*31 females out of 44 names were among the Kingdom’s announced top students across various streams and specializations.
*Females accounted for 63.3% of the top students in the academic stream and 85.7% of the top students in the vocational and technical stream.
*The economic participation rate of Jordanian women stood at 15.2%, compared with 53.4% for Jordanian men, during the first quarter of 2026.
*Unemployment among Jordanian women reached 32.7%, compared with 17.9% among Jordanian men.

“Tadamon”: The challenge is to transform girls’ educational and knowledge capital into broader opportunities for participation, productivity, innovation, and leadership.

The Jordanian Women’s Solidarity Institute (Tadamon) followed the results of the 2026 General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) and congratulates all successful students, both female and male, and their families, wishing them a future in which their efforts throughout their years of study translate into academic and professional success.

“Tadamon” notes that an analysis of the names of the Kingdom’s top students announced across various streams and specializations reveals a notable presence of females. Of the 44 students whose names appeared on the lists of top students, 31 were female and 13 were male, meaning females accounted for 70.5% of the total announced names, compared with 29.5% for males.

This presence is even more pronounced in the vocational and technical stream, where females accounted for 12 of the 14 announced top students, or 85.7%, compared with two males, or 14.3%. In the academic stream, females accounted for 19 of the 30 announced top students, or 63.3%, compared with 11 males, or 36.7%.

“Tadamon” clarifies that these percentages reflect the distribution of names included in the announced lists of the Kingdom’s top students and do not represent the distribution of all successful students or students achieving high grades by gender.

According to the announced Tawjihi results, 199,050 students registered for the examination, of whom 178,296 sat for the exam, while 116,366 students passed, with an overall success rate of 65.3%. A total of 4,481 students achieved an average of 95% or higher.

From Educational Excellence to Economic Participation
“Tadamon” believes that the high representation of females among the top Tawjihi students is not merely an educational statistic. Rather, it provides an indicator of girls’ educational and knowledge capabilities while simultaneously raising a development-related question about the extent to which this excellence continues into subsequent stages, particularly in the labor market, scientific research, innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, and decision-making.

A disparity emerges when educational excellence is considered alongside labor market indicators. According to Department of Statistics data for the first quarter of 2026, the adjusted economic participation rate among Jordanian women was 15.2%, compared with 53.4% among Jordanian men. Unemployment among Jordanian women stood at 32.7%, compared with 17.9% among Jordanian men, while the unemployment rate for Jordanians of both sexes was 21.1%.

Employment data provide another dimension of this gap. During the first half of 2025, the net number of jobs created in the Jordanian labor market reached 48,403 jobs, of which 7,170 were filled by women, representing 14.8%, compared with 41,233 jobs for men, or 85.2%.

“Tadamon” emphasizes that considering these indicators alongside the Tawjihi results does not imply a direct causal relationship between them, given the differences in the age groups and stages measured by the respective data. However, they raise a legitimate development question regarding the extent to which the economy and labor market are able to benefit from the human and knowledge capital accumulated by girls and women through education.

Educational Excellence Should Not Stop at the Education Gateway

“Tadamon” points out that investing in girls’ education is an investment in human capital and national development, and that maximizing its impact depends on creating pathways that enable women to transform their knowledge, qualifications, and skills into meaningful and productive participation in the economy and society.

The transition from education to the labor market is not determined by academic qualifications alone. It is influenced by multiple factors, including the nature and distribution of employment opportunities, the alignment of specializations with labor market needs, transportation, working environments and conditions, unpaid family and care responsibilities, and opportunities for professional advancement.

The Institute believes that the high percentage of females among the top students in the vocational and technical stream—85.7%—deserves particular attention. It demonstrates girls’ ability to achieve high levels of educational excellence in vocational and technical education alongside academic education, at a time when technical and vocational skills and specializations are becoming increasingly important in labor markets.

“Tadamon” stresses that this year’s results deserve celebration for the achievements of both female and male students, while also opening the door to a question about the next stage: How can educational excellence be transformed into opportunities for participation, productivity, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership?

The challenge is not about proving girls’ ability to excel—the results have clearly demonstrated this ability—but rather about creating an environment that allows this excellence to extend into different areas of economic and social life.
Girls’ educational excellence is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of human and knowledge capital that should find its way into opportunities for participation, productivity, innovation, and leadership.

Jordanian Women’s Solidarity Institute (Tadamon)
18 August 2026