Global Search For Womens Education

July 1, 2015

By Thomas Omogi, Healthcare Commercial Markets Analyst.

In the developed world, we tend to take it for granted that everyone gets an equal opportunity at a good education. However, in many parts of the developing world, this is not the case at all. It is a particular problem with girls; far more countries in the world do not consider educating girls a priority than those that do. As a result, we are raising a generation of girls across the world who are not being given access to the tools they need to reach their full potentials, and the world is a poorer place for it. The lack of access to education for girls is a serious worldwide problem that must be addressed if we are to progress as a global society.

Culture, Religion, and Economics All Play a Role in the Lack of Education for Girls

There are several key reasons why so many girls in developing countries are not getting the access to education they need and deserve. Culture, religion, and economics all play important roles. It will take a serious international intervention to even begin to change these things, and the change will likely be slow in turning things around. That is why it is so important to begin a global effort to improve access to education for girls now.

Culture often devalues the role of girls in many societies. Females are looked at as homemakers and the ones who will bear and raise children. As a result of this firmly entrenched outlook toward women, there is little value seen in educating them. After all, what need is there to educate a woman to read, write, do math, or understand science when she will never use those skills in her adult life? The value of women in these societies needs to be changed at a very fundamental level, and the potential roles they could play in society to help make it a better place needs to be ingrained into the male patriarchy, in order for there to be a greater openness to educating them. This will take an international effort over a period of time to accomplish.

It’s not just culture that keeps women from getting the educations they deserve. In many cases, it is religion. Religion and culture are closely intertwined in many places. Even when they are not, some religions, or interpretations of religions, actually prohibit the education of women. This is no more apparent (and a very big human rights issue) in areas of the Middle East that are controlled by the Taliban. This radical offshoot of Islam does not believe in educating women, and interprets the education of women as against the will of God. In Taliban-controlled areas, schools for girls have been forcibly closed down, forcing those who want to teach and those who want to be educated to do it at home, in secret, behind closed doors. Doing so is a highly dangerous prospect, as women and girls have been beaten and killed for participating in schooling in these places.

Economics plays a role in some places, as well. School is not always free in every country. In fact, many nations require school fees to be paid and uniforms purchased. Many poor families cannot afford to send any of their children to school. The ones who can often can only afford to send one child. If it is a choice between a son and a daughter, the son will always win out in the quest to get an education, because the son is seen as the one who has the highest future earning power, and is therefore the one who will benefit the most by being educated. The girl must then stay home and help her parents with chores while her brother goes to school. If she gets any education at all, it is done by her mother at home, and is of the most rudimentary nature.

War is Impacting the Access Girls Have to Education in Africa and the Middle East

One other reason that girls are not getting the access to education they should in some places of the world is war. Africa and the Middle East are the two most stark examples of this type of situation. When there is war, there is little opportunity or priority for school. Simply surviving is the main goal of most families in war-torn regions. Because of this, we are losing a generation of bright and capable women who could make a huge impact on the world and bring about positive change in many ways.

While foreign countries are stepping in to help with some of these wars on a limited basis, they are not doing all they could. When foreign countries do help, their goal is to get rid of the enemy and restore a democratic government, not to restore an infrastructure that would allow for girls to get an education. While much of the world ignores what is going on in Africa and the Middle East, the few who are paying attention are not looking at the plight of the girls.

Instead, they are standing by and watching while this generation of girls gets left behind and forgotten, kept from reaching their true potentials and following their dreams because of the violent conditions in their countries. While we can only hope they will help create a new environment where their daughters can get the education they were denied, it doesn’t help the girls of today. It is not fair to them, as many of them would love to go to school and be a part of making a positive change in the world. Ignoring their plight is negating their importance as human beings, and shortchanging the world by denying it the many things these girls could offer if they had the opportunity to go to school and be educated.

