Literacy and access to formal education
Women's unequal participation in education: Causes and constraints
The process and benefits of education
An investment in development: Educational opportunities for women and girls
Literacy and access to basic education are prerequisites for taking advantage of opportunities for higher agricultural education. Any efforts to improve women's access to higher agricultural education must, therefore, be linked to overall efforts to improve girls and women's literacy and access to basic education. Almost everywhere, girls' and women's literacy rates and access to basic education are considerably lower than those of boys and men.
According to UNESCO, women and girls are the "largest single category of persons denied equality of educational opportunity in the world today" (UNESCO 1995), and this is particularly true in developing countries where women are a major part of the agricultural work force. UNESCO distinguishes two forms of educational opportunity: participation and process. Participation refers to the opportunity to participate in education, while process refers to treatment during the educational process. To this could be added the opportunity to benefit from education.
Participation is quantitative and can be measured by looking at literacy and enrolment provided to girls and women. Process involves the nature and content of education given to girls and women and has both quantitative and qualitative aspects to it. The benefits of education can also be examined from both a quantitative and qualitative point of view. It is possible to have equality of participation in education without having equality of treatment during the process of education. It is also possible to have equality of treatment without being able to benefit equally from education. Greater equality in one area, however, does have a positive influence on equality in another. And, of course, equality of participation is a necessary step towards equal treatment or benefits.
TABLE 1 - Estimated Adult Literacy Rates by Region, 1980 and 1995*
1980 |
1995 | |||||
MF |
M |
F |
MF |
M |
F | |
World |
69.5 |
72.2 |
61.9 |
77.4 |
83.6 |
71.2 |
Developing Countries, of which: |
58.0 |
68.9 |
46.8 |
70.4 |
78.9 |
61.7 |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
40.2 |
51.8 |
29.2 |
56.8 |
66.6 |
47.3 |
Arab States |
40.8 |
55.0 |
26.2 |
56.6 |
68.4 |
44.2 |
Latin America and Caribbean |
79.7 |
82.1 |
77.5 |
86.6 |
87.7 |
85.5 |
Eastern Asia and Oceania, of which: |
69.3 |
80.4 |
58.0 |
83.6 |
90.6 |
76.3 |
China |
66.0 |
78.6 |
52.7 |
81.5 |
89.9 |
72.7 |
Southern Asia, of which: |
39.1 |
52.8 |
24.5 |
50.2 |
62.9 |
36.6 |
India |
40.8 |
55.3 |
25.3 |
52.0 |
65.5 |
37.7 |
Least developed countries |
36.5 |
48.3 |
24.9 |
48.8 |
59.5 |
38.1 |
Developed countries |
96.8 |
98.0 |
95.4 |
98.7 |
98.9 |
98.4 |
Source: UNESCO, World Education Report 1995, Table 1.1.
* Percentage of literate adults in the population aged 15 years and over.
Worldwide, there is a gap of 10 percent between women's literacy rates and those of men. In some regions of the world, this gap is more than 25 percent. A comparison of literacy rates by region in 1980 and 1995 shows, however, that this gap is closing, albeit slowly (see Table 1).
Female participation in primary, secondary and tertiary education compared to that of males varies considerably by region. With the exception of the developed countries and Latin America and the Caribbean, however, the percentage of the female population enrolled in school is significantly lower than that of the male population at all age levels. The percentage of both males and females declines from the primary to secondary levels and from the secondary to tertiary age levels in all regions, but the gap between males and females remains, again with the exception of the developed countries and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia are the regions with the lowest percentages of enrolment of both school age males and females and where the gaps between the enrolment of males and females at each level are greatest. These are also the two regions with the highest percentages of women farmers. Consequently, where the need is greatest for improving women's access to higher agricultural education, the challenges are also greatest since so few women in these regions have the prerequisites of basic education at the primary and secondary levels.
TABLE 2 - Estimated Net Enrolment Ratios for the Age Groups 6-11, 12-17 and 18-23 Years, by Region, 1995*
Age 6-11 |
Age 12-17 |
Age 18 -23 | ||||
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F | |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
55.2 |
47.4 |
46.0 |
35.3 |
9.7 |
4.9 |
Arab States |
83.9 |
71.6 |
59.2 |
47.1 |
24.5 |
16.3 |
Latin America/Caribbean |
88.5 |
87.5 |
68.4 |
67.4 |
26.1 |
26.3 |
Eastern Asia/Oceania |
88.6 |
85.5 |
54.7 |
51.4 |
19.5 |
13.6 |
Southern Asia |
84.3 |
65.6 |
50.5 |
32.2 |
12.4 |
6.6 |
Developed Countries |
92.3 |
91.7 |
87.1 |
88.5 |
40.8 |
42.7 |
Source: UNESCO, World Education Report, 1995, Table 2.1.
* Percentage ratio of the number of enrolled pupils/students in each age group to the total population in the age-group.
