essay on education for woman

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Importance Of Women's Education Essay

Women's education is a fundamental human right and an important tool for creating a more just and equitable society. Here are a few sample essays on ‘importance of women’s education’.

100 Words Essay On Importance Of Women's Education

Women's education is essential for the development and progress of any society. Educated women have the potential to become strong leaders, role models, and agents of change in their communities. They are more likely to participate in the workforce, earn higher wages, and provide for themselves and their families.

Education also empowers women to make informed decisions about their health, rights, and overall well-being. Investing in women's education is also a key strategy for reducing poverty and promoting gender equality. Educated women are more likely to educate their children, breaking the cycle of poverty and creating a brighter future for the next generation.

200 Words Essay On Importance Of Women's Education

Women's education is crucial for the development and progress of any society. Education is a fundamental human right and women have the same right to education as men. Educated women have the potential to become strong leaders, role models, and agents of change in their communities. They are more likely to participate in the workforce, earn higher wages, and provide for themselves and their families.

I remember reading a story about a woman named Rupa, who grew up in a small village in India. Despite facing numerous obstacles, she was determined to get an education. With the help of a local NGO, she was able to attend school and later went on to college. Today, she is a successful businesswoman and a role model for other women in her village. She is using her education and success to give back to her community by providing education and job opportunities for other women.

500 Words Essay On Importance Of Women's Education

Women's education is essential for the development and progress of any society. Education is a fundamental human right , and women have the same right to education as men.

Empowerment and Economic Development

Women's economic empowerment entails their ability to engage equally in current markets, access to and control over productive resources, access to good employment, control over their own time, lives, and bodies, as well as a greater voice, agency, and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels, from the family to international organisations. Women's economic empowerment improves income equality, diversity of the economy, productivity, and other good development results.

Health and Well-being

Education also empowers women to make informed decisions about their health, rights, and overall well-being. Educated women are more likely to understand the importance of healthcare and will take better care of themselves and their families. They also have a better understanding of their rights and will be more likely to speak out against discrimination and violence. Women's economic empowerment improves income equality, diversity of the economy, productivity, and other good development results. The health and wellness of women and girls, as well as their chances for earning an income and participating in the formal labour market, depend on education, upskilling, and reskilling throughout their lives—especially to keep up with the rapid technological and digital revolutions affecting jobs.

Breaking the cycle of poverty

Investing in women's education is also a key strategy for reducing poverty and promoting gender equality. Educated women are more likely to educate their children, breaking the cycle of poverty and creating a brighter future for the next generation. Studies have also shown that countries with more educated women have more stable and prosperous economies.

Life Story of Savitribai Phule

Savitribai Phule is a remarkable woman who must be mentioned in every essay about women's education. She was the first female teacher in India. It is crucial to realise that in earlier times, particularly in India, women had minimal access to education. Savitribai Phule overcame obstacles like the caste system and male supremacy. Any woman taking the initiative and standing up for a cause at that time was unthinkable and impossible. Savitribai Phule, on the other hand, dismantled all the barriers and fought for women's education in India. She did it by deed rather than speech. She transformed into a live example.

Savitri Phule and her family became a real example of dispelling many stereotypes thanks to her husband's support and relentless work to advance fair education for all. Her success was a model for other Indian girls who wanted to pursue education. They also established the "Native Library" and a school for girls. The goal was to connect with as many youngsters as possible nationwide.

One person was able to carry the light for countless others. Additionally, they assumed care for a widow's son and set up an intercaste union for him. This wickedness still rules society today. Savtribai Phule provided many people at the time with a heroic, impossibly high example. The Savitribai Phule University in Pune was established in her honour today. This university upholds the tradition of comprehensive education. The country applauds Savitribai Phule for her outstanding contributions to education and social transformation.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

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Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi .

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive.

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues.

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems.

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description: A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials.

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs.

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story.

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion.

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product.

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans.

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party.

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems.

Computer Programmer

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The Unique Challenges Facing Women in Education

Posted April 1, 2021
By Jill Anderson
Career and Lifelong Learning
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The pandemic has exposed many of the challenges facing women working in education. Yet, Jennie Weiner , Ed.M.'03, Ed.D.'12, an expert who studies how to create a more inclusive and equitable education field, acknowledges that many of the gender disparities in the education profession have long existed. Across the sector, women make up a majority of the education workforce but occupy barely a quarter of top leadership positions. This is not by accident, she says, but by systemic design.

“We've had a highly feminized profession, but feminized means both that women do the work, but also that it's devalued because it is women's work,” Weiner says, pointing to many issues that exist in education, such as underpaid teachers, buildings in disrepair, and even an “inverted” pyramid where men hold far more leadership positions than women.

“Many people would rather believe that hard work and being really good at what you do could outperform bias, and that's a lie. No matter how good you are, if we live in discriminatory system, that discrimination will raise its head," she says.

In this episode the EdCast, Weiner, an associate professor at the University of Connecticut, breaks down the gender issues in the field and suggests ways to push toward equality.

Jill Anderson: I'm Jill Anderson. This is the Harvard EdCast.

Jennie Weiner knows the pandemic has exposed gender inequities that don't often get talked about in education. It doesn't matter whether women work in early childhood, or higher education, or somewhere in between, these inequities play out similarly across the field. Jennie is an associate professor who studies how to make education more inclusive and equitable through educational leadership. Although females have long made up the bulk of the education workforce, they barely represent a quarter of top leadership roles. She says there's many reasons for how we've ended up with gender inequity in the field and society. I asked Jennie to tell me more about the unique challenges facing women in education.

Jennie Weiner: There are a number of challenges facing women in leadership generally, and then within the context of K12 specifically. Some of these challenges exist outside of the role, which are really about how our society frames the role of women and socialize us to understand what women should and shouldn't be doing within the space. Right? So for example, the idea that we should be the primary caretakers for our young children, which, of course, then creates complications if you don't have paid family leave, or access to reliable, cheap, and effective care for your children, and are attempting to work full time. Which was true in our context of our society prior to the pandemic, but of course has been exacerbated by the pandemic. We also have issues around who becomes caretakers, even if you don't have children for elderly parents, or for other kind of tasks within the context of a family, or an extended family.

So you have all that external socialization. And then you also have, what I would say is role socialization in leadership specifically, which is the way leadership is constructed in our society, and in education specifically, still really focuses on this idea of a lone hero, or heroic person, and I would argue, a white man, with characteristics that are stereotyped as masculine characteristics. So being very strong, or ambitious, or innovative, or aggressive, right? And we see this through our political cycles and in other spaces. So what happens is women may not be considered the best candidates for these positions because they hold other kinds of stereotyped ideas, right? So if you are more communally oriented, which should be a stereotype female, you're softer, you're emotional, you may not be seen as having leadership potential, right? And there's a lack of female mentors and women who are in charge in the first place to tap people along the trajectory.

But also if you exhibit traditionally, or stereotypically male characteristics that are more aligned with leadership, let's say being quite aggressive, or being innovative, we know that women often get criticized for exhibiting those behaviors. So I talk a lot about this idea of a double bind. So you have these externalized pathway issues and things that keep women from having full access to leadership that exist because of, again, our societal structures, and who gets to do what roles, and why, and how we think about that. But then we also have these internalized structures about how we understand and perceive what leadership is, and hence, who should be able to do it, and be successful, and thrive in the role. So it's a lot to say the least.

Jill Anderson: It is a lot. I think it's something that you can easily look at and see in K through 12.

Jennie Weiner: Right.

Jill Anderson: You look and you see a lot of females, predominantly females in education, but you don't often see them in roles of superintendency or principalship.

Jennie Weiner: So right now about 83 to 86% range of teachers are women. About 54% of principals are women, predominantly in elementary schools, and that's not an accident because elementary schools don't have after-school activities to the same extent. There's also ideas about women and their ability to facilitate, let's say discipline for older boys, and what they can handle. Also, women's willingness to blend their life and home life with their work life. So if I am a mother, am I willing to bring my kids to a bunch of basketball games, or activities at school consistently? If I'm a man, am I willing to do that?

And then at the superintendent level, it's been around 23% since the last 15 or 20 years. So, if you inverse that it's even more bananas, right? So you have, what is that then? 16% or so of teachers are men, about 50% of them are principals, and about 74% are superintendents. So, it's jarring in either direction, but I sometimes ask people to think in the reverse, right? But you have this teeny tiny pool at the bottom of the pyramid for men who are situated in schools and they're overwhelmingly more than 75% of the superintendents, the people in charge.

Jill Anderson: Right. And is it the same when you get into higher ed and you start looking at careers [crosstalk 00:05:16].

Jennie Weiner: Yes.

Jill Anderson: ... in academia, the same reflection.

Jennie Weiner: Right. And I think what's important to remember too, is historically it was built this way on purpose, Michael Apple, a scholar who studies the history of the profession, talks a lot about the ways in which we had to fill these common schools with an available workforce, people who could read and didn't have a lot of other options, and that was primarily women. So we've had a highly feminized profession, but feminized means both that women do the work, but also that it's devalued because it is women's work.

So that helps to explain why we have, for example, still issues around teachers being substantively underpaid, why buildings are in disrepair, and why we say we value education, but we consistently underfund it, and do not treat teachers with the respect I think that they deserve. And I think it's partially because it's mostly women who do that work over time, but it's also why we've created elaborate evaluation techniques to watch these women who need to be controlled and evaluated and observed to ensure they're doing the right thing within the context of schools. But teaching itself has been really situated as primarily a profession of women, and also then around caretaking as a primary driver as opposed to let's say high skills, knowledge capabilities. And academia is the same way. So it was created primarily for men, and therefore not surprising that it's very hard to break in, or deconstruct those ways of thinking about the work.

Jill Anderson: How has the pandemic really shifted this? Because this has been a long existing problem, but now we're hearing about it on so many levels and it's getting a lot of attention.

Jennie Weiner: Yeah. We're looking at somewhere between 2.5 and 4 million women leaving the workforce between the beginning of the pandemic and February of this year. So just that number is just breathtaking. Now, why? And it's intricately related to the things that we're discussing, right? So if you have professions, and you have, let's say a heterosexual couple, one is a man and one is a woman, and they both were working prior to the pandemic, it is highly likely because of the way discrimination works that the woman was in a lower paid field, or if she was in the same field, she was in a position in which she made less money than her husband.

In addition, many of the caretaking responsibilities within the context of the home that are considered to be stereotype female work, childcare, cleaning, scheduling, cooking, are usually taken up by women. So then the school is closed, there's no caretaking, you have young children, somebody has to give up their work in order to make that happen. If this is the parameters under which we make decisions, who's more likely to leave? Clearly the spouse who makes less money is more comfortable, or has been socialized to take on those roles within the context of the house before. And we see that, right? In fact, we actually saw quite a few women who made more money, or had their own professions and jobs, even those women leaving in favor of staying home.

And then we also, of course, to talk about this without talking about races, not really appropriate because most of the women who lost their jobs are women of color who were also in service industries, primarily in work that was most risk for catching COVID, whether that be home health care, the service industries, restaurants, cleaning services. And now they're also home and are unable to work, or have to put themselves at risk to facilitate their child, and their family having enough money to survive. So it exposed, I think things that were already there, but that we just never talked about in the public space.

Jill Anderson: There were mothers I know who were working in education, who were working as early childhood educators and decided to leave their jobs to be able to accommodate remote learning, or being home with their kids through this time. So definitely hearing that in my own world.

Jennie Weiner: Yeah. I think what you're saying is really powerful too, which I think people don't talk about, which is, if you have a profession, both early childcare providers and let's say any kind of childcare provider, and educators who are not childcare providers, but children go to school, is predominantly female. We can imagine that many of them probably have young children themselves. And yet the rhetoric has really been to not discuss that as if these are separate identities. So we say, why aren't the teachers, or the childcare providers doing their job? They should be open, without paying any attention to, if I'm a teacher and I'm supposed to be attending to my class full time, and I have a three-year-old, who's taking care of my three-year-old?

Jill Anderson: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jennie Weiner: And I just feel like in the public discourse around school opening, they're not opening the idea, or understanding that many of these are young women with families who are facing the same challenges that I'm facing is not discussed. And I would just put that to people about how that reinforces our lack of discussion about women's rights and gender equity within the context of our society when we do not attend to that as part of the problem of schools reopening.

Jill Anderson: Well, since you've mentioned the, what you've just written about, which is your own experience, in a collection of essays being released looking at pandemic parenting, you talk about that experience of juggling the challenges of parenting while working in academia. So what has it been like for you?

Jennie Weiner: Dislocating, discombobulating. So I have twin nine year old boys, both of whom have been home with me for over a year now, now they've had full-time learning, but not in person. I think one of the things that's been so terribly difficult is so much of the gymnastics that I've had to do over the course of my career to simply persist and thrive in a space that's not made for me. So to constantly be in spaces and having to make really tough choices about, should I go to a conference? And then when I get to the conference, people say, well, who is taking care of your kids? Or I'm missing something that's happening at home, and I'm feeling that's really difficult and hard. And I've made so many, what I perceive to be sacrifices in a system that is not made for working mothers, or for people from non-traditional backgrounds in that space. And then to be home all the time and feel like some of that is slipping away, my identity and my ability to thrive in my workspace just gone.

