Culture and Work Ethics in Cairo:Egpyt 2008

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Vocational Education, Training and Employment
Programme, Mubarak – Kohl Initiative (MKI-vetEP)
Culture and the Perception of Work and Work
Ethics in Urban Egypt/Cairo
By Sonja Andjelkovic
August 2008
Culture and the Perception of Work and Work Ethics in Urban Egypt/Cairo
Sonja Andjelkovic

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Table of Contents
..................................................................................................................1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
....................................................................................................2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 4
................................................................................................3. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY 7
.............................................................4. CONCEPTS OF WORK AND WORK ETHIC IN ISLAM 7
...............................................5. WORK AND WORK ETHICS IN THE EGYPTIAN CONTEXT 10
5.1 HISTORY.........................................................................................................................................10
5.2 WORK AND CULTURE ONION..........................................................................................................11
5.3 THE SOCIAL FRAMEWORK OF WORK AND WORK ETHICS..............................................................12
5.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL STATUS AND WORK, PRIORITIES AND INFLUENCES....................14
5.5 GENDER RELATIONS........................................................................................................................18
5.6 WORK AND LEADERSHIP STYLE.....................................................................................................20
..................................................................................................................................6. CONCLUSION 22
..............................................................................................................................7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 24
Sonja Andjelkovic

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1. Executive Summary
Egyptian economy is characterized by a high rate of unemployment among young
people, which constitute the majority of the population. This is partially due to a gap
between the needs of the labour market and the quality of the educational system on
one hand as well as low information and communication flow between enterprises
and employable youth on the other. It is assumed that one of the possible
explanations for specific features of an economy is culture (i. e. values, attitudes,
perceptions, habits etc.). Exploring culture and linking it to economy can provide
important insights into reasons for certain developments. Identifying attitudes, values
and beliefs about work and work ethic and their relevance to the improvement of
interactive employability is the central question of this study.
The Egyptian society is socially segregated into a large lower, a lower middle class, a
slim upper middle class and upper class with a corresponding social status. Vertical
mobility was perceived as nearly impossible by the interview persons, and within the
lower middle class interview persons this perception was combined with the fear of a
downwards trend. Capturing materialistic opportunities to avoid a sliding into lower
classes and in loosing an obtained social status has been predominant in the
Egyptian society and has had an impact on the work ethics.1 Focal point of the
attitude towards work and the value of work ethic is the search for chances for social
advancement regardless of the long-term impact on employability. For the interview
persons (whether middle class, lower or upper class) education and certificates were
priority achievements, whether they match the need of the market or not because
they impact the social status of a person. The reason for this is the central concept
and the foundation of work in the Egyptian context: marriage and establishment of a
family. However, in modern Egypt marriage requires different preconditions: the most
important being a high social status facilitates the identification of a suitable marriage
partner. In this regard there are gender-specific differences as well as common
features. Both men and women are exposed to the influence of their families and the
society as a whole. Women in general are socially more controlled than men, but
both are confronted with the values of their parents and the family. Men are under
high pressure to perform as provider of the family income, whereas women are still
mostly expected to be a housewife and mother independent of the belonging of the
interview person to a social level, despite the fact that many women work to support
the family. Interestingly religion does not play a decisive role for work and work ethic,
stronger influences can be found to be coming from external actors or sources, such
Sonja Andjelkovic
1 Amin, Galal, What happened to the Egyptians?, Cairo, 2004, p. 24 f.

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as the media or returning migrants from Europe and the Gulf. The work style and
leadership style is a determinant of work and work ethics. It can be described as a
“control-fear-symbiosis”: Control and fear perpetuate each other and create a rather
hostile working environment with low productivity, low motivation and fear of
innovation and change. Communication, information flow and reflection would be
essential steps to break this vicious circle.
2. Background of the Study
Egypt’s population is estimated to be around 75 million people, 1,3 million people
add up every year. Each year the number of employable people rises to half a million
more. According to the Population council in 2005 30 % of the total employed people
worked in the public sector (out of which about 27 % were female) and 70 % in the
private sector (about 21 % female). 2
Only 3 % of the Egyptian population (a tiny upper class) has a life standard that is
comparable to an average European life standard.3 An overwhelming number of the
population lives close to the poverty line, the rest of the population belongs to a
rapidly decreasing middle class. Despite efforts to develop the national economy
large parts of the population remain in a rather desolate economic situation. Purely
economic theoretical models have not delivered sufficient explanation for economic
success failure. The recent discussion about factors influencing economic
performance for example in Germany and in the USA came to the conclusion that
culture might be an underlying reason for the economic success or failure. Culture in
this context can be defined as a human system to explain, arrange and assess the
world with the aim to have a joint manageable reality, which is the basis for decisions
made in an economy. Economic theory until now has postulated that decisions are
made subjectively and deliberately; by introducing culture the range of possible
explanations for economic behaviour is expanded.4 Religion as a frame for attitudes,
behaviour and values can be regarded as part of the culture. In the case of the Arab
world Islam is receiving special attention for the explanation of economic
development. The debate in academic circles is dominated by two main hypotheses:
1. Islam is hampering economic development (Prof. Helmut Leipold, Phillips
University, Marburg) and 2. Islam is not a barrier for economic development (Prof.
Sonja Andjelkovic
2 Population council, Assad, Ragui/Ramadan Mohammad, Understanding Unemployment in the Arab
World, 2008, http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/events/2008API_Assaad.pdf, 01.08.2008.
3 Perthes, Volker, Orientalische Promenaden, Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten im Umbruch, München,
2006, p. 16.
4 Leipold, Helmut, Kulturvergleichende Institutionenoekonomik, Studien zur kulturellen,
insitutionellen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, Stuttgart, 2006, p. 5-8.

