Gender equality in education and community pharmacy practice in the Middle East: A systematic review of literature

BACKGROUND: Most of the world has made progress towards attaining gender equality in education and practice of healthcare. Nevertheless, in the Middle East, noting restrictive social and religious norms, there are questions as to whether such equality witnessed in other parts of the world is a reality in this region. METHODS: A comprehensive search of 4 electronic databases was carried out for literature on gender equality on education and community pharmacy practice in the Middle East. A total of 9 articles directly addressing issues on the study topic within the Middle East were included in the systematic review. RESULTS: The findings showed good progress in educational attainments across most of the Middle Eastern region. Women and men alike have almost equal chances in education, with some nations like Saudi Arabia having more women than men graduating from universities. However, there are high-level disparities in community pharmacy practice, where despite many of the workers in pharmacy within the region being women, their representation in top positions in pharmacy is very low. They also earn less than their male counterparts, and at times they are forced to engage in unpaid healthcare work like it recently emerged in Lebanon following the financial crisis within the nation. Barriers such as restricted mobility, gendered social roles, and discrimination at work present as the key factors fueling the inequality levels witnessed in the region in pharmacy practice. CONCLUSIONS: The Middle East is a region that like other parts of the world, is making good progress towards equality in education. However, such equality in education appears not to translate to equal job opportunities in the practice of community pharmacy, pointing to a need for relevant stakeholders to engage in measures for addressing the identified barriers that prevent women from fully equaling men in healthcare practice for the benefit of the larger society.