Identity, Inequality, and Legitimacy: Religious Differences in Primary School Completion in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study uses survey data from 17 countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa, along with country‐level indicators, to examine the relationship between religious identity and the odds of completing primary schooling, as a key aspect of socioeconomic inequality. The results reveal a significant and robust schooling disadvantage for Muslims and those of traditional African faiths both relative to Christians at the aggregate level as well as within 13 country samples. This effect is seen in both rural and urban areas and is slightly smaller among men versus women, though it is still large and significant. The effect is also larger in countries in West Africa, with greater Muslim populations, with cooperative church‐state relations, and with mandatory religious education in schools. I interpret these results to indicate greater obstacles to the establishment of the legitimacy of the formal school system among Muslim and traditionalist families and communities, as a still troublesome legacy of the historical links between Christian missionization and the colonial project.

Women's Education in the Muslim World

“…Relatedly, given the challenges of using a variety of sources to produce accurate estimates of educational attainment by religion in over 150 countries, we could not account for other individual‐level factors that are associated with religious affiliation and may contribute to educational attainment. Smaller studies at the regional and country levels, however, find that religious differences in education levels often persist even after accounting for family background, rural residence, and race and ethnicity (e.g, Manglos‐Weber ).…”

“…As others have argued, Muslim women's disadvantage in sub‐Saharan Africa partly reflects the historical legacy of Christian missionary activity during the colonial era, which resulted in less access to schools in Muslim‐majority areas and fueled suspicion among many Muslims that formal schooling was a Western tool for Christian conversion. Manglos‐Weber () contends that this mistrust continues to shape Muslim attitudes toward state‐sponsored educational systems today, helping to maintain and even increase the Christian/Muslim education gap in the region. Others argue Muslims’ persistent disadvantage across cohorts is driven more by structural constraints.…”

“…In addition, many Muslims were reluctant to send their children to missionary schools, out of fear that they might be converted to Christianity, relying instead on local Quranic schools, many of which provided few learning opportunities aside from memorizing and reciting the Quran (Launay 2016;Moore 2006). According to recent studies, Muslim women (and men) remain far less educated than their Christian counterparts throughout much of the region as a result of this historical legacy (Manglos-Weber, 2017;Platas 2016). 3 Today, however, support for mass education and gender equality no longer requires a religious pretext.…”

“…Previous research has been limited in two respects. First, with the exception of a few regional and country‐level studies (Beyer ; Borooah and Iyer ; Glass and Jacobs ; Hajj and Panizza 2009; Manglos‐Weber ; Sherkat ; Stonawski, Potančokova, Cantele, and Skirbekk ), most cross‐national analyses rely on aggregate education data that are not differentiated by religion within countries (e.g., Feldmann ; Østby, Urdal, and Rudolfsen ). Although 73 percent of Muslims live in Muslim‐majority countries (Hackett et al.…”

“… In some cases, suspicion of Western education as a tool of religious conversion and domination by Western authorities continues to shape Muslim attitudes toward schooling and its social legitimacy (Manglos‐Weber, ). See Discussion section for more detail.…”