Young Creations: an episode on gender discrimination in university admission thresholds

The researchers Hadeel Zaqout and Sawsan al-Ajouri, in a research paper titled “University admission averages: a continuing discriminatory policy and changing social roles”, shed light on the reality of female students in the Gaza Strip's universities and the extent of the effect of the difference of admission averages between the sexes on the students — during the first radio episode of the radio programme “Youth Creations” on Zaman radio in the Gaza Strip, within the project “Research writing in gender and feminism”, implemented by Pal-Think for Strategic Studies with funding from the Government of Canada

Dr Khitam Abu Odeh, professor of sociology at the University of Gaza, was hosted during the episode, and she said: “The Palestinian woman suffers from discrimination on colour, religion, party, and clan in all walks of life, and that affects her psyche negatively — yet she must struggle to reach her aim.”

She pointed out that discrimination between the sexes contravenes the Palestinian laws and the international covenants the Palestinian Authority signed, yet the discrimination still continues. The discrimination in university admission averages likewise continued during the coronavirus pandemic, although education was electronic for both sexes.

Abu Odeh continued by saying: “Today women can deploy social media to defend their rights, and parents must spread awareness and strengthen women's personality in society. And there is a great role for the scholars of religion to speak of the discrimination and spread awareness to end it.”

For her part, the researcher Sawsan al-Ajouri said that discrimination between males and females forms an explicit contravention of Article Nine of the amended Palestinian Basic Law of 2005, contravenes the Declaration of Independence, opposes the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women “CEDAW”, which Palestine signed, and contravenes Article One of the United Nations Charter.

She likewise spoke in the research paper of the suffering of some female students who were forced to study specialisations they did not desire because of family pressure and to avoid society's view. She reviewed the advocacy campaign “Talaat” on Twitter in July 2020, active in the issues of freedoms and the protection of women.

For her part, the researcher Hadeel Zaqout made clear that women's participation in the civil public sector forms 43% against 75% for men. She pointed to the discrimination against women even in the daily wage: women's wage reaches 98 shekels against 102 shekels for men.

On women's political participation, Zaqout said that women form only 5% of the members of the Central Council, 11% of the members of the National Council, 14% of the members of the Council of Ministers, and 11% is the proportion of women ambassadors in the diplomatic corps. As for women holding the rank of director-general and above, their proportion reached 13% against 87% for men.

The two researchers concluded with recommendations, namely: the obligation to end the condition of discrimination in university admission averages by a ministerial or legal decision, in accordance with the local and international laws, and without opposing the educational and value system; directing the axis of attention of the women's and rights institutions toward this problem; intensifying efforts; and beginning to press the officials and decision-makers and to advocate for the female students, reaching the deserved justice.