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Volker Nienhaus, Phillips University, Marburg and Steven Heydemann, U.S. Institute
for Peace). Leipold describes his thesis as follows:
“Die islamische Religion lässt wenig Freiraum für die Entfaltung einer pluralen
zivilgesellschaflichen Öffentlichkeit und für die vernunftgeleitete Gestaltung
des Rechts in Staat, Wirtschaft und anderen gesellschaftlichen
Teilordnungen. (…) Die islamische Religion bildet also ein Hindernis für die
Entwicklung der gesellschaftlichen Regelteilung in Richtung eines funktional
differenzierten Regelwerkes und der damit korrespondierenden
gesellschaftlichen Teilordnungen, die wiederum die Voraussetzung für die
Entfaltung einer arbeitsteiligen und entwickelten Marktwirtschaft
ausmachen.”5
According to Steven Heydemann culture does not provide a starting point to explain
economic performance; it is rather the elites who own and have access to property
that have a vested interest in sustaining inefficient systems to be able to maintain
their grip on economic power:
“Beliefs, norms and values are no more or less likely to promote institutional
stability than they are to support institutional change. (…) A more plausible
explanation rests on a familiar premise: variation in the adoption of more
efficient economic institutions is politically, not culturally determined and
political struggles to shape and control institutions of economic governance
are associated with both developmentally successful as well as
developmentally unsuccessful outcomes. (…) The persistence of inefficient
institutions is explained by the distributional advantages they confer on
powerful actors within a society or state”.6
Moises Naim from the Carnegie Endowment supports this argumentation line. If
religion explained economic performance, he argues, how could it be explained that
Arabs in America are better educated than the host society: 41 % people of Arab
descent hold college degrees in comparison to 24 % of all Americans holding college
degrees. The income of an Arab family is approximately 4,6 % over the average
American family.7
Prof. Nienhaus explains economic underdevelopment as related to historical
developments of authoritarian rule:
“Es ist in der Tat kaum zu leugnen, daß man in islamischen Ländern vielfach
auf Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen trifft, die entwicklungshemmend
wirken und mit Schlagworten wie Fatalismus und Fanatismus zu
Sonja Andjelkovic
5 Leipold, Helmut, Wirtschaftsethik und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung im Islam, in: Nutzinger, Hans G.
(Hrsg.) Christliche, juedische und islamische Wirtschaftsethik, Ueber religioese Grundlagen
wirtschaftlichen Verhaltens in der saekularen Gesellschaft, Marburg, 2003, p. 137 f.
6 Heydemann, Steven, Institutions and Economic Performance: The Use and Abuse of Culture in New
Institutional Economics, 2008, p.31.
7 Moises Naim, Culture in not the culprit in Arab poverty, www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/
index.cfm?fa=view&id=16870, 20.05.2008

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charakterisieren sind. Diese Verhaltensweisen kann man aber auch ohne
Rückgriff auf den Islam als rationale Reaktionen auf die seit Jahrhunderten
bestehenden autoritären Herrschaftsstrukturen und die fast überall etablierten
Klientel- und Patronagesysteme erklären.”8
Whether or not culture determines economy or not is not the focus of this study, but
the outcome of the study, which is based on interviews in Cairo show that culture is a
centrepiece of the society and can be an important aspect of attitudes towards work
and work ethics.
Although Egypt hosts 73 out of 280 scientific research centres in the Arab region9
and (academic) education is accessible for all, there is a huge unemployment rate
among young people. One reason for this phenomenon is that education,
technologies and academic research is insufficiently connected to the needs of the
labour market. This is partly due to the unwillingness of enterprises to invest in
training and staff development for profit reasons:
“The knowledge market is a public good which does not necessarily
guarantee that the investor receives the initial investment immediately. The
missing profit motive discourages enterprises in the Middle East from
investing in it. (..) Knowledge and expertise determine the competitiveness of
an economy.” 10
However, the other maybe even stronger reason for the high discrepancy between
education and labour market is the social context in Egypt that determines the
behaviour, the attitudes and values connected to education and work. Work and work
ethics in Egypt are closely interlinked with the overall social framework in which they
develop. The social context in return is closely connected to cultural characteristics,
which have evolved with time, political and historical developments and through
external influences.
This study is aiming at examining the relationship between cultural features
(including religious beliefs where relevant) and work, respectively work ethics. It is
trying to answer the question, which attitudes and perceptions about work exist in the
Egyptian society and to what extend these can be of use for the success of the MKI-
vetEP Programme of the GTZ sponsored by BMZ. The study focuses on Greater
Sonja Andjelkovic
8 Nienhaus, Volker, Der Beitrag des Islam zur ethischen Fundierung einer Wirtschaftsordnung, S. 94,
in: Schick, Gerhard (Hrsg.), Wirtschaftsordnung und Fundamentalismus, http://www.stiftung-
marktwirtschaft.de/module/fundamentalismus.pdf, 01.08.2008.
9 UNDP, Arab Human Development Report 2003, Building a Knowledge Society, p. 74.
10 UNDP, Arab Human Development Report 2003, Building a Knowledge Society, p. 38 f.

