Private and group tutoring in Egypt: where is the gender inequality?

Asmaa Elbadawy, Population Council
Deborah Levison, University of Minnesota
Dennis A. Ahlburg, Trinity University

Tutoring is prevalent in Egypt and in many other developing countries. Nonetheless, the literature on tutoring is still small. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the nature and determinants of tutoring in Egypt, using micro-level data, in order to investigate whether gender bias exists in tutoring decisions. It is expected that since gender disparities are present in educational investments in general, they would be more pronounced in optional educational investments like that of receiving tutoring. It is also expected that since labor market outcomes are more favorable to boys, parents would be less willing to spend on tutoring for girls. Surprisingly, however, no gender bias against girls was detected with respect to tutoring. The absence of bias is in itself a significant and puzzling finding. We conclude that the education premium in the marriage market may be the answer to the puzzle.