In many areas of the world including the Middle East, a silent revolution is taking place with regard to women, education, and age at first marriage. As educational opportunities have become more widely available, young women have taken advantage of those opportunities and have in many cases begun to surpass the accomplishments of their male peers. The most striking consequence of this ongoing social transformation is a significantly later age at first marriage for women – or even non-marriage among highly educated women. This conference explores the emerging global phenomenon of “waithood”—or widespread marriage delays, first identified by political scientist Diane Singerman in Egypt—and how waithood is now playing out in almost every region of the world.