How Do Gender Norms Shape Education and Domestic Work Outcomes? The Case of Syrian Refugee Adolescents in Jordan.

Abstract

Forced displacement has disrupted Syrian refugees' lives and exposed them to new communities and norms. This paper assesses how gender norms shape the lives of Syrian refugee adolescent girls in Jordan, using nationally representative data. We use factor analysis to summarise a variety of beliefs and behavioural aspects of norms: gender role attitudes, justification of domestic violence, decision-making, and mobility. We compare these outcomes by sex, nationality, and for adolescents versus adults. We complement our data on individual beliefs and behaviours with family and community beliefs and behaviours as proxies for others' expectations and behaviours. We then examine how own, family, and community gender norms relate to two key adolescent outcomes: domestic work and enrolment in school. We find that while gender role attitudes are similar across generations and nationalities, Syrian adolescent girls are particularly restricted in their mobility. Nonetheless, they have similar educational outcomes as boys and, after accounting for differences in socioeconomic status, as Jordanian girls. While gender inequality in domestic work is substantial, higher levels of own and mother's decision-making predict lower domestic workloads, illustrating the linkages between different dimensions of gender norms and economic outcomes.