A good example of the dangers faced by girls attempting to get an education in war-torn areas is Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head by the Taliban as she was taking a bus to school with two of her friends. Already a passionate advocate for girls’ education, the then 15-year-old was targeted by the Taliban for her outspoken views, as the Taliban do not believe in educating girls and forbid it in areas they control. While she survived the shooting, which was done at close range and damaged her left eye (which she has since regained sight in), she has had to leave Pakistan and move to the United Kingdom due to ongoing threats by the Taliban against her. (1)

She hopes to go back one day and assist in getting girls educated in her homeland, but right now, has to contend with telling her story from the sidelines. She has written a book and was considered for the Nobel prize. But her experience shows just how dangerous it is for girls to try to get educated in areas where wars and regional control by religious extremists are the realities of everyday life. Only when the wars are stopped and the extremists dealt with can girls like Malala safely get the educations they deserve.

Technology and Science Suffer All Over the World for Lack of Women Practitioners

Even in areas where women have some access to education, they are falling behind men in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). This is not only the case for third world nations, but all over the world. Even in the United States, 85 percent of jobs in these fields are held by men. Science is a field that particularly needs more women. The UN estimates that only 27 percent of scientific research positions worldwide are filled by women. That number is not nearly what it should be. The STEM fields are among the highest paying in the world. Getting more women into these fields would lower the international poverty rates, bring new perspectives to these fields, and improve the infrastructure and development of emerging nations all over the planet.

Women who want to get into the STEM fields often face discrimination, even in developed countries. There is a kind of worldwide idea that they are not as suited to these fields as men, and many women who enter these fields report sexual harassment and lack of opportunities for promotion. They are frequently placed into areas where they are working on lower tiers of research than those for which they are qualified. Their desire to have children and start families also hinders their career opportunities in these fields due to institutional discrimination all over the world.

Men need to be educated on the benefits of having women in the STEM fields and really brought in on any national or international plan to improve the representation of women in these fields for it to become a reality. It is a necessity if we wish to improve the quality of life for everyone on the planet, but culturally ingrained prejudices against women in these fields must be overcome first, and this will take a global effort to change. It can be done, but we must be committed as a global society to making it happen for the world and its women. (2)

The Health Care Field Will Need More Educated Female Workers Soon, and We Must Prepare Them to Enter the Profession

Women have traditionally been the healers in many third world societies. However, the healing techniques they learn, while useful and admirable, are low-tech and handed down from mother to daughter, or from an older woman to a younger mentor. Many of the methods they use to heal only pertain to other women, as well, such as midwifery. While the good news is that there is an openness to women as healers in many emerging countries, there is still a resistance to educating them to learn modern, 21st century healing techniques. It is conceivable that women would be accepted as doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals in these places. However, they will need to be educated to take charge of the healthcare structures of their countries before they can come into their own in this regard.

Africa is a good example of a place where more female healthcare leaders will be needed in coming years. Women tend to outlive men in Africa. This may lead to a shortage of male doctors and other healthcare personnel one day. Women will need to be educated and ready to take over this role when the time comes. As the older generation of women age and as the men of Africa grow diseased and frail before their time due to wars and harsh living conditions, women will be forced into the roles of caregivers.

They will be much more equipped to provide excellent, modern care and keep their countrymen and women alive much longer and in better health if they are educated to do so. Educating women in the healthcare field is key to a better quality of life for everyone in many places of the world, but particularly Africa, which currently suffers from a distinctive lack of trained female medical personnel. It cannot continue this way if Africa is going to have a positive healthcare future independent of the aid of foreign volunteer workers like Doctors Without Borders.

Fortunately, there is a great interest in many areas of the world in bringing more women into the medical profession, both in Africa and internationally, and work is being done behind the scenes in this area (3). The goal is to make sure there are enough female doctors in place to take on the job of caring for the other people of the world when the time comes when they are needed the most.

So Many Countries Are Falling Behind the Curve in Educating Girls

There are 20 nations in the world where access to education is still not a basic right for girls. According to the UN, there are currently 110 million children in developing nations who are not attending school, and 60 percent of these are girls. Some countries among these have worse records than others. The countries with the worst record when it comes to giving girls access to education are (4):

India
Cambodia
Pakistan
Nepal
Afghanistan
Chad
Papua New Guinea
Haiti
Egypt
Guatemala

These countries have appalling rates of education for women. Some girls never complete elementary school, or even go to school at all, and illiteracy rates among girls and women are embarrassingly high. The reasons for the lack of access to education for girls in these countries are many, including such things as cultural beliefs about educating girls alongside boys, believing girls are more suited to domestic work, high rates of child bride marriages, wars, and poverty.

