This paper explores the gender experiences of educationalists at two of Gaza’s universities. As part of my PhD research at the University of Cambridge (2012–2017), I conducted inductive qualitative research, including 36 semi-structured interviews with academic staff and students from Gaza. The research draws on Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Bourdieu’s work on symbolic violence. The findings show that Gaza’s universities – influenced by decades of occupation, factional ideologies and intersecting forces – seem to suffer from contradictory impulses and practices regarding gender. Although Gaza's universities have played a role in the empowerment of female students and the academic staff, some of their practices nonetheless appeared to reinforce societal gender inequalities. This paper documents their pre-October 2023 history and calls for rethinking gender norms, and policies in higher education in Gaza. Once Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza ends, it provides insights for rebuilding a more equitable Palestinian university system.
Mona Jebril (Thu,) studied this question.