall population female-male literacy gap (71% for women, 87% for men) is smaller among those ages 15-24 where (96% for women, 98% for men, UIS, 2015). Tunisia’s secularism, active civil institutions, and the longstanding involvement of groups like the National Tunisian Women’s Union have improved women’s general employment and their engineering participation.
Research team: École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tunis
This is an old Egyptian song where a mother is singing about her daughter. At one point she sings that her daughter will grow up to be an engineer, which is both interesting and relevant to this project.
Translation:
(This girl is) her mother's lovely girl
Oh people, I love her!
She's her mother's lovely girl
All days I've spent in my lifetime were lived for your sake
And all coming years (in future) I'm hiding them for you (I'm hiding\planning a beautiful future for you)
I want you to be a young lady, then my eyes will be yours
And carry my lovely girl's children in eyes, they are their grandmother's lovely kids
Oh people, Oh people, I love her!
She's her mother's lovely girl
Oh she's the girl of all, my dear one! ..
.. I fear of air when it touches your hair while we're not together (I worry about you even from air)
If you cry for a day, I cry for years instead
If you feel pain, I say "I'm ready to feel pain instead of u"
Oh people, I love her
She's her mother's lovely girl
My dear girl will grow up one day and start going to school
Then teachers will tell me "your girl is excellent, she got good marks"
Then I see you more precious from morning to evening
and I will say "My girl has grown up, she will be an engineer"
Oh people, oh people! I love her!
She's her mother's lovely girl