In the year 2000, the United Nations conceived eight “Millennium Development goals.” Countries agreed to achieve the goals by 2015 though 2005 had been touted as a desirable date. Goal 2 urged member states to achieve universal primary education by ensuring increased enrolment and that boys and girls complete primary education. Goal 3 aimed to promote gender equality and empower women by eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education at all levels by 2015. Eight years after the conception of these noble goals, how does Africa feature in the equation?

Empowering of women in the education sector begins with empowering the girl child in the lower levels of the educational ladder. Tragically, the African Education system and culture appear to be unsupportive of the girl child. This development is a negation of  the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women promulgated in 1979. One is tempted to accuse the political field as a key source of women absence and attendant predicaments in most societies.

Why are few women in positions of power and influence?

National parliaments play a pivotal role in promulgating presumably progressive policies. If a particular gender is underrepresented in the august house, how then does one expect ‘progressive’ policies to come out of it? The percentage of women parliamentarians in most African (and even developed) countries is low. The percentage roughly translates to about 30%. Below is a summary table of the percentage of women parliamentarians in selected African countries for the period 1990 to 2007.

Percentage of Women Parliamentarians in Selected Countries by year.

(Source: (http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Default.aspx )

The table demonstrates a bleak history and future for the women folk and mirrors the status and insignificant presence of the women in the respective states. Only Rwanda is an appreciable but belated exception. The statistics are not so different from those in all other sectors particularly education.

African countries have common attributes-most of which are colonial legacies. Colonialism created a culture of marginalization and subjugation of the women folk. Opportunities for blacks, and within that racial block, were severely limited. Within the black population, overt practices discriminated against the education of girls and women in general. Women were, and to some extent, continue to be perceived as wives and mothers. The culture of marginalisation and oppression of the women folk has persisted to this day.

In a Zimbabwean study that I conducted, one rural based school head gave a classic epitome of the ripple effects of colonialism when she said that during the colonial era, women could not accrue the number of years to be recognised as experienced, for each time they gave birth, they had to resign and rejoin the service as a new appointee. This practice was well documented in the rules and regulations governing teachers. Because uninterrupted or continuous teaching experience was a prerequisite for advancement into headship, Zimbabwean women teachers found themselves ‘lacking’ requisite experience.  As such, they were sidelined when opportunities did arise in the eighties and nineties.

My late mother, Agnes, was one such victim. She begun her teaching career in 1958 and for the eleven years that followed, she was on and off work as she had sire her six children. Official records later revealed that she had “begun working” as a teacher in 1970 (her last born was in1969). She retired in 2002 and never saw the door of school administration despite her massive teaching experience. Many other women were disadvantaged by colonialism (effects) this way. One may safely assume that this practice was prevalent in colonies under British administration.

Social and cultural norms for gender appear to be the greatest undoing for most women who wish to venture into school administration. With the attainment of political independence, economic, social, legal and political practices that impinged upon the advancement of African women were expected to be overcome. Apart from colonialism, the under representation of women particularly in education has been attributed to a host of social, attitudinal and policy factors in most African States. Available evidence shows that women are still disadvantaged in the education sector though they comprise an increasing share of the world's labour force - at least one third in all regions except in northern Africa (UN (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics). The data for Egypt is illustrative. The Beijing platform for Action has interpreted this development as a form of violence against women. According to the forum, violence perpetrated on girls and women takes many forms. This may be physical, sexual or psychological. Access to power particularly in educational administration can be interpreted as psychological violence.

The Universal declaration of Human Rights empowers every citizen to partake in the activities of ones country. Despite such calls for gender and equality, women are significantly under-represented in Governments, political parties and at the United Nations. These factors hinge on culture. Culture is an impediment because women have been traditionally assumed to be domestic or household managers. Furthermore, women, themselves, are said to possess a low self esteem- a result of gender stereotypic notions cultivated by predominantly patriarchal societies.

National educational policies of some African countries have tended to be subtly discriminatory. In Zanzibar for, instance unmarried girls below twenty years who fall pregnant are jailed for two years despite a 1996 law that allows such girls to continue with their education. Furthermore, the constitution of mainland Tanzania is not explicit as regards its condemnation of discrimination on the basis of sex, age or disability though official pronouncements discourage such practices. Consequently the number of girls in schools is lower than those of boys.

Studies by Evetts, (2000) have revealed that the career trajectory and demographic patterns of personnel in organisations, indicate gender differences.  Women, for instance, are said to be absent in the upper echelons of organisations as well as specific professions like technical and commercial sectors (Evetts, 2000; UNICEF: 1994). The few women who make it to the top are viewed as being on a ‘dangerous cliff’ or ‘greasy pole’ and they, in the African context earn labels as ‘unfeminine’ or ‘social males.’ Fortunately, women are challenging the stereotypes responsible for their predicament. More female teachers are applying for leadership positions as Governments continue to challenge them to do so. For instance, a circular from the Public Service of Zimbabwe reported that a  number of females had been identified for promotion in such positions as  school deputy head among others.

Zimbabwe had few female primary schools heads. Very little was known of their leadership and managerial styles. Chabaya O. in an unpublished doctoral thesis entitled Factors Responsible for the Persistent Under-representation of Women School Heads in Masvingo District of Zimbabwe revealed that as of June 2004, Masvingo province had 246 secondary schools but only 14 (5.60 percent) were female-headed and 8 (3.25 percent) had female deputy heads. There were also 693 primary schools, 68 (9.81 percent) of which were female-headed while 56 (8.08 percent) had female deputy heads. Such discrepancies reflect the situations pertaining in all other provinces and countries. Recently, Gwaradzimba E. in An Investigation Into the Causes, Nature and Consequences of the Brain Drain from Institutions of Higher Learning in Zimbabwe During the Period 2000-2005 (unpublished doctoral thesis) noted a markedly low participation of women in Zimbabwe’s institutions of higher learning. Respondents to her questionnaire on the Zimbabwe brain drain debate revealed a 68% and 87% participation rate by males resident in the country and the Diaspora respectively. Hence her observation that data portrayed typical gender bias in these institutions. Such scenarios are attributed to discrimination against women in education as well as negative notions portrayed by the media.  

Current trends however suggest that women are beginning to break the ‘glass ceiling’ that had been denying them leadership positions in organisations as society begins utilizing their effective leadership styles.