And even though I think externally there's a sense that everybody's going through it, and I should just not be so hard on myself, I don't believe that the system will actually excuse women who have taken this time. I think that I have a lot of fear that if I don't keep juggling and pretzeling, that's not something I'm ever going to be able to make up, because, again, I've had to fight so hard just to feel like I had a space at the table. It's difficult to lose something that you feel like you've fought so hard for.

Jill Anderson: Yeah. You raised an interesting point because there have been some predictions made about how far this pandemic will definitely set women off course, and it's alarming. We're talking not just like, Oh, this is going to set women off by a couple of years, this is decades of setbacks from just this one year, year and a half, whatever it ends up being.

Jennie Weiner: Yeah. Basically like 1970s or something, yeah.

Jill Anderson: Which is crazy.

Jennie Weiner: It is really crazy. I think it tells you how precarious everything was, and on whoms back the progress had it been made. So because there haven't been attention to, let's say structural and systemic changes to our policies, to issues a place like the ERA for example, the Equal Rights Amendment never passed. The fact that many black and brown women are in low wage jobs and we can't pass a decent minimum wage. The fact that we don't have universal childcare, or universal pre-K. So what happens? Well, women behind the scenes address all those issues behind the scenes. And so every success to a large degree has been on the backs of the people who have been discriminated against, we've elbowed, and we've worked, and we've suffered, and we've done what we needed to do, but individual hard work is not a way to fix systems of oppression, it helps, but you can see, right? Once that fell down and we didn't have any systems to support us, the marbles all fell out of the bag.

I only hope, perhaps, that people will remember and understand the veil is off, that depending on women to just do more is not a way to create a just society. And we have to fight for these kinds of systemic changes that are going to make things different regardless of what the future holds in terms of calamity, or change, or whatever the fact may be.

Jill Anderson: We've heard a lot about the glass ceiling, especially even recently with Kamala Harris being elected, and a lot of us have heard of that term before, what is the glass cliff?

Jennie Weiner: So the glass cliff was brought about by some research by Haslam and Ryan, and they're British researchers. And I read in the newspaper, there was an article about how the FTSE Index, their publicly traded companies, how women were in charge of all the ones that were doing poorly, and therefore women must be poor leaders. They did analysis, and basically what they found was that women were more likely to be leaders within the context of companies that were not doing well, but they were hired once they started to decline. So the idea is that women and people of color, people who are traditionally marginalized from those kinds of leadership opportunities, are given the opportunity to lead, but only when an organization is in decline. And now, of course, that comes with a bunch of other parameters, right? So usually that also means often that you have a highly activist board.

So women who end up taking these positions spend far more time catering and having to deal with activist board members than do men. Additionally, when women start to improve the organization, they're not given credit for that. Alternatively, if something that looks like it's doomed to fail, and then they take over fails, they're blamed, and most often a white man is put back into the position after them. I'm actually studying this within the context of education superintendents, but I noticed, for example, I work in Connecticut, there are very few black women principals in a place like Hartford, but when you look at where they're placed, they tend to be placed in most of the turnaround schools, which are the chronically underperforming schools. April Peter speaks about how they're positioned as cleanup women to come in and mop up and clean up the mistakes others have made, but instead of being lauded for that, even when they have success, they're vilified as being difficult, or hard to work with, or aggressive in ways that are not valued, even when they have success in addressing the problems of the organizations. So it's pretty tricky.

Jill Anderson: What is the most important thing for a female in education leadership, whether it's K through 12, whether it's in academia?

Jennie Weiner: I'm often in places with women leaders, I'm often asked to speak and I facilitate a women superintendents group for the state of Connecticut, I'm so proud and privileged to have that opportunity. I think one thing that often happens is people are upset by hearing these truths. At the same time, because we'd all rather believe, or many people would rather believe that hard work and being really good at what you do could outperform bias, and that's a lie. No matter how good you are, if we live in discriminatory system, that discrimination will raise its head. Now, of course, there's exceptions, there's always exceptions, but on average, across, right? Most women are not exceptions. So what's the benefit of doing it then?

Well, the other piece of this is, if you don't have language and understand that there is something systemic happening, then when someone says to you, you don't really have leadership capabilities, or you're not really leadership material, you might believe them. You may actually begin to feel that the problem is you, because you look around and you're not seeing that happening to other people, or nobody's talking about it. And you internalize those feelings of shame and ineffectiveness, and you lay the blame on yourself. And that is terrible. And it's going to get us to come together, it's not going to help facilitate change, it's not going to move us to press, and push, and fight for something better on the horizon for us and other generation of women leaders.

And so I think it's a misnomer to say that liberation comes without pain because facing her truths is painful. It is painful to see that I can't out run discrimination, but I cannot be free. I cannot be liberated if I don't see how the system operates, because individuals cannot by themselves change discriminatory systems, we need each other. And the only way we can find each other is if we own up and talk about these experiences and connect them to something larger than ourselves.

Jill Anderson: But it doesn't feel like the conversation about gender bias happens as often, which is interesting in lieu of all of the information that we have about females in education.

Jennie Weiner: I am concerned about the ways in which gender identity and other forms of identity have not been taken up as part of the larger conversation about DEI efforts, and I wonder how we can have an anti-racist society without addressing patriarchy and vice versa, because patriarchy and white supremacy are intricately linked and both need to be addressed simultaneously for justice to come forward. I do not place one above the other, but I do think we can do hard things and we should, and need to talk about them as intricately linked, and when we don't, we miss quite a bit of the conversation.

Jill Anderson: To just backtrack on that, is that intersectional feminism?

Jennie Weiner: Part of the critic of the feminist movement was that it was predominantly women like me, upper-middle-class white women, who did not attend to the fact that they have particular privileges regarding that status, right? I'm not a low wage earner. I have documentation, I have particular freedoms and abilities to assert myself in spaces without the same repercussions, and that needs to be owned and understood. So intersectionality is really, really linked with black feminist thought, critical thought, and legal work as well. But the idea is that we have to attend to multiple forms of identity at once, and how that discrimination manifests across the spectrum. So a really concrete example, I think that's useful to think about within the context of education is, we still have very low numbers, but only 6% of principals are black women, which is just crazy, and much of this is actually a result of what happened in the post-brown era when schools integrated and they fired in mass something like 40,000 black educators, because when they integrated schools, they shut down black schools and fired black teachers and administrators, and replaced them with white administrators and teachers, which many people don't talk about, but it's important to our legacy and why we are where we are.

So if I was somebody who was interested in trying to recruit more people of color and women into, let's say administrative ranks, the reasons why they are not accessing those historically are different. So if I try to just do it through a white lens, right? So I'm addressing gender, but if I only do it through a white lens, I may not be attending to the ways in which racial discrimination and this legacy is impacting black women's ability to access, feel successful, and how they're treated in the role, right? So the solutions may look different, and the ways in which I engage and think about them may look different because I understand that both of those things matter as do potentially other things that are the ways in which discrimination operates to allow them to have access and thrive in those positions. So I think the lack of attention to that is really, really problematic. And again, those are just a few, right? We could talk about LBGTQ. We know that immigration status, other things that bring about different ways of interacting with systemic oppression, and then, again, how we might attend to that and think about it if we really want things to change.

Jill Anderson: So it feels so huge that it can almost feel like it's difficult to know how to take a step toward change. And so even in lieu of the pandemic, which is almost like this dark cloud lingering over it. So what about next steps?

Jennie Weiner: On one hand you could say, I feel really overwhelmed because of all the things that you just said. On the other hand, you could say, wow, there's so much work to do, and there's so many different, based on my skills, capabilities, orientation, understandings, I could get involved at so many levels, right? I could get involved in my intimate relationship with my partner and discuss about the balance of work and why things are, and start begin to question that, and that would be, I think, a feminist action. There are ways to be engaged in sisterhood to support women in your place of work, for example, here's just a small one. You go to a meeting frequently and your female colleagues said something, and then five minutes later your male colleague says it and everyone says, Bill, that's a great idea. Thank you for sharing that. I think a lot of women, if they're listening to this, may have had that experience.

So you may be with women in your group and speak to them and say, whenever someone says something, we're going to amplify it. So now this time Jill says something wonderful, and then Bill says it, and Bill repeats it, and I said, yes, I loved it when Jill said it five minutes ago. These are small, but I think if we first name things as problematic and situated outside of ourselves, and two, come together around them, right? We can run for office, run for office, if you're listening, run for office, run for your school board, put that in your pocket, understand that issues around fair pay are feminist issues, issues around childcare are feminist issues. Access to healthcare is a feminist issue. Read, study, affiliate, fight.

I'm working really hard to try to imagine a future that doesn't look just like trying to get more women look like men, in the sense of, I don't want our future to have to be that women have to take on the attributes of men to feel successful and gain access. I want us to begin to think about a future that's not imagined, or created yet, but to do that, we have to talk to each other like we are now, and tell the truth about how we feel, and about what's hard about it, and that these things are happening to all of us, and that we're in solidarity, and I think that's where change starts to happen.

Jill Anderson: Well, thank you so much, Jennie.

Jennie Weiner: Thank you. It was so fun.

Jill Anderson: Jennie Weiner, is an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Connecticut. She authored an essay in the forthcoming book, Pandemic Parenting: The Collision of Schoolwork and Life at Home . She will also teach in the upcoming Women in Education Leadership Program as part of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, professional education. I'm Jill Anderson. This is the Harvard EdCast produced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Thanks for listening.

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The US role in advancing gender equality globally through girls’ education

In 1995, just after the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a historic speech in Beijing at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. There, she famously declared that “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights,” discursively weaving the struggle for gender equality in the U.S. to the struggle for gender equality around the world.

As the U.S. commemorates the centenary of the 19th Amendment and the world celebrates 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action —which set a global agenda to remove systemic barriers holding back women’s full participation in public and private life—there is much stocktaking that the U.S. needs to do with regard to its role in advancing gender equality beyond our borders. In particular, the U.S. government’s role in promoting girls’ education, a key pathway to achieving gender equality, must be stepped up significantly.

Why girls’ education?

Girls’ education, alongside improved sexual and reproductive health and rights, has often been cited as the world’s best investment , the key to enabling girls and women more agency in their homes, communities, and countries. Educating girls contributes later to their increased formal economic opportunity and wages , decreases in pregnancy and early marriage , reduction in child and maternal mortality , better educated children when they do bear children, increased participation in politics , and decreased climate risk vulnerability . The list of spillover effects from an investment in girls’ education runs long as a result of empowered women; healthier families; and more resilient economies.

In the United States, progress in the education of women and girls has been an important step to (and byproduct of) advancing gender equality in all facets of domestic and work life. The story of female education and progress toward gender equality has been similar in many other high-income and upper-middle income countries around the world. But it has been patchwork or stalled in many low-income countries due to geopolitical, economic, and social barriers, as well as a lack of funding targeting countries with the greatest gender gaps in education.

An uneven story of progress, threatened by COVID-19

While women in the U.S. were surpassing men in earning doctoral degrees in the early 2000s , the number of illiterate women in low-income countries was actually increasing by 20 million between 2000 and 2016 )—although this trend was primarily the result of decades of exclusion from education as girls aged into adulthood. During this same period, access to education for successive cohorts of girls began to increase as the era of the Millennium Development Goals ushered political attention to address gender gaps in education. Indeed, in just under two decades, gender gaps in education closed tremendously. Between 2000 and 2018, the number of primary school aged girls out of school fell by 44% , and by 2019 nearly two-thirds of countries had achieved gender parity in primary education. However, progress has plateaued over the last decade. Conflict in Northern Africa and Western Asia have made the region furthest from parity in primary education, and gender gaps in secondary education persist in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some of the barriers obstructing progress in low-income countries include gender discriminatory policies like prohibiting pregnant schoolgirls and adolescent mothers from attending school; gender-blind education budgets that may disproportionately benefit boys; gender-insensitive school facilities that may discourage girls and female teachers from attending school especially during their menstrual cycles; gender biased curriculum and teaching that may teach girls their future is in the marriage market rather than the labor market; and harmful gender practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation that may lead to girls dropping out of school prematurely.

Analysis at the Brookings Institution estimates that education gaps between rich and poor girls will take a long time to close; universal secondary education for the poorest girls in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be achieved by 2111. When it comes to individual countries, these gaps may take even longer to close .

The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening this timeline. Girls’ increased burden on domestic work and unpaid care during stay-at-home orders, their increased vulnerability to gender-based violence due to limited mobility during lockdown, and their lower access to technology and the internet means girls have less time and fewer resources to engage in remote learning , are at risk of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies , and are more likely to remain out of school when they eventually reopen. We don’t yet have a full understanding of what the long-term effects of COVID-19 school closures will be on girls, but research from previous protracted school closures suggests that learning loss combined with girls’ unique vulnerabilities can have long-term consequences for girls and the road to gender equality.

Prior to the pandemic, estimates suggest that 130 million girls were out of school around the world. If countries like the U.S. do not actively work to ensure special attention is paid to girls in the COVID-19 recovery plans of countries where girls face increased vulnerabilities, there could be an additional 20 million girls globally who do not return to school.

