[previous] [next] [Table of Contents]
WOMEN AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Education
The education that young women get has an effect on the access women have to decision making. Young women are often limited to domestic training while men study in the areas of math and science. This perpetuates gender roles and stereotypes rather than allowing young people to explore new opportunities.
The education that is available to women does not take into consideration the experience and perspectives of women. This can mean that the curriculum is irrelevant and often isolating to female students. Similarly, the experience and traditional knowledge of women is largely unrecognized in formal institutions like schools.
In many countries, female children do not have the same access to schools that men have. Two out of every three illiterate people in the world are women (Poverty's Women, World Vision Canada). This is aggravated by the social restrictions and expectations placed on women. Female children are often taken out of school at an early age to look after younger siblings, to help at home or to marry.
Women play an important role as educators. Teaching is usually one of the main areas of employment open to women. However, the higher the level of study, the fewer female teachers. In secondary schools in all areas but Latin America and the Caribbean, male teachers outnumber female teachers (The World's Women 1970-1990, United Nations). In most places, the responsibility for child care still belongs to women. It is women who spend time with children in their first few years. This is just one of the expectations of women, whether they are educated or not.