skip to main content
World
The Issue of Women in Government in Islamic Countries
World

The Issue of Women in Government in Islamic Countries

Majorities in a number of predominantly Muslim countries approve

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A majority in all but one of eight predominantly Islamic countries included in a recent Gallup World Poll analysis agree that women should be allowed to hold leadership positions, but majority levels range widely, from 54% to 91%. Only in Saudi Arabia does less than a majority agree. In general, women are more likely than men in each country to agree that women should serve in government, but there are few systematic differences by age groups.

Gallup World Poll surveys conducted in eight countries between August and October last year asked respondents to agree or disagree with the following statement: "Women should be allowed to hold leadership positions in the Cabinet and national council." A majority of residents in seven of these eight countries agreed with the statement:

About 9 out of 10 residents in Lebanon and Turkey agreed that women should be allowed to hold leadership positions, making these the most liberal of all countries in the analysis on this issue. A significant majority of about three quarters of residents in Iran and Morocco agreed. A smaller majority of between 54% and 58% of residents in Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan agreed with the statement. Forty percent agreed in Saudi Arabia, making it the one country out of the eight included in the analysis in which a majority disagreed.

By way of comparison, it can be pointed out that agreement that a woman should be president is by no means universal in the United States. The most recent Gallup polling in the United States shows that 86% of Americans say they would vote for an otherwise qualified woman for president.

Gender Differences

There are substantial differences in responses to the "women in leadership" question by gender:

"Women should be allowed to hold leadership
positions in the Cabinet and national council
"
(by % agreeing)

Men

Women

Women to Men
Difference

%

%

%

Jordan

49

61

+12

Saudi Arabia

36

45

+9

Egypt

41

67

+26

Iran

83

74

-9

Pakistan

54

63

+9

Turkey

84

89

+5

Morocco

54

93

+39

Lebanon

88

93

+5

There are several points of interest that arise from an examination of these data:

  • In all but one country, women are more likely than men to agree that women should be allowed to hold leadership positions in the Cabinet and national council.
  • Iranian women are less likely than Iranian men to agree that women should hold leadership positions in the government, although the level of agreement is high among both gender groups.
  • The difference in attitudes on this issue between women and men is quite large in two countries: Morocco and Egypt, where the women-to-men difference is 39 points and 26 points respectively.
  • Differences are less substantial in the other six countries, particularly in Turkey and Lebanon, where only five points separate the agreement levels of women and men.

Age Differences

There are few systematic differences across the eight countries by age in response to this question.

"Women should be allowed to hold leadership positions in the Cabinet and national council"
(by % agreeing)

18-24

25-34

35-44

45+

%

%

%

%

Jordan

53

59

59

48

Saudi Arabia

43

43

39

32

Egypt

53

56

47

57

Iran

76

80

81

73

Pakistan

58

58

60

57

Turkey

88

86

88

85

Morocco

72

70

79

76

Lebanon

91

89

92

90

Some might hypothesize that younger residents of these countries would be more likely to support the concept of women being allowed to hold leadership positions in government. But the data do not indicate that this hypothesis as a rule is sustainable across these countries.

Saudis younger than 35 are slightly more likely to support women in government than those who are older, and residents in Jordan and Iran aged 45 and older are slightly less likely to support the idea than those who are younger. But these are isolated patterns and do not suggest that young people are systematically more likely than those who are older to support the idea of women holding leadership positions in government.

Survey Methods

These results are based on in-home, in-person interviews with randomly selected national samples (urban and rural) of approximately 1,000 adults, aged 18 years and older, conducted in each of the eight countries referenced in this analysis between August and October 2005. These surveys were conducted as part of the Gallup World Poll. For results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/22180/issue-women-government-islamic-countries.aspx
Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
+1 202.715.3030