A troubling trend toward realizing gender equality through education

Since First Lady Clinton’s speech, girls’ education has become a political priority among many governments and high-level political fora promoting gender equality. The money appeared to have followed, most notably in the last decade as corporate engagement in girls’ education increased and as special funds, like the UK Department for International Development’s Girls’ Education Challenge , were dedicated. In 2010, 20% of overseas development assistance (ODA) targeted at gender equality went to the education sector, making the education sector the largest recipient of ODA targeting gender equality . But in 2018, while the overall ODA bucket to gender equality nearly doubled (from US$25.3 billion in 2010 to US$48.7 billion ), the education sector’s share has been halved .

Moreover, globally, investment decisions have not always appeared to be made on the assessment of need alone. For example, a Brookings analysis of multilateral, bilateral, foundation, and corporation financing of girls’ education found that countries with some of the largest gender gaps in education were not receiving any ODA or philanthropic donor funding targeting gender equality in education.

So, while investments toward promoting gender equality are on an upward trend, countries may be losing sight of the importance of investing in girls’ education as a critical entry point. And, those funds that have been allocated may not be targeting geographies where the road to gender equality is the longest and hardest.

A troubling trend in U.S. leadership

Amidst this global trend in girls’ education leadership and financing, it appears that the United States may be moving in the wrong direction for girls as well. Indeed, the U.S. record on advancing gender equality overseas has been inconsistent and highly dependent on the incumbent administration’s priorities. The last few years suggest a troubling trend.

Under the Obama administration, bilateral, allocable aid targeting gender equality grew from 0.05% to 7.91% of total aid between 2009 and 2016 . Within his first week in office, President Obama signed into law legislation that would strengthen women’s ability to challenge pay discrimination in the U.S., setting in motion a host of government initiatives and programs that would signal his feminist presidency at home and to the world. During this time, too, the U.S. adopted a whole of government approach to empower adolescent girls, which focused attention on enhancing girls’ access to quality education among other strategies to enhance the status of girls, improve girls’ health, and build girls’ leadership.

However, the Trump administration brought quick rollbacks. Notwithstanding his unabashed parading of misogyny and sexism, within his first 100 days in office President Trump reinstated and expanded President Reagan’s Global Gag Rule , which cut all federal aid associated with efforts to provide girls and women access to safe family planning, and derailed Let Girls Learn , First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative targeting educational opportunities for adolescent girls. Such signaling was followed by a host of setbacks for gender equality in the U.S. and a sharp fall in the percentage of U.S. aid (to 2.6% by 2018) aimed at principally advancing gender equality overseas.

Although Ivanka Trump, an advisor to the president, spearheaded the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in 2019 as a means of maintaining U.S. foreign policy objectives in women’s economic empowerment, there is a notable absence of attention to girls’ education and family planning—two important factors to ensuring women’s economic inclusion. And while attention to girls’ education is present in USAID’s 2020 draft, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy , the absence of attention to “gender-related power imbalances” (which was referenced in the 2012 policy), sexual and reproductive health and rights, and girls’ and women’s access to comprehensive family planning, means that efforts to advance gender equality through education will ultimately fall short.

As things currently stand, the U.S. has gone from an intersectional approach to gender equality that sought to combat discrimination on multiple, simultaneous, and intersecting fronts, to one that is piecemeal, incoherent, and takes several steps backward .

Three actions to reverse course

As we mark 100 years since the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and 25 years since the Beijing Declaration, we must consider that girls today in developing countries do not have another 100 years to wait for gender equality. If humanity is to realize Generation Equality by 2030, the U.S. has an important role to play in helping other countries “ build back equal ” for girls, especially in the wake of COVID-19. It can start in three ways:

1. Adopt a feminist foreign policy . A feminist foreign policy can be defined as: “the policy of a state that defines its interactions with other states … in a manner that prioritizes peace, gender equality and environmental integrity [and] seeks to disrupt colonial, racist, patriarchal and male-dominated power structures.” To date, only five countries (Sweden, Canada, France, Luxembourg, and Mexico) have adopted a feminist foreign policy—although many more countries have declared being a feminist government.

The U.S. should lead the charge in the second wave of countries adopting a feminist foreign policy. It can do so by centering girls’ education (as well as girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights) into U.S. foreign policy, national security, international development, and humanitarian assistance. With such strong returns on investments in girls’ education and the current lack of such funding in the regions that need it most, girls’ education is low-hanging fruit when it comes to advancing progress in gender equality and promoting girls’ and women’s full participation in public and private life.

This idea already has momentum on Capitol Hill. In September, Congresswomen Jackie Speier (CA-14), Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Barbara Lee (CA-13) introduced legislation to support the goals of a feminist foreign policy. Their legislation calls for a U.S. foreign assistance policy among others that will “promote gender equality and focus on the experience of women and people who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as gender-based violence, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health, lack of access to education, and the burden of unpaid care responsibilities.”

2. Increase ODA toward gender equality as a principal goal . Feminist advocates recommend that countries should allocate at least 20 percent of their total aid to investments with gender equality as a principal objective, and at least 85 percent as a significant objective. Presently, the U.S. is far below the OECD average and trails behind Sweden and Canada, two governments that have adopted a feminist foreign policy. Although the U.S. is the fourth largest net funder of gender equality ODA, this amount reflects only 21% of its overall aid (compared to 90% in Canada and 87% in Sweden). The U.S. needs to dramatically increase its gender equality ODA if it wants to walk its talk.

3. Give way to gender transformative leadership . Research has pointed to the important role of transformative leadership to promote progress in girls’ education specifically and gender equality broadly. Such leadership is needed not only at the level of individual political leadership (e.g., President and First Lady Obama, Congresswoman Nita Lowey, former Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls Tina Tchen, etc.), but also through collective political leadership (e.g., through whole of government approaches, bipartisan working groups, cross-agency partnerships, and the members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus pushing for a feminist foreign policy today). Luckily, the U.S. isn’t short on transformative feminist leaders whose leadership on issues of gender equality should be amplified throughout U.S. international development programs, including education.

Congress doesn’t have to start from scratch when it comes to enabling policy frameworks for greater feminist action. For example, Congress passed the bipartisan Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development (READ) Act in September 2017, making it easier for the U.S. to partner with other countries and organizations to promote basic education in developing countries. Congress should use this groundwork to further advance legislative efforts that identify and address the specific barriers girls face in accessing and completing quality, gender transformative education around the world. Requiring outward facing departments such as the Department of State and USAID to develop strategies that bolster adolescent girls’ participation in democracy, human rights, and governance would help cement women’s and girls’ rights in the center of foreign policy decisions instead of being tacked on to programs with other aims.

There never was a better moment to take stock of the United States’ role in advancing gender equality at home and overseas. As the world is still trying to land on its feet from the COVID-19 shock, a fuller commitment to girls’ education through a U.S. feminist foreign policy could help reinvigorate global progress toward gender equality. In another 100 years, we should hopefully be able to look back and say that universal education for girls did for women and girls in the world what the enactment of the 19th Amendment did for gender equality in the U.S.

I would like to thank Katie Poteet for providing valuable research assistance.

This piece is part of 19A: The Brookings Gender Equality Series. Learn more about the series and read published work »

About the Author

Christina kwauk, fellow – global economy and development, center for universal education, more from christina kwuak, congress may now have historic female representation, but women in leadership still have a long way to go.

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Essay on Women Education

Students are often asked to write an essay on Women Education in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Women Education

Introduction.

Women’s education is vital for society’s growth. It impacts not only the individual but the community and nation too.

Educated women can contribute to the economy, improve their family’s health and raise educated children.

Many girls face obstacles to education like poverty, cultural norms, and distance from schools.

To promote women’s education, we should provide scholarships, build schools in remote areas, and promote gender equality.

Women’s education is a powerful tool for societal change. Let’s work together to ensure every girl gets the education she deserves.

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Paragraph on Women Education

250 Words Essay on Women Education

Education is a fundamental right, irrespective of gender. Yet, there is a significant disparity in the access to education between men and women, especially in developing nations. Women’s education is pivotal not only for gender equality but also for the socio-economic development of society.

The Importance of Women’s Education

Women’s education plays a crucial role in fostering their empowerment, thereby promoting equality. An educated woman is more likely to make informed decisions, be economically self-sufficient, and contribute to the family’s health and well-being. Moreover, it’s a key driver for sustainable development goals, as it leads to reduced poverty and improved health outcomes.

Challenges Faced

Despite the undeniable importance, women’s education faces numerous challenges. Socio-cultural norms often prioritize boys’ education, while girls are burdened with domestic chores. Early marriages and gender-based violence further impede girls’ access to education.

The Way Forward

To address these challenges, it’s essential to implement policies promoting gender equality in education. Initiatives like scholarships for girls, gender-sensitive curricula, and safe school environments can play a significant role. Additionally, community awareness programs can help change societal attitudes towards women’s education.

In conclusion, women’s education is not a luxury but a necessity. It’s a catalyst for social change and economic development. As we strive for a more equitable world, ensuring access to education for women should be a priority. The journey is challenging, but the rewards are worth the effort.

500 Words Essay on Women Education

Education is a fundamental right for every human being, regardless of gender. However, throughout history, women’s education has often been overlooked or undervalued. This essay aims to delve into the importance of women’s education, the progress made, and the challenges that remain.

The Importance of Women Education

Women’s education is paramount for various reasons. First, it empowers women to contribute more effectively to their families and society. A well-educated woman is better equipped to make informed decisions about health, nutrition, and education for her children. Furthermore, educated women can participate more actively in the economic sphere, enhancing their financial independence and contributing to the overall economic development of their communities and nations.

Progress in Women Education

Over the past few decades, significant strides have been made in promoting women’s education worldwide. The global literacy rate for women has risen considerably, and the gender gap in education has significantly narrowed in many regions. Countries have implemented policies to encourage female education, such as providing financial incentives for families to send their daughters to school. International organizations, like the United Nations, have also played a crucial role in advocating for gender equality in education.

Challenges to Women Education

Despite the progress, several challenges persist. In many parts of the world, women still face significant barriers to education. These barriers include cultural norms and beliefs that prioritize boys’ education over girls’, early marriages and pregnancies, and lack of safe and accessible educational facilities. Moreover, even when girls do attend school, they often face gender bias in the classroom, which can limit their learning opportunities.

Addressing these challenges requires concerted efforts from all sectors of society. Governments need to enact and enforce laws that promote gender equality in education and tackle discriminatory practices. Schools need to provide a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students, regardless of their gender. Families and communities need to challenge traditional gender roles and support girls’ education. Furthermore, international organizations and donors should continue to advocate for and invest in women’s education.

In conclusion, women’s education is not just a matter of gender equality; it is a catalyst for broader social and economic development. While significant progress has been made, much work remains to be done. By addressing the persistent challenges to women’s education and harnessing the power of education, we can pave the way for a more equitable and prosperous future.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Gender equality and education

Gender equality is a global priority at UNESCO. Globally, 122 million girls and 128 million boys are out of school. Women still account for almost two-thirds of all adults unable to read.

UNESCO calls for attention to gender equality throughout the education system in relation to access, content, teaching and learning context and practices, learning outcomes, and life and work opportunities. The UNESCO Strategy for gender equality in and through education (2019-2025) focuses on a system-wide transformation to benefit all learners equally in three key areas: better data to inform action, better legal and policy frameworks to advance rights and better teaching and learning practices to empower.

What you need to know about education and gender equality

"her education, our future" documentary film.

Released on 7 March for 2024 International Women’s Day, “Her Education, Our Future” is a documentary film following the lives of Anee, Fabiana, Mkasi and Tainá – four young women across three continents who struggle to fulfill their right to education.

This documentary film offers a spectacular dive into the transformative power of education and showcases how empowering girls and women through education improves not only their lives, but also those of their families, communities and indeed all of society.

Her Education, Our Future - Documentary trailer

Key figures

of which 122 million are girls and 128 million are boys

of which 56% are women

for every 100 young women

Empowering communities: UNESCO in action

Keeping girls in the picture

Everyone can play a role in supporting girls’ education

UNESCO’s new drive to accelerate action for girls’ and women’s education

2022 GEM Report Gender Report: Deepening the debate on those still left behind

Capacity building tools

From access to empowerment: operational tools to advance gender equality in and through education
Communication strategy: UNESCO guidance on communicating on gender equality in and through education
Communication tools
Keeping girls in the picture: youth advocacy toolkit
Keeping girls in the picture: community radio toolkit

Monitoring SDG 4: equity and inclusion in education

Resources from UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

This was the struggle for female education in the U.S.

Bengaluru, India girl chalkboard school education

Debate about “coeducation”—and the word itself—emerged only in the 1850s. Image: Unsplash/Nikhita S

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Between 1790 and 1870, girls in the US went from being illiterate to outperforming their male counterparts in schools
From false accusations that learning algebra would harm their reproductive capabilities to gendered classes, this is the tale of women in education

With so many young women succeeding academically, education is becoming feminized, and boys are left out. Or at least, that’s the familiar complaint today, perhaps best known from Hanna Rosin’s 2010 article for The Atlantic , “ The End of Men .” The thing is, this phenomenon goes back at least 150 years , as the education historian David Tyack and political scientist Elisabeth Hansot explain in the journal Educational Researcher .

