Abstract :
Given my background in higher education and women and politics, I have long assumed that it was a fact that higher education empowered women. “Knowledge is power” was the saying that came to mind most readily. Yet this issue of Al- Raida has forced me to reconsider this assumption, to both positive and negative ends. On the positive side, I was amazed by the theme of “empowerment through higher education” that runs through the speeches of many of the alumnae who spoke at a Lebanese American University Alumni forum in Dubai. Their words speak to the women with higher education who have been and continue to be “pioneers” (a term that was used repeatedly by the forum speakers) in a number of ways in the Arab world. The academic articles included in this issue largely echo this theme. Yet, despite the successes, all the speakers noted the traditional gender roles and other conservative norms that have too often kept highly educated women in the Arab world from realizing their aspirations.
