Hunger and Thirst of Women for Accessing Higher Education in the 21st Century

Abstract

Abstract

Offerings of Women in the Transformation of African Higher Education: A Retrospective Overview

“…Notwithstanding the many challenges that mitigate women’s success in higher education, such as colonization legacies and the gendered dichotomy or disequilibrium of higher education, African women seek higher education passionately, realizing that it is a major means of liberating themselves (Mama & Barnes, 2007; Potokri, 2014b). The antecedents to the energy that women pour into Africa’s educational and intellectual development are evident in the memoirs of early women educators like Charlotte Maxeke of South Africa, Constance Cummings-John of Liberia, Ekpo and Funmilayo Kuti both of Nigeria among others, who all contributed immensely toward the development of higher education across the continent (Mama & Barnes, 2007).…”

“…These inequalities do not only shape the sector but affect the aspirations of men and women differently (Perumal, 2003). In recent times, with the increase in hunger and thirst for higher education by women together with supportive policies, women inclusion in higher education is beginning to show some form of improvement (Potokri, 2014b). The work of Davies Norman (1984) titled Heart of Europe , and that of Kornat and Micgiel (2007), The Policy of Equilibrium and Polish Bilateralism , indicate that there is nothing about us without us (literally nothing about women without women); therefore, it becomes imperative to ruminate that women themselves have in one way or the other contributed to the development or transformation of higher education on the continent of Africa, especially when their inclusion, one of the key themes in African renaissance, is espoused.…”

“…Neoliberalism in this regard conceptualizes the individual as following her/his interest as an autonomous entrepreneur. It implies further that women, as individuals, have the right to pursue their educational self-interests, which will obviously boost economic benefits for them and their families, as well as for society at large (see Potokri, 2014b).…”