Tyack and Hansot write that there was a huge influx of girls into public elementary schools in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1790, US men were about twice as likely as US women to be literate. But by 1870, girls were surpassing boys in public schools. At the time, the change wasn’t the subject of much national debate. Rather, local school boards and parents quietly began including girls in common schools that had previously served only boys—a process that the education reformer Horace Mann called “smuggling in the girls.”

Have you read?

How to improve education for ethnic minority women, how education helps women to the top of the career ladder, the relationship between women’s education and fertility.

Debate about “coeducation”—and the word itself—emerged only in the 1850s. Tyack and Hansot write that this was directly related to increased mixing of children of different classes and ethnic groups in urban schools. One report of that era suggested that gender-segregated schools might be useful in shielding girls (presumably middle-class, native born white ones) from the “rude assaults” of boys from inferior social classes. These complaints had little effect. However, coeducation soon stirred up different public fears. Girls began to greatly outnumber boys in high schools, and women came to “monopolize” teaching jobs, especially in cities.

American students with a Bachelor’s Degree

This led to rising worries about women usurping men’s roles. Girls’ success in school made it hard for traditionalists to keep making their old arguments that women were intellectually incapable. Instead, they began relying on new claims that education would harm their health and reproductive capacities. For example, the physiologist Edward H. Clarke made a much-publicized argument against admitting women to Harvard based on the idea that the energy required to learn subjects like algebra would flow from other bodily systems, harming their ovaries.

Meanwhile, Tyack and Hansot write, the popular press began to warn of a “boy problem.” Pointing out that boys were more often held back a grade, and less likely to finish elementary school or continue through high school, critics claimed that the female-dominated education system was ill-suited to masculine energy. A Columbia professor wrote that it was “little short of monstrous that boys during [adolescence] receive almost all their intellectual and moral impulses from women.”

School administrators sought ways to address these complaints. But they generally saw implementing gender segregation as impractical and undesirable. Hiring more male teachers was appealing, but few men were willing to work for the low pay schools offered. Ultimately, the solution many schools settled on, in the early twentieth century, was the creation of new, gendered classes. Boys got vocational classes, while girls got home economics and secretarial courses. Separate physical education classes stressed concerns about women’s health and biology, while encouraging boys to engage in vigorous physical activity.

As we can see today, these changes failed to permanently address worries about the relative success of girls at school.

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Girls' education, gender equality in education benefits every child..

A girl stoops over her lap, writing diligently in a pad of paper, and surrounded by colourful books.

Girls' education
Available in:

Investing in girls’ education transforms communities, countries and the entire world. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families.

Girls’ education strengthens economies and reduces inequality. It contributes to more stable, resilient societies that give all individuals – including boys and men – the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

But education for girls is about more than access to school. It’s also about girls feeling safe in classrooms and supported in the subjects and careers they choose to pursue – including those in which they are often under-represented.

When we invest in girls’ secondary education

The lifetime earnings of girls dramatically increase
National growth rates rise
Child marriage rates decline
Child mortality rates fall
Maternal mortality rates fall
Child stunting drops

Why are girls out of school?

Despite evidence demonstrating how central girls’ education is to development, gender disparities in education persist.

Around the world, 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67 million of upper-secondary school age. In countries affected by conflict, girls are more than twice as likely to be out of school than girls living in non-affected countries.

Worldwide, 129 million girls are out of school.

Only 49 per cent of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. At the secondary level, the gap widens: 42 per cent of countries have achieved gender parity in lower secondary education, and 24 per cent in upper secondary education.

The reasons are many. Barriers to girls’ education – like poverty, child marriage and gender-based violence – vary among countries and communities. Poor families often favour boys when investing in education.

In some places, schools do not meet the safety, hygiene or sanitation needs of girls. In others, teaching practices are not gender-responsive and result in gender gaps in learning and skills development.

A young girl stands in front of a chalkboard facing her class to explain a math equation.

Gender equality in education

Gender-equitable education systems empower girls and boys and promote the development of life skills – like self-management, communication, negotiation and critical thinking – that young people need to succeed. They close skills gaps that perpetuate pay gaps, and build prosperity for entire countries.

Gender-equitable education systems can contribute to reductions in school-related gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation .

Gender-equitable education systems help keep both girls and boys in school, building prosperity for entire countries.

An education free of negative gender norms has direct benefits for boys, too. In many countries, norms around masculinity can fuel disengagement from school, child labour, gang violence and recruitment into armed groups. The need or desire to earn an income also causes boys to drop out of secondary school, as many of them believe the curriculum is not relevant to work opportunities.

UNICEF’s work to promote girls’ education

UNICEF works with communities, Governments and partners to remove barriers to girls’ education and promote gender equality in education – even in the most challenging settings.

Because investing in girls’ secondary education is one of the most transformative development strategies, we prioritize efforts that enable all girls to complete secondary education and develop the knowledge and skills they need for life and work.

This will only be achieved when the most disadvantaged girls are supported to enter and complete pre-primary and primary education. Our work:

Tackles discriminatory gender norms and harmful practices that deny girls access to school and quality learning.
Supports Governments to ensure that budgets are gender-responsive and that national education plans and policies prioritize gender equality.
Helps schools and Governments use assessment data to eliminate gender gaps in learning.
Promotes social protection measures, including cash transfers, to improve girls’ transition to and retention in secondary school.
Focuses teacher training and professional development on gender-responsive pedagogies.
Removes gender stereotypes from learning materials.
Addresses other obstacles, like distance-related barriers to education, re-entry policies for young mothers, and menstrual hygiene management in schools.

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The Education of Women, by Daniel Defoe

'To such whose genius would lead them to it, I would deny no sort of learning'

Heritage Images/Getty Images

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

Best known as the author of " Robinson Crusoe " (1719), Daniel Defoe was an extremely versatile and prolific author. A journalist as well as a novelist, he produced more than 500 books, pamphlets, and journals.

The following essay first appeared in 1719, the same year in which Defoe published the first volume of Robinson Crusoe. Observe how he directs his appeals to a male audience as he develops his argument that women should be allowed full and ready access to education.

The Education of Women

by Daniel Defoe

I have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous customs in the world, considering us as a civilized and a Christian country, that we deny the advantages of learning to women. We reproach the sex every day with folly and impertinence; while I am confident, had they the advantages of education equal to us, they would be guilty of less than ourselves.

One would wonder, indeed, how it should happen that women are conversible at all; since they are only beholden to natural parts, for all their knowledge. Their youth is spent to teach them to stitch and sew or make baubles. They are taught to read, indeed, and perhaps to write their names, or so; and that is the height of a woman’s education. And I would but ask any who slight the sex for their understanding, what is a man (a gentleman, I mean) good for, that is taught no more? I need not give instances, or examine the character of a gentleman, with a good estate, or a good family, and with tolerable parts; and examine what figure he makes for want of education.

The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. And ’tis manifest, that as the rational soul distinguishes us from brutes; so education carries on the distinction, and makes some less brutish than others. This is too evident to need any demonstration. But why then should women be denied the benefit of instruction? If knowledge and understanding had been useless additions to the sex, GOD Almighty would never have given them capacities; for he made nothing needless. Besides, I would ask such, What they can see in ignorance, that they should think it a necessary ornament to a woman? or how much worse is a wise woman than a fool? or what has the woman done to forfeit the privilege of being taught? Does she plague us with her pride and impertinence? Why did we not let her learn, that she might have had more wit? Shall we upbraid women with folly, when ’tis only the error of this inhuman custom, that hindered them from being made wiser?

The capacities of women are supposed to be greater, and their senses quicker than those of the men; and what they might be capable of being bred to, is plain from some instances of female wit, which this age is not without. Which upbraids us with Injustice, and looks as if we denied women the advantages of education, for fear they should vie with the men in their improvements.

[They] should be taught all sorts of breeding suitable both to their genius and quality. And in particular, Music and Dancing; which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their darlings. But besides this, they should be taught languages, as particularly French and Italian: and I would venture the injury of giving a woman more tongues than one. They should, as a particular study, be taught all the graces of speech , and all the necessary air of conversation ; which our common education is so defective in, that I need not expose it. They should be brought to read books, and especially history; and so to read as to make them understand the world, and be able to know and judge of things when they hear of them.

To such whose genius would lead them to it, I would deny no sort of learning; but the chief thing, in general, is to cultivate the understandings of the sex, that they may be capable of all sorts of conversation; that their parts and judgments being improved, they may be as profitable in their conversation as they are pleasant.

Women, in my observation, have little or no difference in them, but as they are or are not distinguished by education. Tempers, indeed, may in some degree influence them, but the main distinguishing part is their Breeding.

The whole sex are generally quick and sharp. I believe, I may be allowed to say, generally so: for you rarely see them lumpish and heavy, when they are children; as boys will often be. If a woman be well bred, and taught the proper management of her natural wit, she proves generally very sensible and retentive.

And, without partiality, a woman of sense and manners is the finest and most delicate part of God's Creation, the glory of Her Maker, and the great instance of His singular regard to man, His darling creature: to whom He gave the best gift either God could bestow or man receive. And ’tis the sordidest piece of folly and ingratitude in the world, to withhold from the sex the due luster which the advantages of education gives to the natural beauty of their minds.

A woman well bred and well taught, furnished with the additional accomplishments of knowledge and behavior, is a creature without comparison. Her society is the emblem of sublimer enjoyments, her person is angelic, and her conversation heavenly. She is all softness and sweetness, peace, love, wit, and delight. She is every way suitable to the sublimest wish, and the man that has such a one to his portion, has nothing to do but to rejoice in her, and be thankful.

On the other hand, Suppose her to be the very same woman, and rob her of the benefit of education, and it follows—-

If her temper be good, want of education makes her soft and easy.

Her wit, for want of teaching, makes her impertinent and talkative.

Her knowledge, for want of judgment and experience, makes her fanciful and whimsical.

If her temper be bad, want of breeding makes her worse; and she grows haughty, insolent, and loud.

If she be passionate, want of manners makes her a termagant and a scold, which is much at one with Lunatic.

If she be proud, want of discretion (which still is breeding) makes her conceited, fantastic, and ridiculous.

And from these she degenerates to be turbulent, clamorous, noisy, nasty, the devil!--

The great distinguishing difference, which is seen in the world between men and women, is in their education; and this is manifested by comparing it with the difference between one man or woman, and another.

And herein it is that I take upon me to make such a bold assertion, That all the world are mistaken in their practice about women. For I cannot think that God Almighty ever made them so delicate, so glorious creatures; and furnished them with such charms, so agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the same accomplishments with men: and all, to be only Stewards of our Houses, Cooks, and Slaves.

Not that I am for exalting the female government in the least: but, in short, I would have men take women for companions, and educate them to be fit for it. A woman of sense and breeding will scorn as much to encroach upon the prerogative of man, as a man of sense will scorn to oppress the weakness of the woman. But if the women’s souls were refined and improved by teaching, that word would be lost. To say, the weakness of the sex, as to judgment, would be nonsense; for ignorance and folly would be no more to be found among women than men.

I remember a passage, which I heard from a very fine woman. She had wit and capacity enough, an extraordinary shape and face, and a great fortune: but had been cloistered up all her time; and for fear of being stolen, had not had the liberty of being taught the common necessary knowledge of women’s affairs. And when she came to converse in the world, her natural wit made her so sensible of the want of education, that she gave this short reflection on herself: "I am ashamed to talk with my very maids," says she, "for I don’t know when they do right or wrong. I had more need go to school, than be married."

I need not enlarge on the loss the defect of education is to the sex; nor argue the benefit of the contrary practice. ’Tis a thing will be more easily granted than remedied. This chapter is but an Essay at the thing: and I refer the Practice to those Happy Days (if ever they shall be) when men shall be wise enough to mend it.

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Today more girls than ever go to school. However, despite progress, women and girls continue to face multiple barriers based on gender and its intersections with other factors, such as age, ethnicity, poverty, and disability, in the equal enjoyment of the right to quality education. This includes barriers, at all levels, to access quality education and within education systems, institutions, and classrooms, such as, amongst others:

harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping
child marriage and early and unintended pregnancy
gender-based violence against women and girls
lack of inclusive and quality learning environments and inadequate and unsafe education infrastructure, including sanitation

The international community has recognised the equal right to quality education of everyone and committed to achieving gender equality in all fields, including education, through their acceptance of international human rights law. This means that states have legal obligations to remove all discriminatory barriers, whether they exist in law or in everyday life, and to undertake positive measures to bring about equality, including in access of, within, and through education.

According to the latest available global figures (UIS/GEM Report Policy Paper 27/Fact Sheet 37, 2016: p. 1), 263 million children and youth are out of school—that’s 19% of all girls and 18% of all boys.

At the primary level 61 million children are out of school (a global out-of-school rate of 9%), 32.1 million of whom are girls (53%). Where out-of-school rates are higher, the gender gap tends to be wider. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa 21% of children are out of school—23% of girls do not go to school compared to 19% of boys. Girls are also more likely to be completely excluded from primary education: 15 million girls will likely never enter a classroom compared to 10 million boys.

