ABSTRACT
This book provides a contemporary understanding behind the low employment rates of highly educated women in Egypt. Through qualitative research with university-educated middle-class women, I find that the marriage market continues to have greater strength and significance for women compared to that of the labour market. Among middle-class women, having a degree was seen as reinforcing their class position and is also a resource to further enhance negotiations of marriage and spouse selection. The traditional division of labour continues to be perpetuated through marriage, with women bearing the overwhelming burden of domestic work, and therefore struggle to maintain a work–family balance. This research also reveals the burification of Egypt’s education and labour market systems which fail to work in favour of the vast majority of graduates. Having a university degree is not a panacea to gaining a decent private sector job; instead this research finds that one’s class and education strongly influence the ability to secure a decent position, with those from the upper-middle class often in a more advantageous position. In the absence of unyielding gender roles and decent job opportunities, the marriage market continues to be a crucial means to ensuring the economic security of young female graduates.
