Is a women’s college right for you?
More women's colleges across the region mean that students should consider their options.
Countries across the Arab world are taking a fresh look at how they educate their young women as more and more of them head off to college.
With women now making up more than half the student body across the region — and close to two-thirds in Gulf nations such as the UAE and Qatar — universities are rushing to open new campuses to better meet their needs.
Until recently, women in more conservative societies were often left to take the same class as the men from the same teacher but at different times. Some classes — notably in engineering — had been off limits entirely.
Now a surge in women’s colleges is aiming to meet their unique needs. The trend is particularly pronounced in the more conservative Gulf, where women’s colleges are billed as largely male-free environments where women can let their hair down and speak their minds in public.