From a global perspective, as the level of education increases, girls tend to fare slightly better in terms of participation. At the lower secondary level 60 million adolescents do not go to school (an out-of-school rate of 16%), girls making up 48.5% (29.1 million) and boys just under 52% (31.1 million). Of the 142 million youth out of school (an out-of-school rate of 37%) at the upper secondary level, 69.1 million are girls (48.7%) and 72.7 million are boys (51.2%).

These statistics, however, mask disparities at the regional and country level. For example, in Western Asia, 20% of adolescent girls remain excluded from lower secondary education compared to 13% of boys. In sub-Saharan Africa, the female out-of-school rate is 36% compared to 32% for males. Young women are also more likely to be excluded from upper secondary education in the Caucasus and Central Asia, Northern Africa, Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Western Asia.

Global figures also neglect the historical exclusion of girls and women from education, reflected in the statistic that two thirds of the world’s 758 million illiterate adults are women .

Despite gains in rates of girls’ enrolment in primary school there are disparities in completion rates. In sub-Saharan Africa, gender parity exists among the richest 20% who have completed primary education but among the poorest 20%, 83 girls completed primary education for every 100 boys, dropping to 73 for lower secondary and 40 for upper secondary ( UNESCO, 2016 ). At current rates, the poorest boys in sub-Saharan Africa will achieve universal primary completion in 2069, but this will take nearly 20 years longer for the poorest girls .

Many countries that demonstrate higher retention rates at the primary levels are failing to transfer these gains toward transitioning of girls to the secondary level. For example, in Tanzania, near universal enrollment for girls at the primary level has been achieved with a retention rate of 89.2%, yet girls’ transition rate to secondary level is only 32.3% ( GPE, 2013 ).

Inequalities and discrimination linked to location, poverty, and gender intersect to compound disparities in completion and transition rates. In 2013 in Nigeria, for example, over 90% of adolescents from rich households, whether urban or rural, boy or girl, were likely to complete lower secondary education whereas only 3% of poor rural young women completed lower secondary school, compared with 17% of poor rural young men ( UNESCO, 2016 ).

Participation, completion, and transition statistics, however, do not tell the whole story and certainly do not capture the ways in which girls are discriminated against within education systems and the myriad barriers that girls must overcome to complete their education, particularly regarding the quality of education they receive.

The right to education on the basis of non-discrimination and equality is a recognised right under human rights law. Provisions relating to gender equality in education can be found in both general and specific international treaties, as well as treaties concluded in most regions of the world.

At this point it may be useful to refer to our page education as a right , which explains the normative content of the right to education, that is what rights-holders are entitled to (education must be acceptable, accessible, adaptable, and available ) and states’ legal obligations to realise that content, including obligations of immediate effect, minimum core obligations, and progressive realisation, which are key to understanding the content laid out below.

To summarise, all provisions related to non-discrimination carry immediate obligations and are considered a minimum core obligation, which means states must take immediate action as a matter of priority. Provisions related to achieving substantive equality, if they are not concerned with eliminating discrimination, and achieving the right to quality education for all ( with some exceptions ) are subject to progressive realisation . This means that states have an obligation to take deliberate, concrete, and targeted steps, according to maximum available resources, to move expeditiously and effectively towards the full realisation of the right to education.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979, CEDAW) is the only legally binding treaty at the international level focusing exclusively on women’s rights. It interprets and applies the right to education in a way that considers the specific needs and circumstances of women and girls. Article 10 of CEDAW is the most comprehensive provision on women and girls' right to education in international law. It sets forth the normative content in relation to the elimination of discrimination against women and ensuring equal rights with men in the field of education, including:

the same conditions for access to studies and diplomas at all educational levels, in both urban and rural areas

the same quality of education

the elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women (see below)

the same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants

the same access to programmes of continuing education, including literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing the gender gap in education

the reduction of female student drop-out rates and programmes for women and girls who have left school prematurely

the same opportunity to participate in sports and physical education

access to educational information on health, including advice on family planning

A number of other CEDAW provisions are also relevant to gender equality in education.

Article 1 defines discrimination against women as:

any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.

Article 2 sets out the legal and policy measures states should undertake to eliminate discrimination against women and therefore applies to the totality of rights found in CEDAW. This includes legal and policy measures related to the implementation of the right to education on a non-discriminatory basis.

Article 3 requires states to take all appropriate measures in the political, social, economic, and cultural fields to ensure that women can exercise and enjoy their human rights on a basis of equality with men.

Article 4 sets out the conditions for the use of temporary special measures to accelerate de facto equality between men and women.

Article 5 requires states to take appropriate measures to eliminate gender stereotyping (see below), prejudices, discriminatory cultural practices, and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

Article 7 is on the right to participate in public and political life. These rights are fundamental in ensuring that gender perspectives and issues are considered when laws, policies, and other measures affecting gender equality in education are designed, formulated, and implemented.

Article 11 (1) (c) provides for the right to vocational training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training, and recurrent training.

Article 14 (d) sets out the right to education of rural women, which includes the right to obtain all types of training and education, formal and non-formal, including that relating to functional literacy.

Lastly Article 16 sets out the rights of women with respects to marriage and family life. Article 16 (2) expressly prohibits child marriage and requires states to set a minimum age of marriage (see below).

The UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960, CADE) prohibits all forms of discrimination in education, including on the basis of sex. CADE defines discrimination in Article 1, which is more specific than CEDAW’s definition, as it applies solely to education, for example, it refers to discrimination in both access to and quality of education and to gender-segregated schools.

Article 2 (a) of CADE permits the establishment or maintenance of gender-segregated educational systems or institutions, provided they offer equivalent access to education, teaching staff with the same standard of qualifications, infrastructure and equipment of the same quality, and the opportunity to study the same or equivalent subjects. Article 2 (c) permits the establishment or maintenance of private education institutions as long as the ‘object of the institutions is not to secure the exclusion of any group’.

A number of other international human rights treaties also guarantee girls’ and women’s right to education combining general provisions on non-discrimination with specific provisions on the right to education.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966, ICESCR) guarantees the right to education of everyone on the basis of equality and non-discrimination (Articles 13 and 14) and expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex (Articles 2 (2) and 3). In its general comment on the right to education , the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights applies obligations under Articles 2 (2) and 3 to the right to education, clarifying, inter alia , that temporary measures to bring about de facto equality between the sexes in relation to education are legitimate as long as such affirmative action does not lead to the ‘maintenance of unequal or separate standards for different groups, and provided they are not continued after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.’ The Committee also provides that states ‘must closely monitor education–including all relevant policies, institutions, programmes, spending patterns and other practices–so as to identify and take measures to redress any de facto discrimination. Educational data should be disaggregated by the prohibited grounds of discrimination.’

Article 2 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, CRC) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex. When read with Articles 28 and 29 on the right to education and the aims of education, respectively, there is a clear legal obligation to ensure equality and non-discrimination in education. In addition, the aims of education, provided for under Article 29 (1), include: ‘The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes , and friendship among all peoples’.

Article 6 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006, CRPD) recognises that girls with disabilities can be subject to multiple discrimination and obliges states to ‘take all appropriate measures to ensure the full development, advancement, and empowerment of women’ regarding CRPD rights, including the right to education , guaranteed under Article 24. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its interpretation of Article 24 in General Comment 4 provides that states must identify and remove barriers and put in place specific measures to ensure that the right to education of women and girls with disabilities is not hampered by gender and/or disability-based discrimination, stigma, or prejudice. Article 8 (1) (b) recognises that gender stereotypes can intersect with stereotypes about people with disabilities, and requires states to: ‘adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures to combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with disabilities, including those based on sex and age, in all areas of life’.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1996, ICCPR) has an autonomous non-discrimination clause (Article 26) which applies to ‘any field regulated and protected by public authorities.’ The Human Rights Committee has explained that: ‘when legislation is adopted by a State party, it must comply with the requirement of article 26 that its content should not be discriminatory. In other words, the application of the principle of non-discrimination contained in article 26 is not limited to those rights which are provided for in the Covenant.’ On this interpretation, under the ICCPR, there is an obligation to ensure that education laws and regulations do not discriminate against women and girls.

Women and girls face different barriers in relation to their education in different regions of the world. The right to education, although universal, takes on specific meanings when interpreted and applied in light of shared regional customs, traditions, cultures, values, etc. Regional human rights treaties, therefore, guarantee the right to education in an adapted form–one that acknowledges the barriers common to the region, as well as reflecting the universal and region-specific aims of education.

Africa is the only region that has a human rights treaty dedicated specifically to women and girls. Article 12 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003) tasks States parties with eliminating all forms of discrimination against women in education, including obligations to:

eliminate gender stereotypes in textbooks, syllabuses, and the media

protect women and girls from all forms of abuse, including sexual harassment in schools and other educational institutions, and provide for sanctions against the perpetrators of such practices

provide access to counselling and rehabilitation services to women who suffer abuses and sexual harassment

integrate gender sensitisation and human rights education at all levels

Under the Protocol states must actively promote:

literacy amongst women

education and training at all levels, in all disciplines, particularly in the sciences and technology

enrolment and retention of girls in formal and non-formal education settings, including fundamental education programmes

The Protocol also commits States parties to taking action on a number of issues affecting women and girls' right to education, including to:

eliminate discrimination against women (Article 2)

ban female genital mutilation (Article 5 (b))

set the minimum age of marriage for girls at 18 (Article 6 (b))

ensure the effective participation and representation of women in decision-making (Article 9 (2))

guarantee reproductive and health rights (Article 14)

The right to education of girls is also comprehensively protected by a number of other African treaties.

Article 13 of the African Youth Charter (2006, AYC) sets out the right to education as applied to African youth (defined by the AYC as every person between the ages of 15-35 years), including provisions:

requiring that curricula include information on cultural practices that are harmful to the health of young women and girls (Article 13 (3) (f))

that girls and young women who become pregnant or get married have the opportunity to continue their education (Article 13 (4) (h))

on the introduction of scholarship and bursary programmes to encourage entry into post-primary school education and into higher education for outstanding youth from disadvantaged communities, especially young girls (Article 13 (4) (l))

to establish and encourage participation of all young men and young women in sport, cultural and recreational activities as part of holistic development (Article 13 (4) (m))

to promote culturally appropriate, age specific sexuality and responsible parenthood education (Article 13 (4) (n))

Article 11 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990) requires States parties to take special measures to ensure equal access to education for girls (Article 11 (3) (e)) and to take ‘all appropriate measures to ensure that children who become pregnant before completing their education shall have an opportunity to continue their education on the basis of their individual ability’ (Article 11 (6)).

For further information, see the African Union Commission’s and OHCHR’s Women’s Rights in Africa (2016).

In the Arab region, the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004) guarantees equality between men and women and non-discrimination in Article 3 and the right to ‘compulsory and accessible’ primary education without discrimination of any kind in Article 41.

In Asia , the non-legally binding ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (2012) guarantees the right to education in Article 31 and non-discrimination as a general principle, but not as a human right.

In Europe , the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) guarantees the right to non-discrimination in Article 14 which read with Article 2 of the Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (1958) on the right to education, prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex. In addition, Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (2000) prohibits discrimination in the enjoyment of any legal right as set out in national laws.

The European Social Charter (revised) (1996) prohibits discrimination under Article E, provides that the state takes all necessary measures to provide for free primary and secondary education and encourage regular attendance under Article 17, and the right to vocational guidance (Article 9) and training (Article 10).

The Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (2011, Istanbul Convention) identifies education as a key area in which to take measures to eliminate gender-based violence and its causes, and requires states to take:

the necessary steps to include teaching material on issues such as equality between women and men, non‐stereotyped gender roles, mutual respect, non‐violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships, gender‐based violence against women and the right to personal integrity, adapted to the evolving capacity of learners, in formal curricula and at all levels of education.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2010), which applies to EU institutions and bodies and EU member states when they are acting within the scope of EU law, guarantees the right to education (Article 14), non-discrimination (Article 21), and equality between women and men (Article 23).

In addition, the Council of Europe has a non-legally binding Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on gender mainstreaming in education (2007).

In the inter-America region the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 'Protocol of San Salvador' (1988) prohibits discrimination under Article 3 and the right to education under Articles 13 and 16.

Articles 34, 49, and 50 of the Charter of the Organization of American States (1948) guarantee various aspects of the right to education.

The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women (1994, Convention of Belém do Pará) states that all women have the right to be free from violence which includes the right to freedom from all forms of discrimination and the right to be ‘educated free of stereotyped patterns of behavior and social and cultural practices based on concepts of inferiority or subordination’ (Article 6).

Lastly, the Inter-American Democratic Charter (2001) calls for the elimination of gender discrimination (Article 9) and states that ‘a quality education be available to all, including girls and women’. (Article 16).