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Cairo; the Delta and Upper Egypt are not yet part of the research due to time
constraints and the need for geographical focus.
The study describes roughly Islamic concepts of work and work ethics, as these
concepts were the starting point for the empirical research, followed by the core
findings of the field research: the social framework, influences and the importance of
social status, gender relations and the predominant work and leadership style
identified during the research phase on the ground. The study concludes with a
summary of the major findings, their relevance and recommendations for MKI-vetEP.
3. Methodology of the study
The methodology consists of both, a desk analysis of relevant publications and a
review of essential Islamic sources, as well as semi-structured qualitative interviews
with as many segments of the society as possible. Interview partners belonged to the
middle class, from lower social classes and (only) a few from the upper class. During
the empirical research the methodology was slightly adapted to focussing on
empirical data and an inductive approach, respectively the concept of grounded
theory instead of a deductive approach. The core of grounded theory is to discover a
theory based on the empirical data obtained and not to prove a hypothesis by trying
to find examples in the field. The purpose of this approach is to explain a certain
behaviour, to help identifying appropriate methods to analyze the geographical area
of the research, and to make the research and outcome as practical as possible with
a relevance to the project in regard. This change of approach was due to the
unexpected outcome of initial talks with interview persons, which resulted in the
relatively low importance of Islamic concepts for work ethics. Grounded theory keeps
the research approach flexible and open and enables the researcher to reveal social
phenomena and to deduct practicable results for the MKI-vetEP programme.
4. Concepts of Work and Work Ethic in Islam
The Quran emphasises work as a benefit and as a necessity respectively duty of
every Muslim. It demands ethical behaviour but does not specify concepts of work or
detailed guidelines to be followed. According to al-Qaradawi any work that is not
contradicting the Islamic morale (e.g. selling of alcohol) is valued and there is no
lower or higher social prestige of work. Especially the selling of alcohol is an
interesting example for modern developments that need or need not to be adopted
by Islamic concepts of work and illustrate the importance of Islam in the economy of
Egypt: Unlike other Arab countries’ legislations the Egyptian law allows the selling
and consumption of alcohol. The Al-Azhar however is rather positive about a ban of
Sonja Andjelkovic

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alcohol. For example Sheikh Abdel Baqi of the Centre of Islamic Research at Cairo's
Al-Azhar University supported the owner of the Grand Hyatt hotel in his plan to
transform the hotel in an alcohol-free hotel and stated in an interview with AFP
(Agence France Press) that alcohol should be banned in the country as a whole. A
recent incident (June 2008) shows that the sector of tourism which is essential for the
economic life in Egypt can be effected by Islamic rules: The owner of the Grand Hyatt
stopped serving alcohol and threw away 2500 bottles of alcoholic beverages, which
is expected to have a major negative impact on the attractiveness of the hotel for
foreigners and thus on the revenues of the hotel.11 From the Islamic point of view
however, it is the morally right decision.
Al-Qaradawi mentions that agriculture; handcraft and trade are of equal importance.
The reason for the equality is that any work that satisfies the need of people is of
value to the community. This does not apply to drugs; prostitution and even some of
the arts (e. g. paintings or literature with erotic content) as this kind of work are
regarded as haram (forbidden).12
The following verse from the Quran is commonly understood as the request from
God to the human beings to take responsibility over the resources of the earth,
including their own labor:
“67:15 He is the One who put the Earth at your service. Roam its corners,
and eat from His provisions. To Him is the final summoning.” 13
Most of the Muslims translate the following verse as a proof that work is priority and
has a higher importance than prayer.
“62:10 Once the prayer is completed, you may spread through the land to
seek God’s bounties, and continue to remember GOD frequently, that you
may succeed.”
Many other modern and popular scholars, like al-Qaradawi support this statement.
His fatwa (religious statement), mentioned in the article “Pray less, work more, says
Islamic preacher”14 describes the negative effect that long praying times and crowded
prayer rooms have on the productivity in the work place. Al-Qaradawi suggests
measures how to shorten prayer time for the sake of efficiency and improvement of
Sonja Andjelkovic
11 http://www.asiaone.com/Travel/News/Story/A1Story20080619-71732.html, 04.08.2008
12 Qaradawi,-al, Yusuf, Erlaubtes und Verbotenes im Islam, München, 1989, p. 111-128.
13 This Quranic verse and the following verses please see http://www.quran-islam.org/107.html
14 www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=080605081855.juhs9sqc&show_article=1, 25.07.2008.