Women's participation in higher agricultural studies is significantly lower than that of men, even in the developed regions and in Latin America and the Caribbean where women participate in tertiary education in nearly equal numbers as men. As Table 3 shows, the number of women in higher agricultural education as compared to men is lowest in precisely those regions where women constitute the majority of food producers. There are also considerably fewer women than men enrolled in science and engineering, which also has a bearing on agricultural planning and policy in all regions.
TABLE 3 - Women per 100 Men in Agricultural, and Science and Engineering Studies at the Third Level, 1990
Agriculture |
Science end engineering | ||
Developed Countries |
62 |
69 | |
Africa |
|||
Northern Africa |
36 |
48 | |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
28 |
39 | |
Latin America and the Caribbean |
|||
Latin America |
58 |
74 | |
Caribbean |
61 |
86 | |
Asia and Pacific |
|||
Eastern and South-Eastern Asia |
49 |
73 | |
Southern Asia |
17 |
42 | |
Western Asia |
49 |
80 | |
Source: United Nations, The World 's Women 1995, Trends and Statistics, Chart 4.1 1.
The causes of women's unequal literacy rates and participation in education have been well-documented. The major obstacles that women face in access to education are:
· Lack of time: Girls in many countries are expected to begin helping out at an early age with the household responsibilities which burden women: fetching fuel and water, preparing food, childcare, cleaning, and taking part in the agricultural activities for which women are responsible. These responsibilities increase as they grow older, which explains the constant decline in girls' and women's participation in education with increasing age, particularly in regions where women comprise a large part of the food producers. Lack of time also prevents adult women from participating in adult literacy and educational programmes.
· Economic reasons: Girls are often considered as a source of household labour who will leave their families upon marriage and become part of the labour force of another family. Boys, on the other hand, are expected to provide support to their families of origin when they become adults. When this is the case, it is economically more sound to invest in the education of boys than in that of girls, particularly where money for education and basic necessities is scarce. Moreover, women generally command fewer opportunities and lower salaries in the labour market and therefore investment in girls' education yields less than that of boys.
· Organizational obstacles: In some countries, parents are unwilling for cultural reasons to have their female children study under male instructors or in mixed gender classes. The lack of female instructors and female-only schools or classes thus becomes and obstacle to female participation in schools. Other obstacles include the distances between home and school and the lack of transport, which affects females more than males where female mobility is restricted.
· Customs, traditions and attitudes: A combination of mutually reinforcing customs, traditions and attitudes places greater value on males than females in many societies. Moreover, improved employment opportunities and earning-power as a result of educational opportunities can lead to greater independence for women, which may be threatening to men's sense of superiority, control, and conviction about the place of men and women in society. Whether these attitudes are conscious or not, they act as a restraint on women's educational opportunities.
· Cycle of poverty: Extreme poverty in many countries of the world tends to lock illiterate women and girls into a cycle of early marriages and bringing up illiterate girls who continue the cycle of early marriages and illiterate children.
· Lack of motivation to learn: Girls and women sometimes have little incentive to participate in education because there are few if any opportunities to benefit from education.
While some of these obstacles, particularly the organizational ones, can be directly tackled on a practical level, most of them are inextricably tied up with a complex mixture of cultural, social and economic factors. On the whole, richer countries offer greater opportunities for women to participate in education than the poorest and least developed countries, but the gaps between male and female participation can only be partly explained by a country's GNP per capita. For instance, the gross enrolment ratio for girls in primary education in countries with less than US$ 500 per capita in 1992, ranged from less than 50 percent of that of boys to nearly equal; e.g. Guinea (47 %), Chad (48 %); Benin (50 %); Pakistan (53 %), Niger (57 %), compared to Kenya (98 %), Rwanda (98 %), Tajikistan (97 %), United Republic of Tanzania (97 %) and Madagascar (96 %) (UNESCO 1995).
In certain developing countries, the relatively large numbers of women in tertiary education compared to men can be explained by the fact that men have better employment opportunities than women. For example, in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa' boys frequently leave school earlier than girls in order to migrate to areas providing jobs in mines and commercial agriculture. According to UNESCO (1995), however, there are no ready explanations for the near equal participation of males and females in higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean and certain countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. A study of the reasons for this lack of disparity might throw light on how to help overcome education gaps in other countries and regions.
Access to education is only one part of educational opportunity. Another important part is the treatment of pupils and students during the process of education. The UNESCO World Education Report 1995 raises several basic questions regarding equality of educational opportunities for girls and women in the process of education: Do girls have equal opportunities with boys to learn the same subjects and fields? Are tests and examinations fair to girls? Are teaching practices effective for both sexes?
At the elementary or basic level of education, boys and girls generally receive the same or very similar education. At the secondary level, however, major differences begin to appear in the education of males and females. One of the most significant of these differences, insofar as it impacts on agricultural education, is the decreasing participation of girls and women in technical and scientific education. By the time they reach the tertiary level of education, the number of women in technical and scientific education is only of fraction of the number of men (see Table 3).
At the root of this disparity are factors such as social conventions, assumptions and economic opportunities. In all societies, including developed ones, there is a tendency for girls to be channel led into or encouraged to take up fields of study which most closely correspond to the traditional household roles of women. There is often an implicit or explicit assumption that girls and women are less suited to or capable of mastering mathematical, scientific and technical subjects than boys and men. Moreover, girls and women are generally trained to assume a position in society that is subordinate to that of men.
