Gender, Sibship Composition, and Education in Egypt

This article examines the relationship between gender, sibship, and education over time in Egypt, focusing on how the number, sex, and birth order configuration of siblings affected boys' and girls' education during 1991-2008, a period characterized by significant social and economic changes in Egypt. This study disaggregates schooling into conditional grade progression ratios and uses sibship measures that are age/grade specific. The analyses show that family composition shapes the educational opportunities of boys and girls differently. The number of siblings has a negative and significant effect on various grade transitions, and its effect is consistently stronger for girls. Both boys and girls are disadvantaged when they have more brothers; however, the number of brothers--particularly younger brothers--matters more in the case of girls. The significant effect of sibship extends into higher school grades, and its impact is often stronger for more recent cohorts.