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productivity and argues that this is in accordance with Islamic work values. Sheikh
Fawzi al-Zifzaf, of the centre of Islamic studies at Al-Azhar, supports al-Qaradawis
fatwa and as well as Mohammed al-Shahhat al-Gendi, secretary-general of the
Council of Supreme Islamic affairs, states that prayer should be limited to ten
minutes.15
The next verse stresses the importance of righteousness, honesty and work.
“28:77 Use the provisions bestowed upon you by GOD to seek the abode of
the Hereafter, without neglecting your share in this world. Be charitable, as
GOD has been charitable towards you. Do not keep on corrupting the earth.
GOD does not love the corruptors.”
It emphasizes the responsibility of each person for the society (especially the poor).
Al-Qaradawi stresses, that work needs to be a win-win situation for both. As already
mentioned contributing honestly to the community’s prosperity is the centerpiece of
work. Seeking for power or finding chances to abuse one’s power for the own benefit
only is not an acceptable motive for a Muslim to work. This applies especially to
responsible positions, such as governmental ones.16
In the following verse it becomes clear that the work concept from the Islamic point of
view is flexible and individually adaptable:
“2:286 GOD never burdens a soul beyond its means: to its credit is what it
earns, and against it is what it commits.”
Islam acknowledges the difference between people’s ability to contribute to the well
being of the society. Each individual is asked to dedicate his/her life to work only to
the extend to which it is justifiable for the current life circumstances.
Several Hadith (words of the prophet Mohammed) support the statements from the
Quran:
“The one who works for his family is like a fighter for God”
“Bless my people who come to work on time”
“The nicest food is the one that was earned through own labour.”17
Sonja Andjelkovic
15 http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2335084,00.html, 05.08.2008.
16 Qaradawi, -al, Yusuf, Erlaubtes und Verbotenes im Islam, München, 1989, p. 125, 127.
17 Cited by interview persons in Kairo.

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The prophet’s words and deeds are regarded as ideal and for many Muslims he is an
important role model. The hadith mentioned above are commonly known and were
mentioned frequently by Muslim interview partners.
Sharia (guideline for the daily life of a Muslim) does not offer many economically
relevant contents. Like the Quran, which is the most important source for Sharia it
consists of pleas for a generally ethical behaviour as actors in an economy.18 For the
examination of work and work ethics it therefore is not a preferred text corpus to be
analysed in-depth.
Research on Islamic work ethic has been done by several authors, among them
Darwish A. Yousef. According to Darwish’s empirical research the central aspect of
Islamic approaches to work are the society’s welfare and the contribution of the
individual to it by just, generous and devoted economic engagement. The value of
work is judged by the intentions accompanying the work and not by the results that it
produces.19
Darwish concludes that Islamic concepts of work have a great importance for the
work ethic:
“”The relationship between the Islamic work ethic and both organizational
commitment and job satisfaction are positive and significant”.20
People with a strong commitment to Islamic work ethic were found to have a strong
loyalty to their organizations and a higher satisfaction in their work.
In the Egyptian context however, religious concepts play a minor role for their work
ethics. Theoretically most of the interviewed persons had knowledge of the ethical
behaviour asked of them by their religion but the relevance for daily life was stated to
be low.
5. Work and Work Ethics in the Egyptian Context
5.1 History
The Egyptian society has developed into two groups that live at a different pace: One
part of the society lives and works in structures that have been exiting since the 50s-
Sonja Andjelkovic
18 Leipold, Helmut, Wirtschaftsethik und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung im Islam, in: Nutzinger, Hans G.
(Hrsg.) Christliche, juedische und islamische Wirtschaftsethik, Ueber religioese Grundlagen
wirtschaftlichen Verhaltens in der saekularen Gesellschaft, Marburg, 2003, p. 137.
19 Darwish A. Yousef, The Islamic work ethic as a mediator of the relationship between locus of
control, role conflict and role ambiguity, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 15 No. 4 2000, p. 284.
20 Darwish A. Yousef, Islamic work ethic, A moderator between organizational commitment and job
satisfaction in a cross-cultural context, Personnel Review, Vol. 30 No. 2, 2001, p. 163.

