Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

“Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”

This study investigates the ongoing gender inequities experienced by low and middle-income women in Egypt’s formal and informal labor economy, specifically it is based in Cairo. Although there are many advances made globally on women's rights, yet women still face great challenges such as discrepanc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2026
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613433871990784
access_status_str Open Access
author Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud
author_browse Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud
author_facet Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud
author_sort Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud
collection Thesis
description This study investigates the ongoing gender inequities experienced by low and middle-income women in Egypt’s formal and informal labor economy, specifically it is based in Cairo. Although there are many advances made globally on women's rights, yet women still face great challenges such as discrepancies in salary, fewer leadership roles and cultural expectations which put child-bearing duties before professional growth. On the one hand, flexible work for women in developing countries is through informal sector, which makes them vulnerable and serves as a source of their exploitation and insecurity (e.g., lack of social security; workplace hazards), on the other hand, formal jobs are subject to glass ceiling phenomenon along with maternity leave problem and discrimination. inclusive economic development. Ultimately, This study addresses literature gap which is comparative framework of inequalities across both sectors, this paper examines to what extent structural, social, and policy factors especially cultural norms, education, and level of legal protections enforcement within workplace perpetuates perpetuate inequities for women. This study uses qualitative study, through conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with low-income and middle income participating in formal and informal sectors.
format Thesis
id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3816
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:04.810Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2026
publishDateRange 2026
publishDateSort 2026
publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
publisherStr AUC Knowledge Fountain
record_format dspace
source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3816 “Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo” Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud This study investigates the ongoing gender inequities experienced by low and middle-income women in Egypt’s formal and informal labor economy, specifically it is based in Cairo. Although there are many advances made globally on women's rights, yet women still face great challenges such as discrepancies in salary, fewer leadership roles and cultural expectations which put child-bearing duties before professional growth. On the one hand, flexible work for women in developing countries is through informal sector, which makes them vulnerable and serves as a source of their exploitation and insecurity (e.g., lack of social security; workplace hazards), on the other hand, formal jobs are subject to glass ceiling phenomenon along with maternity leave problem and discrimination. inclusive economic development. Ultimately, This study addresses literature gap which is comparative framework of inequalities across both sectors, this paper examines to what extent structural, social, and policy factors especially cultural norms, education, and level of legal protections enforcement within workplace perpetuates perpetuate inequities for women. This study uses qualitative study, through conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with low-income and middle income participating in formal and informal sectors. 2026-06-15T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2756 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_Thesis.pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_Turnitin.pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/1/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_Signature.pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/2/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_IRB_Form.pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/3/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_AI.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Women rights equality gender bias formal work informal work education cultural norms Low income middle income Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
spellingShingle Women rights
equality
gender bias
formal work
informal work
education
cultural norms
Low income
middle income
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Abdelnazer, Rowan Mahmoud
“Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”
title “Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”
title_full “Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”
title_fullStr “Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”
title_full_unstemmed “Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”
title_short “Between Cultural Norms and Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower and Middle Income Women’s Challenges in the Informal Versus the Formal Work: “A Case Study from Cairo”
title_sort between cultural norms and economic survival navigating egyptian lower and middle income women s challenges in the informal versus the formal work a case study from cairo
topic Women rights
equality
gender bias
formal work
informal work
education
cultural norms
Low income
middle income
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2756
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_Thesis.pdf
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_Turnitin.pdf
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/1/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_Signature.pdf
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/2/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_IRB_Form.pdf
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3816/filename/3/type/additional/viewcontent/Rowan_Ali_AI.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT abdelnazerrowanmahmoud betweenculturalnormsandeconomicsurvivalnavigatingegyptianlowerandmiddleincomewomenschallengesintheinformalversustheformalworkacasestudyfromcairo