Abstract

The fifth Sustainable Development Goal emphasizes the need for equal opportunities for women in political leadership by 2030. Achieving this requires a thorough review of the education system, particularly the role of university faculty members, who are pivotal in driving progress through teaching, research, and community service. Moreover, it necessitates reforms in social and cultural education systems to better address the realities of women’s lives across social, cultural, economic, and political spheres. This study examined the barriers to Arab women’s political participation and proposed solutions, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. A survey questionnaire, informed by personal interviews with female parliamentary candidates, was developed, comprising forty-five items across five barrier domains and ten proposed solutions. The sample included 246 university faculty members from Jordan, Kuwait, and Egypt. The findings revealed that the overall severity of barriers was of medium importance. Women’s performance in successive parliaments ranked highest, followed by financial and administrative barriers, with both deemed highly significant. Political barriers were ranked the lowest, with social barriers and barriers related to women themselves ranked third and fourth, respectively, all of which were of medium significance. Statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) were found in the severity of barriers based on gender, favoring females in political performance, and in social barriers between Jordan and Egypt, as well as Jordan and Kuwait, favoring Jordan. The proposed solutions were highly valued, with stricter penalties for vote-buying in electoral campaigns rated the highest and increasing women’s quota seats rated the lowest.