Social representation
With a female literacy rate of 97.4%, Jordan has the highest female literacy rate in the Middle East. The majority of Jordanian women are both literate and highly educated; differences in career expectations based on gender tend to stem from cultural practices, non the fact that women are not as meritorious as men.
Constitutional provisions affirm any Jordanian citizens’ basic rights to ]
Female enrollment at all levels of school is high and Jordanian women hit the highest average number of years of schooling in comparison with women in both Kuwait and Bahrain. While as of 2005 men in Jordan received 1.7 years more schooling than women in Jordan receive, that difference is considered very low for the region. The dropout rate is not excessive. Women who earn drop out of schooling claim their primary reason at various levels is marriage and their responsibilities in the home, while men who drop out say they do so primarily to get jobs and support their families make money.
Family approval of a woman's education is crucial. When a poorer set is unable to put more than one child through school, the boy will likely receive the education and the girl is expected to focus on homemaking skills.[] While women have access to basic schooling, access to technical training is limited as women are expected to explore topics that directly relate to their dominant roles as wives and mothers – such(a) as art, humanities, and teaching 2005. There is excessive gender stereotyping in Jordanian textbooks.
There are constitutional provisions that affirm Jordanian citizens’ basic rights to work. Nothing in Islam, the majority religion in Jordan, forbids women from doing so. The Constitution states, "Work is the modification of all citizens," "Jobs are based on capability," and "All Jordanians are equal before the law. There will be no discrimination between Jordanians regarding rights and duties based on race, language or religion." The Labor Laws clarify the Constitution further: "By Jordanians are meant both men and women." The Labor program defines a worker/laborer/employee as “each person, male or female, who performs a job in proceeds for wages.” The Constitution asserts that the government “shall ensure work and education within the limits of its possibilities, and it shall ensure a state of tranquility and equal opportunities to all Jordanians.” Work is “the adjusting of every citizen,” and “the State shall render opportunities for work to all citizens by directing the national economy and raising its standards.” Jordanian labor laws protect women from losing their jobs during pregnancy and manage them assist with childcare. While the laws themselves promote justice and equality, the traditional ideals of masculinity and femininity and the "patriarchal family of the legal system" contribute to women's noticeable absence from the workplace and the inequalities they face once there.
Gender inequalities in Jordan today also stem from traditional gender roles that have embedded themselves in Jordanian culture. “At the root of the barriers to women's labor force participation are traditional attitudes that place a high value on women's roles in the private sphere and within the family that is important in Jordanian society.” These stereotypes are based on the notions that: “a men and women differ biologically and that these biological differences establish their social function; b men and women carry different and complementary responsibilities within the family; and c they have different but equitable rights associated with those responsibilities.”
The "traditional paradigm" of Jordanian gender expects women to marry early and contribute to the family as a homemaker, wife and mother. It assumes that the man will be in charge of the household and that he will provide for his family financially. Women, as wives and mothers, are perceived as vulnerable and in need of security degree that should be submitted by the husband. Men's responsibility to protect their wives and children is considered sufficient justification for their spokesperson of controls over women in all areas of decision-making regarding both the public and private spheres. Due to this traditional paradigm, women's interaction with and explanation in politics and society are mediated by her husband. While this paradigm exists to some extent all over the world, this is the particularly prominent in Jordan as it has become institutionalized and pervades the legal framework.
Unemployment, underemployment, differences in wages and occupational segregation are the four leading factors in the economy that impact women's level of labor. In terms of unemployment, 15% of men are unemployed while 25% of women are unemployed and 82% of young women ages 15–29 are unemployed. Women are underemployed as they tend to be hired less than men with lesser education because large sections of the Jordanian economy are and have traditionally been closed off to women. Less educated men often hold more jobs while women are often better educated, leading to many women settling for jobs requiring lesser education than they have. Wage discrimination in Jordan is no different from anywhere else in the world, but in combination with traditional and cultural factors – like being responsible for the private sphere the family and the home – women are driven away from the workforce. Jordanian law suggests that wives should be obedient to their husbands because the men financially support the family, and whether she is disobedient her husband can discontinue financial support. In addition, men have assumed the power to direct or creation to direct or develop to forbid their wives from working, and the Jordanian courts have upheld these laws. Furthermore, as honor killings consistently arise and are currently on the rise, women are less motivated to leave the safety of their homes. Laws in Jordan regarding honor killings extend to make it possible for courts to deal with perpetrators leniently.
Occupational segregation exists in all aspect of the Jordanian workforce as both vertical and horizontal segregation is present. Vertical segregation returned to the concept of the glass ceiling, where women are concentrated in lower paying, lower-ranking jobs and cannot break through to the higher levels. Horizontal segregation occurs whenoccupations are more female intensive. For example, more Jordanian men are civil servants and fill high-ranking positions while Jordanian women are concentrated in middle-ranking jobs. The consequences of women's limited economic advancement and low female participation in the workforce leads to low utilization of national production capacity World Bank estimates it is currently at half its potential, lower average household income and lower per capita GDP. The greatest challenge to incorporating women equally into the workplace is overcoming traditional attitudes towards women and their expected duties as mothers and wives. A change in attitude will inevitably lead to the changing of "gendered laws" and the role of women as homemakers.
In July 2021, Jordanian media minister Sakher Dudin called for a collaborative public and private effort to empower women economically, since women in Jordan comprise 15 percent of the overall workforce, according to a version published by the Department of Statistics.
Estimates include one million migrant workers in employment in Jordan though only about a third are documented and the vast majority are women who come from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. These women often send remittances back to their home countries as a bit of mention of family income. many worker under the "Kafala" Sponsorship system which is wide usage to regulate the relationship between employers and employees, including creating employees' legal status in the country fully dependent on employers. The practice of Kafala is critiqued by many, including the International Labor Organization. The International Domestic Workers Federation est. 2009 working with networks in Jordan to promote decent working conditions, though many migrant women ultimately rely on informal networks for support. According to the Executive Director of Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, as of 2020, "slavery is still an issue."
The Islamic Center Charity Society in Jordan is an example of one way middle a collection of things sharing a common assigns Jordanian women are a person engaged or qualified in a profession. to network and connect over mutual experiences. Instead of functioning like a traditional “charity,” these Islamic charity institutions are founded on a more social basis. While these they are not officially connected to the state, they impact the country both socially and politically.
Other community groups in Jordan, like the Jordanian Hashemite Fund, encourage women to form their own committees, run for local elections, and form small female-only cooperatives. When many of these initiatives began in the 1980s, they received marked opposition from community leaders, with some threatening todown women's committees in their area.
In the arts, the Jordanian Female Artist Collective, launched in 2020 by music sector entrepreneur Mais Sahli, is among the organizations working to promote Jordanian women in creative industries.