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70s. The other part of the society lives in the 21. Century with a globalized economy.
The first part of the society consists of workers and public service employees (1 third
of the employed), farmers, the informal sector and the rural poor belong to it as well.
The second part of the society consists of managers, modern businessmen and high
state employees. The gap between the two is increasing.21
The historical background of this development has shaped the different perceptions
of work and work ethics, especially of the generations of today’s retired population
that has experienced the ups and downs of Egyptian economy over the time and that
today influences the work ethic of the young generation.
According to the interviewed persons there are three stages in the political history
that shaped the work ethic in Egypt:
Generally the 50s and 60s under Gamal Abdel Nasser brought about decent labour
possibilities with satisfactory wages. In the 70s under the regime of Anwar Sadat the
monetary value of work changed drastically. The mellow input and afford put into
work by public service employees was compensated over-proportionally high. Since
the introduction of privatization in the 90s work effort and monetary remuneration
established a contradictory relationship: In the public sector the effort put into work is
generally regarded as low with a low remuneration whereas the effort put into work
within the private sector was regarded as extremely high but still with a low
remuneration22. This is not true for all jobs in the private sector. Managerial jobs and
do entail opportunities for high salaries and high social status.
Low wages have been producing frustration among different segments of the society;
only the small upper class is not affected by it, on the contrary it is benefiting from
privatization and the capture of material resources.
The influence of religion within the timeframe set here experienced a downswing
under the Nasserist regime, under which the freedom of religious institutions was
limited to a minimum. State control deprived the Egyptians of civil society activism
that was closely related to these institutions. Under Sadat political Islam became a
stronger force and Islamic symbols and activism was on the rise. Since the 80s
under Husni Mubarak the nature of relationships between the government and
Islamic activism is conflictive. However, Islamic charity today plays a role for the poor
and has a strong foundation in many layers of the Egyptian society.
5.2 Work and Culture Onion
In order to achieve an insight into values, attitudes and perceptions of work and work
ethics in the Egyptian cultural context, several layers respectively aspects of the
Sonja Andjelkovic
21 Perthes, Volker, Geheime Gaerten, Die neue arabische Welt, Muenchen, 2002, p. 181.
22 Based on the interviews carried out for this research.

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society need to be revealed and examined. The model of the onion was adopted
(originally a model for the analysis of conflicts) to illustrate the cultural and societal
dynamics that surround the topic of the study.
The outer layer of the onion symbolizes the general historical, geographical and
socio-economical framework, in which the further layers are embedded. This layer is
to be seen as a general frame, which could be applied to any culture. The following
three layers were identified as being of specific importance for the Egyptian context.
The influence of social status and social level as well as the family and gender layer
essentially shape the individual’s attitudes towards work and values connected to it.
Culture, of which religion is part, was identified as being a strong connector in the
society regardless of gender, geographical location and religious affiliation and a
strong pillar of identity, on which perceptions of work and work ethic are based.
5.3 The Social Framework of Work and Work Ethics
When trying to enwrap the onion to reach to the concept of work and work ethics the
different layers of the onion have to be analysed one by one. The following structure
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named “social framework” reveals the major aspects that determine the relationship23
between the different layers: Three major topics characterize the social framework in
the Egyptian context:
A. The social status
B. Gender
C. Family
All of them are influenced in one-way or the other by historic and political
developments, geographical belonging of a person, the media and external
influences, from outside the country (transported through media) or from within
(through returning migrants). Culture (i. e. values, attitudes, beliefs) plays a major
role in achieving a social status, whereas religion has a rather weak influence on
work ethics. Main determinants of the social status are the level of education and the
economic situation, respectively wealth. The illustration does not show in detail,
which groups are excluded from the achievement of a respectable social status that
would enable them to perceive themselves and to be perceived as successful in
personal and professional life; the handicapped were mentioned by the programme
staff and symbolize the marginalized groups (which are most certainly a large
number of the poor).
Gender and parents/family are two aspects within the social framework that form the
strongest social bond. The graphic shows a high concentration of strong arrows (i. e.
strong influence respectively relationship) between gender and other variables, which
makes it obvious that gender relationships are exposed to a high pressure to achieve
a certain social status.
Sonja Andjelkovic
23 The relationship is illustrated through arrows, a fine arrow means a weak relationship, a medium one
means an avarage relationship and a fat arrow means a strong relationship. Almost all arrows point to
both directions, which means there is a mutual influence. The only exemption is religion, where the
social status did not seem to have a tangible influence on religious beliefs or on the religious practice,
although many (middle class) interview persons stated that the lower class is strongly influenced by
religion and can be manipulated by it, whereas the upper class has a very tiny bond to religious values.
It has to be stressed that this is a statement from middle class interview persons!

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5.4 Relationship between Social Status and Work, Priorities and Influences
When examining the relationship between the importance of the social status and
work it became clear that the highest importance for the value of work is given to the
achievement of a high social status, i. e. a status that would achieve the recognition
of society as belonging to a stabile (i. e. no downward trend) social level with material
security for more than one generation. The tool to achieve this is a certificate,
respectively an academic level of education plus additional language skills. The
output expected from the social status is the ability to marry and establish a family.
Social status is also determined through work. Economic wealth and/or a strongly
acknowledged profession (e. g. a lawyer, a physician) can both lead to a high social
status. Work can be characterized through the allegory of “white collar” and “blue
collar” jobs, the latter often being physically demanding work and/or of less social
prestige. Both are represented in the public sector, i. e. governmental jobs as well as
the private sector. In the private sector handcraft has declined enormously in its
significance for work ethics (previously it has had more importance); agriculture
clearly belongs to “blue collar” work while others like industry and construction can
be both, “white collar” on the managerial level and “blue collar” on the workers’
level.24 Influencing factors on the relationship between social status and work come
from the already mentioned dimensions such as history, socio-political developments,
Sonja Andjelkovic
24 Agriculture is an exemption here, as the roots of the Egyptian society are agriculturalist and there are
still values, like respect, honour and pride unconsiously connected to this sector.