If we want girls to get the education they need, we must start by putting international focus on the countries where they are the least likely to get it. Education efforts must be made in the world of the adults, to get them to understand the importance of educating girls, and to show them the benefits educating the female population in their borders will bring them. Once a clear benefit to educating girls is shown, many of these countries, where current social conditions allow for education, are likely to be more willing to provide educational opportunities to females. It all starts with showing the establishment what the benefits can be, and then the opportunities to educate girls can begin to be put into place.

A New Emphasis on the Importance of Educating Women is Taking Place in Some Progressive Countries

Of course, some emerging countries are doing an excellent job when it comes to promoting education for women. These are the countries that can act a models for other nations. If we can get the nations that are falling behind in education for women to do what these progressive nations are doing, it will benefit women everywhere. Plus, the very real benefits being seen in the more progressive countries by educating their women can be shown to other countries, so their leaders will see that letting women get an education really does benefit the entire country.

Some of the countries that are ahead of the curve when it comes to getting women the educational opportunities they need and deserve include:

UAE
Qatar
Oman
Jordan
Saudi Arabia

These are the Gulf States. While Saudi Arabia is still woefully behind when it comes to giving freedom to women, it is at least making a strong effort to educate them. the other Gulf States are more progressive in both freedom for women and education.

The education of girls in these countries has come about largely due to the technology booms there that followed the development of their oil fields. This development led to closer ties with western nations, and those nations wanted to see a greater priority put on education for girls. The Gulf States knew what their western partners wanted to see and hear from them in this area, and so made educating girls such a priority that there is now a gender gap forming in those nations, with more girls becoming highly educated than boys, and getting better grades (5).

While something will need to be done to equalize this divide to make things fair for everyone, the fact that girls now have such wonderful access to high levels of education in these nations is significant, and shows it can be done in other places, as well, if the proper efforts are made to create the necessary desire in those nations where girls don’t have good access to education. The example of the Gulf States shows how prioritizing education for girls can make a difference even in the most sexist of societies.

Lack of Equal Pay for Equal Work is Still a Problem, Even for Educated Women in First World Countries

Equal pay for equal work is still an issue for women in most parts of the world, even for educated women, and even in places like the USA and the UK. First world countries now have the luxury to do something about it, as their female populations are being educated equally with the males. In fact, President Obama’s first bill that he signed into law when he took office in 2009 was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was meant to ensure women got paid equally to men for equal jobs, and to allow women to recoup lost wages when they should have been paid the same as men in a job but weren’t (6).

This is an excellent avenue to pursue in emerging countries in the future. However, it is first necessary to get women educated equally to men all over the world before equal pay can be pursued. This is how it worked in first world nations, so it can be expected to go the same way elsewhere. Eventually, with a concentrated world effort and global prioritization, women can gain access to equal education. Once they do, they can begin pursuing equal pay, and then and only then will we live in a truly equal society.

Beacons of Hope for the Future of Education for Women Around the World

Educating females has many rewards. The rewards are not only for the women themselves, but for the nations they serve. Women have many wonderful gift just waiting to be shared with society. When they are educated and given the same opportunities as males, there is no limit to what they can do and accomplish, and their contributions will only benefit us all.

People like Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Argentinian President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner and other prominent female leaders around the world serve as beacons of hope to women everywhere that they, too, can one day rise to the heights of power and influence through the magic of education. these are all highly educated women who are making significant contributions to the betterment of the planet.

Even in emerging nations, there are some female leaders, though they are so far few and far between. Pakistan once had a female Prime Minister, as did India. Africa has had three female heads of state so far, with the most recent being Central African Republic interim president Catherine Samba-Panza (7). These were all women who had access to education, even higher education, and they serve as inspirational figures to young women everywhere as to what they can achieve if given the right educational opportunities. The world is ripe for the picking for the girls of today, and they have so much to give and to offer toward the betterment of our planet. We must do everything within our power to make sure they get the opportunities they need to shine as brightly as possible.

Sources

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