When a state ratifies a human rights treaty which guarantees the right to education, without discrimination of any kind (see the three sections above), they are under a legal obligation to implement these provisions in their jurisdiction. This means that states cannot just ratify a treaty guaranteeing human rights without taking the necessary steps to make it a reality for its’ citizens. Such steps include administrative, legal, policy, and economic measures. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s General Recommendation 36 on girls’ and women’s right to education elaborates such measures and lays out precise and actionable legal and policy recommendations that would bring states into compliance with obligations flowing from Article 10 and other relevant provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

States’ legal commitment to CEDAW, the Unesco Convention against Discrimination in Education (CADE), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)—the four foremost treaties guaranteeing the right to education of women and girls—is relatively widespread. As of December 2017, 189 states have ratified and acceded to CEDAW which is 96% of UN Member States, CADE has 101 States parties , ICESCR has 166 States parties , and the CRC has 196 States parties . According to our research (forthcoming), which classifies states by level of legal commitment to gender equality in education based on the treaties they have ratified, nearly half of all states (87; 44%) have the highest possible legal commitment and the majority of states cluster around the two highest levels (out of six levels) (144; 73%). However, despite this, universal domestic implementation of the right to education for all women and girls is far from being achieved, which represents a major structural barrier to the realisation of gender equality in education. Below is a map showing which states constitutionally protect the right to education of women and girls.

For more information on the legal status of the right to education of girls and women in specific countries, see:

RTE’s background paper for the Global Education Monitoring Report’s 2017 Gender Review which includes information on how legally committed each state is to achieving the right to education of women and girls free from discrimination

UNESCO’s global database on the right to education (searching by the themes ‘non-discrimination’ and ‘gender equality’)

In addition, UNGEI has produced useful guidance aimed at country and regional-level education planners to assist in developing gender-responsive Education Sector Plans.

Women and girls are rights-holders and as such are entitled to the full exercise and equal enjoyment of the right to education. However, in addition to being a fundamental right in and of itself, the right to education is a ‘multiplier right’ and is, therefore, instrumental in enabling them to benefit from and claim other key rights, such as those related to work, property, political participation, access to justice, freedom from violence and health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Girls who receive more education are less likely to marry as children and to become pregnant and young mothers. According to Plan, a girl in a low income country receiving seven years of education marries four years later on average, and has fewer and healthier children. According to UNESCO, children of literate mothers are over 50% more likely to live past the age of five . There are also significant health benefits for girls and women, with considerable evidence that an increase in a mother’s education reduces the likelihood of dying in childbirth .

Ensuring quality education for all girls also increases how much they can earn and counters the continued feminisation of poverty. According to the World Bank Group (WBG), one year of secondary education for a girl can mean as much as a 25% increase in wages later in life. The benefits of this are passed on to their children as women tend to reinvest 90% of their income in their families.

Studies have consistently shown that educating girls leads to significant and wide-reaching benefits not only to women themselves and their families but also to their societies and economies. Girls’ education is proven to have a powerful impact on economic growth. According to WBG a one percentage point increase in the proportion of women with secondary education raises the average gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.3 percent . Education can improve the opportunities for women to work, which in turn can impact on poverty reduction. For example, in Latin America, when women’s participation in the labour market increased 15 percent in just one decade, the rate of poverty decreased by 30 percent (WBG).

Girls and women face specific forms of discrimination in accessing education, within education systems, and through education. The accordions below explain the most common barriers woman and girls encounter around the world. Each of these obstacles is underpinned by harmful gender stereotypes about the role of women and men in society.

Although sex is an expressly prohibited grounds of discrimination under international human rights law, it is important to recognise that women and girls are highly heterogeneous. Gender inequality and discrimination to, in, and through education is experienced in varying forms and at all levels by women and girls, depending on their personal, local, and national context. But every woman and girl who has attended school has likely encountered some form of discrimination in education at some point in her life.

Intersectional discrimination recognises that women and girls face discrimination in different ways. The interaction between gender and other factors, such as poverty, living in rural areas, and/or characteristics, such as physical or mental impairment, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity often exacerbates the discrimination women and girls face regarding their right to education.

For example, according to the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report’s 2016 Gender Review (p. 19), in 2011 in India, upper secondary completion rates of rich urban girls and boys averaged 70%. For poor rural males the average was 26% but the rate was much lower for poor rural females, suggesting it is not their gender or wealth status or where they live that affects their enjoyment of their right to education but the intersection of being female, identifying as a women or girl, coming from a low income family, and living in a rural area.

Girls and women can face discrimination in all areas and throughout all stages of their life. Eliminating discrimination in education is an important start, but women and girls will often continue to face discrimination upon leaving school. Discrimination, in all its forms, whether it happens in public or private , needs to be tackled in a comprehensive and holistic manner (cross-sectorally and through various measures that take into account how discrimination and inequality aggregate throughout a woman’s life) and at all levels in order to ensure that women and girls enjoy and benefit from their education. Common challenges include:

the gender pay gap–women, on average, earn less than men ( 59% according to the World Economic Forum )

unequal political participation and representation (according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union only 23% of parliamentarians and 5.7% of world leaders are women)

under-representation in certain fields, such as in science, technology, engineering, maths (STEM), as well as sports, in particular in leadership positions

lack of flexible working arrangements, parental leave, and maternity benefits

lack of access to healthcare and enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights

exposure to gender-based violence against women, including harmful practices

paid and unpaid care work which continues to be disproportionately borne by women and girls ( ActionAid report that a woman will do an average of four years extra work compared to her male peers over her lifetime)

Gender stereotypes and gender stereotyping underpin or exacerbate many of the obstacles faced by women and girls in enjoying their right to education. Ideally, education systems should be focal points for action to combat gender stereotypes and gender stereotyping. However, in some cases, the education system, and particularly the curriculum, textbooks , and teachers, play a role in perpetuating harmful gender stereotypes, which has wide ranging effects on girls throughout their lives, from the course options and subjects they take, which influences their employment prospects, to their ability to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

According to Cook and Cusack (2010, p. 9) a gender stereotype is a generalised view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by, or the roles that are or should be performed by women and men. According to a OHCHR report (2013, p. 18), a gender stereotype is harmful when it limits women’s and men’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives and life plans.

Gender stereotyping is the practice of ascribing to an individual woman or man specific attributes, characteristics, or roles by reason only of her or his membership in the social group of women or men. Gender stereotyping is considered wrongful when it results in a violation or violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping can affect girls before they step into a classroom and may even prevent girls from going to school. For example, stereotypical views that girls are domestic, homemakers, and caregivers may lead families to question the point of sending their daughters to school if they are to become wives and mothers, whilst the stereotype that men should be breadwinners means that boys are prioritised when it comes to education. Even when girls do go to school, some are still expected to juggle domestic responsibilities, such as cleaning, cooking and fetching water, on top of their school work.

Harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping also affect girls in the school environment. For example, stereotypes about the different physical and cognitive abilities of girls and boys, leads to certain school subjects and teaching methods being gendered. Boys are considered better suited to maths, technology, the sciences, and sports whereas girls are considered better suited to the arts and humanities. This has the effect of excluding girls and boys from certain subjects (sometimes, particularly in gender-segregated schools, certain subjects are not even offered to female students) but also has a detrimental effect on girls’ further educational and employment opportunities, as girls and boys go on to study different subjects at university, where ‘male’ subjects tend to lead to more lucrative and influential careers. Gender inequality is then perpetuated through hiring practices that further disadvantage women .

International human rights law imposes specific obligations on states to eliminate harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping. See our legal factsheet on gender stereotypes and the right to education for further information.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the Committee) defines gender-based violence against women (GBV) as ‘violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately’ ( General Recommendation 19 , para. 6). Such violence takes multiple forms, including: ‘acts or omissions intended or likely to cause or result in death or physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, threats of such acts, harassment, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty’ ( General Recommendation 35 , para. 14).

The Committee considers GBV to be a form of discrimination, under Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979, CEDAW). The Committee’s legal interpretation of GBV as a human rights violation can be found primarily in General Recommendations 19 and 35 .

Gender-based violence against girls , for instance, rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment and assault, corporal punishment, and harmful practices such as child marriage (see above) and female genital mutilation can keep girls out of school temporarily or indefinitely. Evidence collected by the World Bank Group (2015, p. 1) shows that in Nicaragua, ‘63% of the children of abused women had to repeat a school year and dropped out of school on average four years earlier than others.’ And in Zambia, ‘girls who experienced sexual violence were found to have more difficulty concentrating on their studies, some students transferred to another school to escape harassment, and others dropped out of school because of pregnancy.’

GBV often occurs in schools, known as ‘school-related gender-based violence’ (SRGBV), which Unesco defines as: ‘acts or threats of sexual, physical or psychological violence occurring in and around schools, perpetrated as a result of gender norms and stereotypes, and enforced by unequal power dynamics’ (2016, p. 13). SRGBV can often lead to girls under-performing and/or dropping out of school altogether.

SRGBV commonly affects girls on the journey to and from school, where there is little to no supervision, for example, in Japan female students have reported being sexually assaulted on public transportation . The World Bank Group report that parental fears for the safety of girls in traveling to school impact female enrolment rates in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.

SRGBV also occurs on school premises making the school environment unsafe and not conducive for learning. It can be perpetrated by both teachers and other students. A 2010 survey in the Côte d’Ivoire found that 47% of teachers reported initiating sexual relations with students. In Kenya, after a confidential helpline was set-up, over 1000 teachers were dismissed for abusing girls , mostly in poor, rural areas. Examples of SRGBV also includes bullying by fellow students . SRGBV is not confined to primary and secondary education. At universities and colleges around the world, female students are victims of physical and sexual violence including rape, bullying, and harassment. End Violence Against Women report that 1 in 7 female students in the UK experience serious physical or sexual assault during their time as a student.

SRGBV is increasingly taking place online, through digital technologies, for instance, instant messaging and social media. Gender-related forms of cyberbullying and harassment include being sent inappropriate photos and being coerced into sending sexual images.

SRGBV also includes attacks on girls for accessing education , motivated by ‘fears surrounding the potential role of education as a catalyst for social, cultural, economic and political transformation’ (OHCHR, 2015, p. 4). Prominent examples include the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in April 2014 by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria and the 2012 shooting of education activist Malala Yousafzai by members of the Taliban in Pakistan (p. 3).

International human rights law prohibits GBV in all settings, including in education. This includes acts or omissions by state actors and bodies, such as public authorities and officials, as well as by non-state actors, for example, partners, family members, teachers, etc. States have specific responsibilities under human rights law dependent on the perpetrator which are well explained in paragraphs 21-6 of CEDAW General Recommendation 35 .

See our legal factsheet for specific provisions of international and regional law relating to gender-based violence against women .

For further reading, see Unesco and UN Women (2016) Global guidance on school-related gender-based violence . See also Global Education Monitoring Report’s blog Teachers are central to any effective response to school-related gender-based violence ( part 1 and part 2 ).

Child marriage is any formal marriage or informal union where one or both of the parties are under 18 years of age. According to Girls Not Brides , every year 15 million underage girls get married. Globally, it is estimated that there are 720 million women alive today who were married before the age of 18—that’s 10% of the world’s population. Child marriage happens everywhere but is most prevalent in south Asia (45% of girls married by 18; 17% married by 15), sub-Saharan Africa (39%; 12%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (23%; 5%).

Child marriage violates multiple human rights , including the right to education, making it a particularly egregious practice. Children who get married are more likely to drop out of school and children who are not in school are more likely to get married. Statistics from the World Bank and International Center for Research on Women reveal that 10-30% of parents, depending on country, reported that their child dropped out of secondary school due to child marriage and/or pregnancy. Their research also indicates that for every year a girl marries before the age of 18, the likelihood she completes secondary education decreases by 0.22 years on average. In Latin America and Asia, girls who marry before the age of 12 have a reduced likelihood of 21% of completing their secondary education.

Although permissible under international law, marriages that occur after the age of 18 may also affect a girl’s education, particularly her ability to access higher education or other forms of tertiary education.

Linked to child marriage is early and unintended pregnancy. Girls Not Brides report that 90% of adolescent births in low and lower-middle income countries are to married girls. Pregnancy and motherhood often has profound impacts on girls’ education. Pregnant girls are often banned from attending school and sitting exams, and mothers often lack access to bridging programmes which allow girls to catch-up on their missed education in order to reenter mainstream education. Further, lack of free early childhood care and widely held beliefs that child rearing is the primary responsibility of the mother, means that women and girls often do not reenter education.

Pregnancy and motherhood can also occur independently from child marriage, as a result of rape, which is particularly common during conflict and other emergencies (see the case of Sierra Leone which saw an increase in teenage pregnancy during the ebola crisis due to the closure of schools). Teenage pregnancy and motherhood is also a product of a lack of information about sexual and reproductive health and a lack of access to contraception (birth control). See for example, our photo essay on the right to education of pregnant girls in Kenya .

So what does international law say about child marriage and what obligations do states have to ensure the right to education of married and/or pregnant girls?

The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women have stated, in a Joint Recommendation , that the minimum age for marriage should be 18 for both men and women. However, the committees take the view that a balance must be struck between recognising that child marriage is a harmful, discriminatory practice and respecting that in exceptional cases some children may be mature and capable enough to make informed decisions for his/herself regarding getting married, provided the child in question is at least 16 years old and such decisions are assessed by a judge ‘based on legitimate exceptional grounds defined by law and on the evidence of maturity, without deference to culture and tradition’ (para. 20).

This limited exception, however, does not in any way dilute states’ obligations to eliminate child marriage and early or unintended pregnancy, and to protect the human rights of child brides and mothers, including the right to education.