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media, parents, gender, etc. Corruption is challenging the societal structure and is
the result of recent practices at the same time. It has to be mentioned that the term
corruption does not only mean bribing or nepotism that is commonly understood
under it but also a shift in mentality that is opposing cultural values and civilizatory
achievements of the Egyptian society.
The relationship between social status and the perception of work can also be
demonstrated through a spider web. The model of a spider web bellow suggests an
inner circle, a middle circle and an outer circle. From another perspective, the spider
web consists of three pyramids:
Sonja Andjelkovic

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The pyramids symbolize three sectors that are of relevance within the topic of the
research: Public sector respectively government, private sector and agriculture. Each
pyramid consists of parts of the circles, which symbolize a high social status (inner
circle), middle social status and low social status (the outer circle). Choosing the
model spider web has the purpose to illustrate that each social status is present in
each employment sector. Blue collar, i. e. lower social level jobs are mostly found to
be in agriculture, but also occur in the private and public sector. White-collar jobs can
be in both, in the private sector and government. Agriculture is a special case as the
Egyptian society originates from an agricultural society. Therefore agriculture does
have a value within society, which is detached from concepts of blue or white collar,
but was not examined in depth as the empirical data was gathered in an urban
environment. The social status in return was deemed by the interview persons to be
crucial for the motivation to work.
Interviewed persons mentioned that the lower social status is impacted more by
religious values than other levels of the society. Highest priority for lower class and
lower middle class is the economic survival and the need for security as well as the
safeguarding their status within the middle class. Governmental jobs are highly
appreciated and many are aiming at a job within the government, mostly for social
security reasons. Social security is of high value to all levels of the social hierarchy,
but predominantly the lower to middle class tend to seek security through
Sonja Andjelkovic

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governmental employment, this is especially true for women. The upper middle class
regards work as a means of economic and personal development. Work as part of
the religious duty belongs mostly to middle class attitudes. Another aspect of the care
for social responsibility is the creation of a personal image with the aim of public
recognition, which rather contradicts the Islamic concept of public welfare und
humble service of the individual to the community. A rise in religiosity among the poor
but also between the middle class and some upper class Egyptians has often been
observed. However, religiosity has always been a characteristic of the Egyptian
culture and is not necessarily a recent phenomenon. The recent development is
rather the visibility of symbols such as the inflationary use of “inshallah” for the
answers to any question or the obvious increase in veiled women. These symbols
are often not filled with content and are rather an expression of the need for
orientation, security and used as a chance to make a choice to overcome the
unpredictability of future and the insecurity attached to it. For the topic of work and
work ethic Islam does not play a crucial role.
The upper class is divided in two: the “career society” and the “fun society”. Both are
highly influenced by external factors, such as studies abroad and the media. Another
characteristic they mostly share is low religious values except for some individual
cases where work and wealth is to be used for the sake of the community and for
one’s own spirituality.
Sonja Andjelkovic

18
5.5 Gender relations
The dimension of gender for the analysis of work ethics at first does not seem to be
obvious. Looking back to social framework on page 12 it is striking that the notion of
gender is the one that is highly linked to all social and cultural aspects that embed
work ethics. Women and men have different attitudes towards work and are subject
to a variety of influences that shape these attitudes. Women for example tend to
centre their attention towards becoming a mother, whereas men are aiming at a well-
paid job and a high social status. Both sexes are exposed to social control and the
influence of parents and family. Media suggests role models and behaviour that
influence woman and men and create identities that try to cope with recent socio-
political and economical developments, such as globalization and the need for
women to work to contribute to the family income. Media in general does not have a
good reputation and was regarded as a negative influence on the society by many of
the interviewed persons. Often media was equated with external influences (mostly
from Western countries), which contribute to the ambiguity that many of the interview
persons felt. On the other hand, TV programmes are well-known and regularly
consumed. This contradicting relationship of the interviewed persons with the media
illustrates the struggles that Egyptians face with regards to globalization and cultural
change and the need for reconciliation of values. However, cultural and religious
influences remain to be of higher importance for women than for men; the men in
return are under a high pressure of achieving social status through education and
work. In general education for women is mostly a way to escape the close
observation and control of their parents and the family and spend time with friends.
Universities are mostly regarded as a place to meet a future husband. According to
the interview persons women very often do not envision their future work place,
whether it was adequate to their educational degree or not. However, it has to be
noted, that women recognize the need to work and that there are trends towards a
change in the importance of work for women as a means to generate personal
satisfaction and maybe even empowerment. The underlying basis for this is the key
concept for work for modern Egypt: marriage and the establishment of a family.
Marriage and family is a synonym for security, the priority need for a high percentage
of the Egyptian population in Cairo. Security has to be seen as a broader term,
enclosing financial respectively economic security but also emotional security,
belonging and predictability. Due to the fact that the expectations of parents
regarding the education and the achievement of social status are more important
than individual decisions the age of marriage for men has risen to about 40 years.
The female candidate normally is 15-20 years younger, which leaves women of 30
and beyond chanceless to find a husband. This situation is creating a lost generation
Sonja Andjelkovic

