Women’s Education Worldwide

The following is an excerpt from an article contributed by Jerri Guo. To view the full article, click the link below.

Women’s Education Worldwide – English (PDF)

Among other factors, education has remained a critical indicator of women’s well-being. According to studies published by NCES (National Centre of Education Statistics), women in developed countries have surpassed men at many levels of education. For example, in the United States in 2005/2006, women earned 62% of Associates degrees, 58% of Bachelors degrees, 60% of Masters degrees, and 50% of Doctorates. However, contrasting the progress in the developed world, women’s education in developing countries still poses challenges that must be addressed with more effective measures.

Improvement in women’s educational situation will lead to higher quality of life and national economic development in a number of significant ways:

• Higher industrial productivity
• Improvement in hygiene and nutritional practices
• Reduction of child and maternal mortality
• Reduction and control of sexually transmitted diseases
• Effective population control

Significance of Education for Women

Although new opportunities are increasingly becoming available to women even in developing countries, a significant number of women in those societies are not in a position to seize them. A number of factors are responsible for the special difficulty faced by women in traditional societies, such as cultural and financial constraints that unfortunately result in fewer women entering into secondary and tertiary education. This constitutes a severe social setback for both men and women in that a low percentage of women having access to tertiary education social productivity in both political and economic sectors.

Therefore, professional education for women is key to promoting sustainable development in this age of science and technology. For the long-term stability and prosperity of civil society, every country must cultivate resources that contribute to competent female leadership through higher education.

• Distance learning
• Women  Hostels
• Integration of domestic practices and health education at school
• Combating exploitation of child labor
• Alternative sources of funding for schooling in particular tertiary education

Resources and Links

UNGEI: United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative
http://www.ungei.org/index.php

CBE International: Christians for Biblical Equality
http://www.cbeinternational.org/

CARE
http://www.care.org/

Global Campaign for Education
http://www.campaignforeducation.org/

SSA: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, India’s flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE)
http://ssa.nic.in/

World Education
http://www.worlded.org/WEIInternet/index.cfm

Ambassadors’ Girls’ Scholarship Program
http://agsp.worlded.org/