In order to prevent child marriage states must establish and enforce a minimum age of marriage of 18. Often, minimum legal ages for marriage are set, but the law is inconsistent (see Tanzania , for example), customary law, such as Shari’a or tribal law applies, or the law allows girls to be married in certain situations, for example, if she is pregnant or has parental permission. Under international law, exceptions such as these are prohibited.

In Africa, regional human rights law is strong and mandates that states enact legislation that sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 without exception (Article 6 (b), Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa [2003]; Article 21 (2), African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child [1990]. For further information on the interpretation of these articles, see the Joint General Comment of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child on ending child marriage ).

The map below illustrates that very few states have set the minimum age of marriage at 18. This is particularly true of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, and South East Asia—all regions with high child marriage prevalence rates. It should also be pointed out that child marriage is permissible by law in a number of ‘global north’ countries, notably the US .

Under international law, states are not allowed to refuse access to school by expelling girls on the basis of marriage, pregnancy, or having given birth as this would constitute discrimination. This includes a prohibition of mandatory pregnancy testing, which has been documented in various African states , including: Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Further, in order to rectify the negative impacts of child marriage and early pregnancy on the right to education, for example, if a girl misses any of her primary education, states must provide fundamental education, that is education that replaces missed primary education for girls who become married or pregnant at primary school age (Article 13 (d), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). However, most child marriages and early pregnancies occur during secondary education. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979, CEDAW) adapts the fundamental education provision to include obligations to make efforts to keep girls in school and to organise ‘programmes for girls and women who have left school prematurely’ (Article 10 (f)). Programmes that allow girls to re-enter education are known as ‘re-entry programmes’. Successful examples of reentry programmes include Zambia and Uganda.

Given the prevalence of child marriage and pregnancy in African countries, African human rights law also makes provision for fundamental education and reentry programmes but protections are inconsistent.

The African Youth Charter (2006) requires states to: ‘Ensure, where applicable, that girls and young women who become pregnant or married before completing their education shall have the opportunity to continue their education’ (Article 13 (4) (h)).

Article 12 (2) (c) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa is less specific and urges states to ‘promote the enrolment and retention of girls in schools and other training institutions and the organisation of programmes for women who leave school prematurely’.

Article 11 (6), African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, requires states to take ‘all appropriate measures to ensure that children who become pregnant before completing their education shall have an opportunity to continue with their education on the basis of their individual ability.’ Although this provision would seem to provide for re-entry programmes, the caveat that such opportunity is based on ‘individual ability’ falls short of international standards.

International law also seeks to empower girls to make decisions for themselves regarding unintended pregnancy and requires that sex, reproductive health, and responsible parenthood education is given to both boys and girls. See, for example, Article 10 (h), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Article 13 (4) (n), African Youth Charter. Below is a video explaining the importance of comprehensive sexuality education.

Lastly, international law requires states to dismantle the social, economic, cultural, and political conditions that facilitate the pervasive nature of this practice. A holistic approach is required to eliminate child marriage and pregnancy because its causes are varied and deeply entrenched. However, evidence suggests that any approach must include efforts to ensure girls enjoy and can exercise their right to education. Girls Not Brides states that girls with a secondary education are six times less likely to marry than a girl with little or no education.

For more information on preventing child marriage and early and unintended pregnancy through education, see Unesco’s Early and unintended pregnancy: Recommendations for the education sector (2017).

A bad school environment can deter girls from attending school and also negatively impact on the quality of education girls receive. The school environment refers not just to the physical infrastructure of the school premises but also the wider learning environment.

According to international human rights law, the school environment must not impair the right to education and it must also contribute to the aims of education and the right to a quality education by creating an inclusive and quality learning environment (see paras 10, 19, and 22 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment 1 ).

Common barriers regarding the learning environment, include:

discriminatory curricula, learning materials , and teaching methods (pedagogies) (see above sections on international human rights law and gender stereotypes)

a culture of bullying (see above section on gender-based violence against women and girls)

school regulations and sexist dress codes , including the banning of religious symbols in schools

Perhaps one of the most significant barriers to an inclusive and quality learning environment is the lack of female teachers particularly in low and middle income countries, which is itself a manifestation of the historical lack of access to education and harmful gender stereotypes about the role of women. A Unesco brief highlights (2008, p. 1-2) that increasing the number of women teachers has a positive impact on girls’ education, because:

in some conservative communities, parents will not allow their daughters to be taught by a male teacher

the presence of women in schools can impact positively on girls’ retention in school and on their achievement

at the school policy level, women teachers may act as advocates for girls, representing their perspectives and needs, and promoting more girl-friendly learning

women teachers provide new and different role models for girls, breaking down harmful gender stereotypes

In respects to the physical school environment, inadequate and unsafe infrastructure, particularly the lack of toilets, gender-segregated toilets, changing facilities, and access to safe drinking water may discourage girls from attending school. Lack of toilets and in particular gender-segregated toilets affects both girls and boys, however given the specific needs of girls, the impact disproportionately falls on girls.

Girls require toilets for menstrual hygiene purposes, this includes access to sanitary products, without which girls often miss school because of the social stigma of menstruation, they are unable to concentrate during classes, amongst other reasons. For example, the Guardian reports that girls from low income families in the UK often miss schools because they cannot afford sanitary products and do not ask for them because of the social stigma attached to menstruation .

Within the school premises, toilets, especially non-gender segregated toilets, tend to be where girls are most vulnerable to school-related gender-based violence because they are often unsupervised.

Poverty is the biggest factor determining whether a girl accesses education. According to the Global Education Monitoring report , in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa, children from rich families, whether boy or girl, will most likely attend all levels of basic education. However, girls from poor families in sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Africa and Western Asia, and Southern Asia, which are less likely than their male peers to attend school and this lack of participation increases at higher education levels (2016, p. 10).

A number of factors contribute to girls from poor families not being able to attend school, the biggest of which is the lack of free education , particularly in the formative years. This may be because governments do not have legal and policy frameworks in place to make free education a reality or they do but it is not effectively implemented, or it may not be adequately resourced, or there may be corruption which draws resources away from their intended use.

Lack of free education results in an added financial burden on families, which may come in the form of school fees (or other direct fees) or indirect fees such as for school uniforms, exam fees, security, school transportation, etc. Such fees are a direct barrier to school attendance for many girls, either because families cannot afford these costs or the costs may force families to select which of their children to send to school. In such instances, it is usually boys who are favoured because of the low social and economic value placed on the education of girls. To mitigate this, international human rights law requires states to guarantee free and compulsory primary education, progressively free education at all other levels, and targeted measures for groups at risk of dropping out (for instance, school transportation for students living in rural areas). Human rights law, however, neglects the importance of free or accessible early childhood care and education (ECCE)/pre-primary education. ECCE has positive impacts on child development and targeted ECCE interventions ‘can compensate for vulnerability and disadvantage, regardless of underlying factors such as poverty, gender, ...’ (EFA Global Education Monitoring Report 2007: Strong foundations , p. 113). For further information on states’ human rights obligations, see our page on free education .

Lack of free education is closely linked with government priorities reflected in fiscal policy. Ostensibly because of the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a trend in governments reducing spending on public services, including education, by decreasing the amount they collect through taxation. Such austerity measures have had a disproportionate impact on women and girls, particularly as it is the most marginalised in society who tend to benefit from public services.

One of the consequences of austerity and the failure of states to effectively formulate, implement, resource, and enforce free education legal and policy frameworks as per their human rights obligations is the growth of private education providers, mainly in low and middle income countries, but the phenomenon has increasingly been observed in high income countries (see for example, the UK , US , and Sweden ).

The privatisation of education poses several human rights concerns that may negatively impact girls’ education , for instance: it may encourage further divestment in public education, gradually eroding the public education system and its capacity to reach the most marginalised, particularly girls with disabilities and private providers can indirectly discriminate against girls by levying fees which have a disproportionately negative impact on girls’ participation in education, due to parental favouring of boys’ education.

International human rights law imposes obligations on states to ensure that private providers do not impair the right to education. See our page on the privatisation of education for further information.

Finally, global action to tackle poverty through sustainable development has also focused on gender inequality and education. The international community has, through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , recognised the importance of inclusive and quality education ( sustainable development goal 4 ) and gender equality and women’s empowerment ( sustainable development goal 5 ) in achieving sustainable development and has adopted various goals, targets, and indicators that are largely aligned with human rights law. See our page on Education 2030 for more information. See also our contribution to the Global Education Monitoring report 2017-8 Gender Review (forthcoming).

International

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979, Article 10; General Recommendations 19, 25, 28, 35, and 36)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Right s (1966, Articles 2 and 13; General Comments 13 and 16)
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, Articles 2, 28 and 29; General Comment 1)
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966, Articles 2, 3, 24, 25 and 26; General Comment 28)
UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960, Articles 1-4)
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (1981, Articles 2 and 17)
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990, Article 11)
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003, Article 12)
African Youth Charter (2006, Article 13)
European Convention for the Protection of Human Right and Fundamental Freedoms (1948); Optional Protocol 1 (1952) and Optional Protocol 12 (2000) (Article 14 of the Convention, Article 2 of the First Protocol and Article 1 of the Twelfth Protocol)
European Social Charter (revised) (1996, Articles E, 7, 10 and 17)
Recommendation on Gender Mainstreaming in Education (2007)
Charter of Fundamental Freedoms of the European Union (2000, Articles 14 and 23)

Inter-America

Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights, Protocol of San Salvador (1998, Articles 13 and 16)
Inter-American Democratic Charter (2001, Article 16)
Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004, Article 41)

For more details, see International instruments - Girls and women's right to education

Other Issues

Adult education and learning; literacy, lifelong learning, right to education, older persons, technical and vocational education and training, higher education, sdg4, fundamental education, basic education

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Essay on Women Empowerment in English

Updated on
Mar 4, 2024

On this page, we will provide you with some samples of essay on women empowerment. Women empowerment refers to making women powerful and stronger so that they can independently lead a healthy and prosperous life. Women must be empowered so that they can positively grow in social, economic, and political spheres. By empowering women, we can eliminate discrimination against women, challenge traditional gender roles, and promote equal opportunities for women in various aspects of life.

This Blog Includes:

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Quick Read: Speech About Dreams

Long Essay on Women’s Empowerment

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Women empowerment refers to the practice of making women independent so that they can make their own decisions and take decisions without any familial or societal restrictions. In simple terms, it entitles women to take charge of their personal development. The patriarchal society has always deprived women of their rights.

The main motive of women’s empowerment is to help them stand equally with men. It is a foundational step to ensure the prosperous growth of a family as well as the country. By empowering women, the world would witness gender equality and help women from every stratum of society stand on their own and steer their lives as per their wishes.

Check out our 200+ Essay Topics for Students in English !

Women empowerment is the process of giving women the ability to live a happy and respected life in society. Women are empowered when they have unrestricted access to chances in a range of domains, such as education, profession, and lifestyle, among others. It involves things like education , awareness, literacy , and training to help them improve their position. It also involves decision-making authority. A woman feels powerful when she makes a significant decision. Empowering women is the most important factor in a country’s overall growth. If a household has just one earning member, while another family has both men and women earning, who will have a better standard of living? The solution is straightforward: a household in which both men and women work. As a result, a country where men and women work together grows more quickly.

Popular women can play an important role when it comes to empowering other women. These influential women are aware of the difficulties faced by women in our society and can see their problems from their perspectives, as they have experienced similar situations. Nadia Murad Basee, a German human rights activist once said, “I want to be the last girl in the world with a story like mine.” Some other popular and influential women in the world are:

Gloria Marie Steinem
Malala Yousafzai
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Jane Seymour Fonda
Betty Friedan
Halima Aden

Quick Read: Speech About Life

Almost all countries, regardless of how progressive, have a history of mistreating women. To put it another way, women from all over the world have been defiant to achieve their current standing. While Western nations continue to make progress, third-world countries such as India continue to lag in terms of women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is more important than ever in India. India is one of the countries where women are not safe. This is due to a variety of factors.

Not only that, but horrific crimes against women such as rape, acid attacks, the dowry system, honour killings, domestic violence, and other forms of violence against women continue to occur throughout India. Women should account for 50% of the entire population. However, due to female foeticide practises, which are still prevailing in the rural and underprivileged sections of Indian societies, the girl-child population is rapidly declining, affecting the country’s sex ratio. Furthermore, the education and freedom scenario is extremely regressive in this situation.

Women are not permitted to continue their education and are married off at a young age. In certain areas, men continue to dominate women, as though it is the woman’s responsibility to labour for him indefinitely. They don’t let them go out or have any form of freedom and personal life. As a result, we can see how women’s empowerment is a pressing issue. We must equip these women with the tools they need to stand up for themselves and never be victims of injustice.

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Welcome to the United Nations

Breaking gender barriers through education

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Roseline Adewuyi is a fervent advocate for gender equality in Nigeria, driven by a passion for dismantling entrenched gender stereotypes. She spoke to Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor on the need to empower girls through education. This is in line with the African Union’s theme for 2024: Educating and skilling Africa for the 21 st Century.

Roseline Adewuyi believes that fighting gender inequality requires raising awareness and empowering young women and girls through education.