19
of women that have not yet replaced the major concept of motherhood as an
identification model with other possible models while younger women tend to ignore
their career for the sake of finding a good catch to get married and become a mother.
The necessity to work and support the family has put women in the position to be
confronted with dominant masculinity at their work place in addition to their homes
and struggle with their double-role as mother and working woman. Men recognize
the need for contribution to the family budget through the women’s income but their
attitude largely remains tied to the cultural boundaries that determine the space of
the woman to the house. The mutual perceptions described below, illustrate the
views of both on the other:
Men (and even women) perceive women to be less responsive, more emotional and
dependent and less productive than men. On the other hand their readiness for
cooperation, reliability and commitment was seen as positive. Men believe that
women waste time being talkative on the phone and that their affection to their family
respectively their private life is regarded to be hampering their work ethic. Their
consciousness of hierarchies in terms of education and age were distinctive
according to the men.
Women in return believe that men are presenting their work in a clever way even if
the quality is low, that they are less affected by problems and dominant. Women
believe that they do not have the chance to lead as men are not convinced of their
Sonja Andjelkovic

20
skills and that they are only asked for participation in minor, less important cases and
decisions.25
5.6 Work and Leadership Style
The overall perception of the work style in Egypt is characterized by a high
prevalence of fear from subordinates connected with the absolute power and
exertion of control from the leadership. Fear and control form a vicious symbiotic
circle in which work and work ethics from all levels of hierarchy are trapped.
The leadership style is characterized by a Pharaoh mentality or order of the mufti,
which means absolute power and total control. Critique and disagreement is nearly
impossible. The readiness for innovation is low and contributions from lower
hierarchical levels are discouraged. One major feature of the general attitude
towards work from all levels of hierarchy at the work place is the establishment and
maintenance of the territory of power. The territory of power is a controllable work
space (e. g. for the clerk the own office, for the elevator attendant the elevator, for the
secretary the desk) that is defended by the individual employee that dominates this
space. This phenomenon is a result of what Yusouf Darwish explains as the internal
versus the external locus of control: People, who are in control of their lives and work
processes and thus take over responsibility have an internal locus of control, while
people who think that their daily work life is resulting out of external influences or out
of behavior of other people have an external locus of control. Externality is linked to
confusion about responsibility in the job accompanied by an inner conflict of the own
role (role ambiguity), which in return leads to high stress levels. Expectations
regarding performance, and the failure to meet these expectations lead to an
enforcement of the externality and to a mindset that is characterized by fear and
control. The complexity of the consequences that follow (e.g. stress increases, failure
becomes more likely etc.) effects job satisfaction and commitment to the employer
and can even lead to physical symptoms that result in absence from the work place.
26 The territory of power is therefore one method to overcome the symbiosis of fear
and control, regain an internal locus of control and as a negative over-compensation
of the externality dominate other possibly inferior employees. Time and information
can become instruments to safeguard personal power. For example essential
information is kept undisclosed in order to prevent others from challenging the
personal knowledge base, handling of time poses another opportunity to extend the
Sonja Andjelkovic
25 The described perceptions are the result of the final workshop with MKI-vetEPMKI-vetEP
programme staff in July 2008 in Cairo.
26 Darwish A. Yousef, The Islamic work ethic as a mediator of the relationship between locus of
control, role conflict and role ambiguity, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 15 No. 4, 2000

21
own territory of power by extending the timeframe for a service to the disadvantage
of the recipient of this service and demonstrate dominance.
The system is self-perpetuating as both the leadership style and the work style of
subordinates need each other to survive: The low level of self-management and
motivation to strife for excellent work results legitimizes the autocratic leadership
style and the authoritarian leadership style in return creates irresponsibility and weak
performance. On the individual level the situation is perceived as uncontrollable,
without any possibility to escape. Own initiative is expected to result in failure;
achievements and success are perceived as insecure and as a coincidence rather
than as a result of own work. No link is seen between performance and appraisal.27
The outcome of this system is crucial for the work ethics: An extremely low level of
trust among staff and between staff and leadership, no long-term orientation on
personal achievements and a lack of loyalty towards the company and its leadership.
On the macro-level, respectively the national level this system is lacking a vision for
the future of work of a rising population under harsh global competition.
Sonja Andjelkovic
27 Psyhologists describe this phenomenon as learned helplessness. See http://www.encyclopedia.com/
doc/1O87-learnedhelplessness.html