The choice of study is often made by girls and women themselves, but it is often influenced by subtle or not so subtle pressures from teachers, parents and society in general. The socialization of girls and boys begins in infancy, and by the time they reach school age much of this has already been internalized. This socialization is continued and reinforced throughout their school years.
Box 2 - Socialization of Boys and Girls "In nearly all societies, girls are socialized to identify with the family and the private sphere, while boys are brought up to act in the public sphere. Both at school and home, girls are conditioned for the roles as wives and mothers while boys are trained in skills and encouraged to develop the self-confidence needed for public life. Gender stereotyping in educational materials, the bias against women in history books, and the lack of women leaders as role models all reinforce this." Marilee Karl, Women and Empowerment - Participation and Decision Making; 1995 |
The gender composition of the teaching staff and classroom in different fields of study may influence the choices made by students. In some societies, women feel more comfortable being taught by female staff. Even in societies where this is not tile case, the male teachers and classroom environment in male-dominated fields of study are sometimes subtly or not so subtly hostile to women. Furthermore, recent studies indicate that pedagogical methods may be geared to male pupils (UNESCO 1995).
Choice of field of study is also influenced by employment prospects and based on a realistic appraisal of the opportunities to benefit from the education received. The lack or limitation of work opportunities for women in scientific, technical and agricultural fields is an underlying cause of the few women taking up these fields of study at the secondary and tertiary levels. A related factor is the employment conditions in different fields of specialization. Boys and men tend to go into fields which can bestow status on them, whereas girls and women more often need and/or want to take up employment which is compatible with household responsibilities and childrearing.
In every country, women still face to a greater or lesser degree barriers to benefiting from their education. As the United Nations Human Development Report 1995 concludes:
"....providing education is necessary but not sufficient for women's empowerment. More has to be done to open opportunities for women to use the capabilities they are acquiring".
Investment in the education of girls and women is one of the most effective means of raising the general level of development and promoting sustainable development, according to several studies by international agencies, including the World Bank, UNESCO and the United Nations Development Programme.
Positive correlations have been found between improved educational opportunities for girls and women in developing countries and the following:
· Lower fertility rates: A significant decrease can be seen in the fertility rates of women who have completed six to seven years of schooling. This can be attributed to the fact that educated women tend to marry later, have greater access to information on and understanding of family planning, and are thus more capable of making decisions about practicing birth control and having children.
Box 3 - Illiteracy and Fertility Rates "In Africa and southern Asia illiteracy rates among adult women are still over 50 percent, and total fertility rates are still over five births per women. In Latin America and the Caribbean and in eastern and southeastern Asia illiteracy rates among women are largely under 20 percent and fertility rates are less than four births per woman, often much less." United Nations, The World's Women, 1995; Trends and Statistics, 1995. |
· Healthier families and lower child mortality rates: Educated women also have greater access to and are more capable of putting into practice health information for the benefit of themselves and their families. They tend to take advantage of immunization programmes and are able to take measures to reduce the negative effects of poor water supply and sanitation. Healthier families translates into fewer childhood deaths, which also reduces the pressure to continue child bearing to ensure the survival of at least some children.
· Better adjustment of families to the changing economic, social, and cultural environment: Since mothers have a significant influence on the early socialization of children and on the wellbeing of their families, educated women are better able to communicate, learn and utilize information and thus help their families adjust to the transition through which many communities in the world are passing.
· Greater participation of women in the labour force and better employment prospects: Although educated women do encounter barriers in maximizing their education in the world of employment, they definitely have far greater opportunities for employment than uneducated women. As those responsible for the well-being of their families in most developing countries, the greater earning power of women translates into better living standards of their households.
· Greater participation of rural women in agricultural training and extension services: Access to basic education enables rural women to better benefit from agricultural training, information and services. It is also the first step towards higher agricultural education.
· Greater participation in decision making: educated women have knowledge, and information and self-confidence to enable them to take greater part in decision making at the household and community levels. The higher the level of education, the more opportunities women generally have to participate in decision making at higher levels.
Box 4 - The Greening of the Earth Can Only Begin With the Empowerment of Women "There are hundreds, thousands of depressing environmental statistics....Yet one statistic stands out as more distressing than any other: there are 600 million illiterate women in the world - more than twice as many illiterate women as illiterate men. "Why is this an environmental statistic? "Uneducated women are less able to help protect their environment. Uneducated women are more likely to bear greater numbers of children than their environment can fully support. Uneducated women are increasingly unable to become our partners in creating a sustainable future.. "Women are vital to our vision of a sustainable future. They are the guardians of natural wisdom in their societies; they are often the principal ecosystem managers of their communities. They are the first educators, and can do the most to change the habits and beliefs of a new generation..... "That is why the single most important step towards sustainable living that governments can take...is the education of women". Elizabeth Dowdswell, UN Under-Secretary General (UNEP-HABITAT), in Karl, Women and Empowerment, 1995. |
