The Dichotomy of Education: Public vs. Private

Juliet Dinkha

doi:10.31532/gendwomensstud.2.1.001

Abstract

This study explores the rationale behind educational gender segregation and its psychological outcomes. An online survey in 2006 was conducted by the Student Government Association-- SGA (student government at a private English language university in Kuwait) aimed at understanding if gender separation was manifested as the result of religious or cultural views and what psychological effects it is going to have on present and future interaction between the sexes. The results were interpreted using Albert Ellis' model of Cognitive Rational-Emotive Therapy and were correlated to the 2006 SGA study that was issued in response to the Kuwait law imposing gender segregation in private universities. This study is an updated version of the previous survey (Dinkha, 2010), which compares data from two universities (private vs public) in Kuwait. Its aimed at understanding if gender separation was manifested as the result of religious or cultural views and what psychological effects it is going to have on present and future interaction between the sexes

Highlights

The idea of gender segregation is very controversial
An additional dimension was added to this study, we solicited students from Kuwait University – a public institution to compare private vs. public opinions regarding gender segregation
The survey was divided into Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti nationalities, this yielded no significant differences between these groups

Summary

Introduction

The idea of gender segregation is very controversial. Gender segregation is the result of a traditionally patriarchal societies the world over. Many hadiths contain numerous female scholars who taught both men and women. One of those is Aisha, the Prophet Mohammad’s wife, who has narrated more than one thousand hadiths (D., 2010). Eleanor Abdullah Doumato, a specialist in gender and history of the Gulf region, explains that religion is the reason preventing coeducation in schools of the Middle East. She states that living in Saudi Arabia demonstrates how eager their society is to create segregation between males and females (Doumato, 2002). Gender segregation is not implemented in private schools in Kuwait (Al-Khaled, 2008)

Literature Review

Methodology

Conclusion

Findings

Limitation and implication for future research