The Egyptian Women and Higher Eduacation (1908-1952). Women's Struggle from Academic Deprivation to Community Leadership

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Gender Studies, , language: English, abstract: The Egyptian woman has played an important role, politically, socially, scientifically and culturally, since the ancient Egyptian state. On the political aspect, she was appointed as a queen, socially, she considered as the other half of the society, on the scientific aspect, there were female scientists who got the appreciate of the world and on the cultural side, the woman kept in pace with the man in all intellectual activities. The history had witnessed a period of religious fanaticism which was transferred by the society to what was called as 'Al Harem Era' which had the greatest effect on retarding the woman's role in all fields of life. However, through the cultural and civilizational communication that resulted from the Egyptian relations with the west countries through the French occupation in 1798 and the educational missions during Mohammed Ali's era, the callings began gradually for bringing the woman back to her natural status through calling for her education, her freedom and her equality to the man. Mohammed Ali was the first one who entered the Egyptian woman into the education, even that the most successful experiences were in Ismail's era. Then, these callings increased, the books were issued and the feminist newspapers were established, and accordingly, the girls joined to the schools and their numbers had greatly increased. As a result, new generation of the educated women appeared who dedicated themselves to call for equality and getting their full rights. Those women also called for joining the woman to the university and established the feminist department at the university to get the woman a new type of the education which opens all closed doors before her. The study period is considered as one of the most important periods in the history of the Egyptian woman, since the beginning of her joining to the university education until the end of the royal family era during which the woman got her full educational and scientific rights. This study has depended on the historical gradualism for the events; it began from the oldest to the modernist with explaining all events surrounding the events which affected in supporting or hampering the experiment of the higher education for the Egyptian woman. This study was divided into a preliminary chapter, four chapters and conclusion.