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The changing role of Arab women.


 The change in the role of Arab women is assessed by examining the status of development factors known to influence the labor force participation of women. Data are presented on the following: levels of education, fertility, urbanization, and the economic structure of countries within the Economic Commission for Western Asia (ECWA) region. 2 indicators are used to assess the educational level of the female population in the Arab countries, i.e., the level of illiteracy among adult females and the proportion of female enrollment in schools. The female illiteracy rates continue to be high in the Arab countries, but the rates have been decreasing in time, which points to the rising status of Arab women. The 1975 enrollment rates for the 6-11 age group indicate that the wide disparities among the Arab countries in terms of the education of adult women are likely to continue, for the percent of females not attending primary school ranges from 95% in Oman to 15% in Lebanon. The discrepancy between the sexes is also likely to continue, for female enrollment is lower than male enrollment in all Arab countries. Little variation exists in the fertility rates among the Arab countries despite the disparity among them in terms of the illiteracy rates of the adult female population. Even though some Arab women are showing lower levels of fertility, the family size in Arab society is still generally large, leaving the Arab woman with a relatively short portion of her life span that can be devoted to productive labor outside the home. Agriculture is still a large sector in the populous Arab countries, and the work of women in traditional agriculture is undertaken mostly as part of family labor and is not always considered to be labor force participation. Female economic activity rates are very low in comparison to male activity rates in Arab countries of the ECWA region. The service sector includes the categories of economic activity considered in Arab society to be suitable for women, i.e., teaching, nursing, and domestic service. Some of the factors that may have prevented more apparent labor force participation of women in Arab countries are the high level of female illiteracy, the largely agricultural structure of the economies, and the high level of fertility in almost all of the Arab countries.
