book review
By Alyson Nyiri, CHRL
FIFTY MILLION RISING: THE NEW GENERATION OF WORKING
WOMEN REVOLUTIONIZING THE MUSLIM WORLD
BY SAADIA ZAHIDI
NATION BOOKS, 2018
While the West grapples with the #MeToo and
#TimesUp movements, a quiet, yet powerful move-ment
is happening in the East. Muslim women are
rising in the public space: working outside of their
homes, occupying technical roles and launching businesses of their
own. The shift in the roles of women in Muslim countries is so
rapid, it has outpaced the changes here in the West. There are still
cultural restrictions on most Muslim women, but by and large,
their rise in economic productivity in the last two generations is
nothing short of astonishing.
The World Bank describes education for young women as the
single greatest investment a developing country can make. The
World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Global Report 2016 dem-onstrates
that the benefits of educating young women multiply
across generations. In Muslim countries, the rate of change has
sped up for girls in the last decade. The 15 to 29-year-old Muslim
cohort is the most educated generation and the largest cohort to
have entered the labour market in these economies. In fact, if the
female labour force participation in the Muslim world rose to cur-rent
“Western” levels of around 60 per cent in the next 15 years,
the GDP of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region
alone would spike by 20 to 25 per cent.
Fifty Million Rising looks at 30 countries for data: those with at
least 60 per cent Muslim citizens, populations over one million,
and an average annual income of US$1,025 per capita or higher.
Zahidi references multiple data sets from these regions, weaving
personal stories from young girls and women from several regions
to illustrate how the rapid pace of change has impacted them.
Cultural and religious conservatives exert power over govern-ments
across the Muslim world when it comes to women’s labour
market participation. Fractured approaches and contradictory
policies represent the deeply polarized societies when it comes to
the role of women. While Saudi Arabia has encouraged women
to become educated, the much-debated driving ban prevents
many women from engaging in public life. Pakistan passed a sex-ual
harassment ban in 2010, for the first time recognizing sexual
harassment as an issue in the workplace. Only six of the 30 coun-tries
studied have laws banning gender discrimination in hiring.
Fifty Million Rising is a fascinating look into how Muslim
women are entering and navigating working life. A large percent-age
of girls are entering STEM fields. In Egypt, for example, there
are 340,000 STEM students enrolled in university and the most
recent graduating classes were 34 per cent women. For middle-
and high-income working women, using the combined help of
extended family and commercial help allows them to capitalize on
these new economic opportunities in culturally acceptable ways.
Zahidi’s analysis of women in political power and their ability to
advance women’s economic empowerment elucidates the complex-ities
and pervasiveness of cultural practices. Some policymakers
are beginning to realize they cannot ignore the talent and skills
of the most educated segments of their young population or the
consumer power of a new and growing group of breadwinners. n
42 ❚ MARCH 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
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