22
6. Conclusion
The assumption, that religion primarily plays a role in explaining attitudes, values and
behaviour regarding work and work ethics could not be verified. However, religion is
influencing the culture to a large extend especially the gender relations that in return
set the frame for work concepts. In Cairo marriage and family are the foundation of
work. All affords regarding education and employment bear in mind the ability to
create necessary preconditions for the establishment of a family. Despite a rising
individualization and the prevalence of hybrid identities in Cairo, family has a central
value for the Egyptian culture in an urban setting as it provides security and
orientation, which are two major needs of the young people targeted in the MKI-
vetEP programme. Parents enforce the importance of marriage and family and thus
provide continuity in a rapidly changing world. By doing so they meet the above-
mentioned needs of the young generation, who are mostly willing to accept this
influence of the parents to a certain extend. This applies as well to gender relations,
which are by and large resistant to major changes despite an obviously rising
engagement in the public sphere, respectively in higher education and employment.
As explained in the study the market needs in education and employability play a
minor role for the individual and the community; it is rather the social status and
marriage ability. This explains the slow pace that can be observed in adapting to
requirements in the market.
Culture, defined as a conglomerate of perceptions, habits and values does have a
relevance on the work and work ethics in the sense that culture influences the
behaviour of large parts of the society and their priorities regarding concepts of work.
The following findings can be of importance for the programme implementation of
MKI-vetEP:
a. Low relevance of religion
Argumentation regarding work, work ethic, education or employment that is build
upon religious values and concepts is not likely to contribute to successes to neither
of the two aspects discussed in the final workshop: teamwork in the programme itself
and implementation strategies for the programme’s activities.
b. Media
Media was mentioned several times in the interviews of being of high importance to
the construction of identities, social status and the connected work ethics and of
having a negative influence on the Egyptian youth. MKI-vetEP could use the media
for the purpose of reaching out to a large part of the target group and transmitting
Sonja Andjelkovic

23
messages that would help the youth in approaching their employability in a pro-active
way.
c. Empowerment of Women/Gender relations
MKI-vetEP target group are young people. Having a special focus on women would
help strengthen their ability to adjust to new requirements of the economy and would
build up their confidence to take over responsible positions. As family is the key
identity factor for women, the aim of MKI-vetEP could be to lobby for a family-friendly
work policy within the companies to make family and work compatible to each other.
A successful case and example is Islam online: Women can work from their home
office in the afternoon or evening, so that they do not have to leave the children
alone after school; there are options to bring the children to the office and have a
day-care centre for them within the company building to enable women to work and
be reachable for the children at the same time in case of emergency. This leads to
more job satisfaction, better performance and loyalty to the employer. MKI-vetEP
promote the idea to the female youth and to the society as a whole by using the
media for the transmission of the message that children do not hamper
professionalism and success at work. On the other hand men need to be included
into awareness raising campaigns about the value of female work and the
compatibility of work and family if the circumstances (to which men belong) are
supportive.
d. Importance of parents/family
MKI-vetEP should include parents and/or important family members into the target
group as they essentially shape the attitude of their children and even control their
professional future to a large extend. Parents need to be aware of recent economic
developments and need to be informed about possibilities of vocational training and
employment. This could be done through an MKI-vetEP “parent forum” that could
regularly discuss parent’s expectations, needs and fears and possibilities of
reconciliation between real market requirements and social status requirements. This
has to be seen as a process that would ideally bring about a change in attitudes. A
dialogue between generations and the active involvement of parents into the MKI-
vetEP could enable parents to show the youth their willingness to support them,
exchange with them and give them space for negotiation and would help the youth to
perceive their parents as role models.
Sonja Andjelkovic

24
e. Communication and knowledge sharing
Major difficulties in the working environment are communication problems and the
lack of open information sharing. This is based on the leadership and work style
explained above. MKI-vetEP has the potential to establish a positive working and
learning environment and set an example regarding efficient communication flow and
successful knowledge sharing. This has already been identified as a key to success
and is in the process to be implemented on various programmatic levels, i. e. a
comprehensive staff concept with a knowledge management expert, as well as a
communication strategy aiming at transparent and fruitful communication among and
within all components of the programme but also with external stakeholders.
f. Strengthen intrinsic motivation through participation
As explained above one of the main reasons for weak performance whether it was in
work or in any other endeavour is the symbiosis of fear and control. One way to
approach this problem is to strengthen the intrinsic motivation of each staff member
by giving space for participation, creativity and innovation, and by creating an
enabling environment for low hierarchies, clear responsibilities, and role clarity.
Starting with the own staff MKI-vetEP has the structure in place for organizational
development measures, such as teambuilding, capacity building and participatory
approaches to programme tasks. This could be exported to programme activities and
promoted as a value within the target group.
These recommendations are by no means exclusive. Other recommendations should
be discussed, added and developed together with MKI-vetEP staff in a learning
process that would strengthen the team at the same time. The study has shown that
there is a huge potential in cultural and social values for the understanding of
perceptions of work and work ethics in Egypt. Future discussions will sharpen the
picture and positively influence the strategy of the programme.
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