“My goal is to help break those barriers that limit our potential,” she told African Renewal in an interview. “I am talking about issues related to land rights, access to education, economic empowerment, leadership, and trust me, gender discrimination.”

Gender discrimination, she explains, is heightened during times of severe economic constraints such as now, when the tendency is often to invest in boys over girls. “That’s when parents often choose to send their sons to school or provide them start-up funding for business ventures, while daughters are expected to focus on house chores and wait for marriage. It’s absolutely absurd.” she insists.

Roseline has her work cut out for her. “We are constantly finding ways to help women and girls break free from these constraints.”

She founded the Ending Gender Stereotypes in Schools (ENGENDERS) project, which is dedicated to unlearning gender stereotypes in educational institutions.

“We reach the students, boys and girls in high schools and universities, and we do community engagement, speaking to parents and other influential community inhabitants,” she explains.

Already, she claims to have reached tens of communities and over 6,000 young girls through seminars and webinars, while her blog , featuring over 300 articles on gender equity, has garnered a wide audience.

Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in French Literature with a focus on women, gender, and sexuality studies at Purdue University in Indiana, US, Roseline now aims to merge academic rigour with passionate advocacy.

“It’s an interesting intersection,” she says, adding that “The body of knowledge that we pass on to future generations is full of gender stereotypes. Our books need to be gender conscious.

“In most African literature, characters often depict women or girls as housemaids and men as pilots or engineers. It reinforces stereotypes; we need to root it out,” she stresses.

Roseline's journey into gender advocacy began in her childhood, fueled by a belief in the transformative power of education. She recognized the systemic challenges faced by African women and girls, including limited access to education and entrenched cultural biases.

“When I served as a prefect in secondary school, the belief among boys and even some girls was that I did not merit the position, that leadership was reserved for the boys. That experience sparked my curiosity as to why girls weren’t perceived as equally competent as boys.”

In 2019, she worked as a translator and interpreter for the African Union (AU), having been selected as one of 120 young people from various African countries to participate in the AU Youth Volunteer Corps.

Her exposure to continental leaders' efforts to address gender-related challenges reinforced her conviction that gender equality is essential for achieving sustainable peace and security.

“At the AU, I also realized the connection between gender and peace and security. When there is a crisis, it is women who suffer the most. Therefore, women must be at the centre of efforts to achieve peace in our societies,” she adds.

Her international exposure includes being a participant in the Young African Leaders Initiative in 2016 (YALI – Regional Leadership Center West Africa), as well as being a Dalai Lama fellow in 2018. She says these experiences exposed her to gender best practices and strengthened her resolve to advocate for change in her home country.

Although some advances have been made in gender equality in Nigeria, Roseline highlights that the remaining hurdles include challenges in female land ownership, financial inclusion, and access to education.

“For example, we have laws [in Nigeria] that provide for women’s rights to land, but many communities still prevent them from owning a piece of land. We also have situations in which widows are not allowed to inherit the properties of their husbands.

She says: “So, we have a lot more work to do. We need effective community engagement in raising awareness among women about their rights.

“Importantly, we need to provide women with access to education to equip them with the knowledge and skills to assert their rights effectively.”

In her ongoing advocacy work, she acknowledges facing cyberbullying, which she attributes to resistance from elements of a patriarchal society reluctant to embrace progress.

Roseline's final message to young African women and girls is for them to drive positive change, stand up for their rights, and challenge gender norms.

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Guiding the Future: UN launches new panel on critical energy transition minerals

We must do more to prevent genocide

Football saved me from genocide; now I promote peace with it

Transforming Artisanal Mining Can Be Beneficial for People and the Planet

30 years on, South Africa still dismantling racism and apartheid’s legacy

Kwibuka30: Learning from the past, safeguarding the future against genocide

Many African nations are making progress in the rule of law

Streamlining Egypt’s food value chain through technology

Lessons post the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda: we must speak out against discrimination and prejudice

Creating credible carbon market in Africa

REMEMBER.UNITE.RENEW.

Claver Irakoze: Bridging Generations Through the Memory of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

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Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Ms. Fatima Maada Bio, the First Lady of Sierra Leone

Empowering change: Safeguarding women in Sierra Leone

Cassava farming in Liberia: Women’s rights to land must be legally recognized.

Intra-African trade provides an opportunity for inclusive economic growth

Racheal’s resolve: Championing disability rights in Uganda

Essay on Female Education: For All Students

Female education is a very important topic to talk about in our country. That’s why we are sharing a few short and long essays on Female Education. Any students can learn these easy and simple essays.

In This Blog We Will Discuss

Female Education: Short Essay (200 Words)

In a country like India , female education is being appreciated day by day. But a few years ago, the situation was not like now. People are changing and they are being smart and educated. Educated people can realize the importance of girl’s education.

But there are still a large number of girls are illiterate and they are not able to get an education. We need to stand for them and make education easy for every single girl in the world. An educated girl or women could do so many things that others can’t.

We can see that they are smarter than others. They raise their kids better and in a proper way. They study and learn things that help them to lead a better life. We all need to realize that and let our girls be educated.

Our country is growing according to a better economy. And females have a big share of this economy. Educated females are participating in everywhere. And that will help us to change our country soon.

Female Education: Essay (300 Words)

Introduction: Female education is a really important term right now for the entire world. From the very beginning, people used to neglect female education, as a result, women are so much behind according to research. Few first world countries are done really amazing in this, but still, now there are problems. Here, in this essay, we will take look at ‘female education in Bangladesh and others’.

Napoleon said, ‘give me an educated mother, I will give you an educated nation’. Can you realize the quote? An educated mother can create an educated nation. If our wives and our sisters won’t get proper education then how can we expect that our next generation will be educated? That’s why we need to put some extra effort into ‘Female Education’.

Female Education in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is a growing country with a fair amount of female education ratio. But a few years earlier, girls were really rare in school and colleges. But right now, in some boards, girls are doing far better than boys. So we can realize the evolution of education among female in Bangladesh.

Economically Bangladesh is a growing country. Females also have a great share of that. Due to the increase in their education ration, they are participating everywhere. They are doing a corporate job and also starting their own businesses. That is really good news for any country. They are working in every sector.

Importance of Female Education: There is a huge importance of female education. We need to emphasize that. Women are a vital part of us. We can’t arrange a better society or a better nation without them. They should be our partner in the journey. And we, of course, appreciate educated and well-learned partner with us. Whatever we do, they are helping us to complete that.

Conclusion: Female education is really necessary for every woman in this world. We should focus on that.

Female Education: Essay (500 Words)

Introduction: The world is growing and being special day by day. But in every sector, girls are not participating equally with boys. What’s the main reason behind this? I think of female education. Our life starts with education and if we can pursue education properly we can go really long in our life.

And if we can’t, we may not be able to go long. But in this world, lots of females are still away from education. Sometimes they leave study after a certain age. We need to work on that and make awareness among people. That will help us to understand the importance of female education.

Controversy: There are huge controversies about education for a girl. Some people present really funny and weak logic to prevent a girl’s education. But we should stand against them and let our girls to be educated. We can’t imagine a good nation without educated girls.

If we look at history, there are lots of female scholars who have done really well for their country. We have ‘Begum Rokeya’, she has started a revolution in India and Bangladesh which let girls start studying. We always need to stay away from the controversies and try to make our girl’s educated.

Female Education Advantages: There are lots of advantages of female education. Our whole society can be benefited from the process. Girls are working with boys outside nowadays; if they don’t get the proper education they won’t get a better job.

That’s why they need to pay attention to education. We also need to ensure their study. An educated mother can build an educated family. People won’t get proper good behaviour and manners without a good education.

Importance of an Educated Wife: In your family, of course, you don’t want an illiterate wife. You want an educated girl as your wife. But why, because the future of your kids depends on that. If she is educated, there is a high chance for your kids to be educated. So there is really high importance of educated wife in a family.

Equality in Education: We should bring equality in the education system all across the world. In this world, there are still lots of people don’t believe in equality among boys and girls. But being honest, they are the same. We need to treat the same and make them perfect for each other. If we don’t keep the equality, that will hurt them and don’t let them grow properly.

Conclusion: Female education essay is a really important one. We all can make awareness to our area and let people realize the importance of education for their girls. If we all start trying, then there will be a change and this change will change the world. We all can change the world together.

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Essay on Women Empowerment for Students and Children

500+ words essay on women empowerment.

Women empowerment refers to making women powerful to make them capable of deciding for themselves. Women have suffered a lot through the years at the hands of men. In earlier centuries, they were treated as almost non-existent. As if all the rights belonged to men even something as basic as voting. As the times evolved, women realized their power. There on began the revolution for women empowerment.

As women were not allowed to make decisions for them, women empowerment came in like a breath of fresh air. It made them aware of their rights and how they must make their own place in society rather than depending on a man. It recognized the fact that things cannot simply work in someone’s favor because of their gender. However, we still have a long way to go when we talk about the reasons why we need it.

Need for Women Empowerment

Almost every country, no matter how progressive has a history of ill-treating women. In other words, women from all over the world have been rebellious to reach the status they have today. While the western countries are still making progress, third world countries like India still lack behind in Women Empowerment.

Moreover, the education and freedom scenario is very regressive here. Women are not allowed to pursue higher education, they are married off early. The men are still dominating women in some regions like it’s the woman’s duty to work for him endlessly. They do not let them go out or have freedom of any kind.

In addition, domestic violence is a major problem in India. The men beat up their wife and abuse them as they think women are their property. More so, because women are afraid to speak up. Similarly, the women who do actually work get paid less than their male counterparts. It is downright unfair and sexist to pay someone less for the same work because of their gender. Thus, we see how women empowerment is the need of the hour. We need to empower these women to speak up for themselves and never be a victim of injustice .

How to Empower Women?

There are various ways in how one can empower women. The individuals and government must both come together to make it happen. Education for girls must be made compulsory so that women can become illiterate to make a life for themselves.

Women must be given equal opportunities in every field, irrespective of gender. Moreover, they must also be given equal pay. We can empower women by abolishing child marriage. Various programs must be held where they can be taught skills to fend for themselves in case they face financial crisis .

Most importantly, the shame of divorce and abuse must be thrown out of the window. Many women stay in abusive relationships because of the fear of society. Parents must teach their daughters it is okay to come home divorced rather than in a coffin.

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StarTribune

Jill biden rallies women, teachers for the biden-harris ticket in bloomington speeches.

First Lady Jill Biden highlighted her husband's plans for education and rallied with teachers and women voters Friday night in Bloomington, putting a focus on women's rights and the protection of reproductive rights in the United States.

Delivering a campaign speech to a crowd of about 200 at Nine Mile Brewing, Biden said it was important to re-elect President Joe Biden to protect and restore reproductive rights following the 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"It's heartbreaking to see that your generation has to re-fight battles that we thought we had settled so many decades ago," Biden said. "Post-Roe America isn't the future that we should be handing down to our daughters and our sons, and I promise you, Joe and I are by your side in this fight, and we're not going to rest until we right every wrong."

She took aim several times at former President Donald Trump, warning that there is "no guarantee that access to reproductive health care will remain" if Trump wins in November.

Biden took time to praise Minnesota's women in high-ranking elected positions, saying that the president has placed women "at the center of his agenda" with his selections of Vice President Kamala Harris and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

"Joe has spent his entire career lifting up women, but that other guy, Trump, he spent a lifetime tearing us down and devaluing our existence," she said.

The brewery crowd of mostly women included a mix of young and middle-aged people and seniors from an array of professions, including teachers, legislators, students and representatives of reproductive rights advocacy groups.

Following her 12-minute speech at the brewery, Biden — a community college educator who has worked in classrooms for more than three decades — left for Education Minnesota's annual convention at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bloomington. She kicked off "Educators for Biden-Harris," a national organizing program to "engage and mobilize teachers, school staff, and parents" in the presidential election, according to a news release from the campaign.

Education Minnesota is the state's largest union representing the state's teachers, and its political action committee is consistently one of the biggest backers of Democratic campaigns in Minnesota, spending $5.2 million in the 2022 midterm election.

Outside the hotel, about 100 pro-Palestine protesters chanted and held signs as Biden's motorcade swept by. They expressed anger about the president's handling of the Israel-Hamas war and U.S. aid to Israel.

"Jill Biden's campaign to ask educators to vote for Biden is against my values as a teacher who believes that all humans have a right to education, and who thinks the money that is spent on this genocide should be spent on our underfunded schools here in the U.S.," said Meredith Aby Keirstead, a member of the MN Free Palestine Coalition, in a statement.

Jill Biden made several trips to Minnesota during her husband's 2020 election campaign, when Joe Biden decisively beat Donald Trump in Minnesota by more than 7 percentage points. Recent polling from KSTP-TV shows Biden and Trump in a statistical dead heat this cycle, with Biden's lead over the former president falling within the poll's margin of error.

That could force Biden and his surrogates to campaign in Minnesota this year, despite the state's long track record of supporting Democratic presidential candidates.

Biden has hired three veteran political operatives to manage his campaign in Minnesota. U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer is serving as Trump's Minnesota campaign chair and is developing a plan intended to flip the state for Republicans this fall.

Louis Krauss is a general assignment reporter for the Star Tribune.

Briana Bierschbach is a politics and government reporter for the Star Tribune.

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