01. N’Dri T. Assié-Lumumba, ed., Africana Studies and Research Center
N’Dri T. Assié-Lumumba
Women and Higher Education in Africa: Reconceptualizing Gender-Based Human Capabilities and Upgrading Human Rights to Knowledge (CEPARRED, 2007). This collection of studies, also forthcoming in French and Arabic, contributes to the discourse on education, gender equality, and social development in African countries. The focus on women’s access and participation in higher education has emerged as a popular topic of study among African scholars. The book points out that no African country has achieved universal primary education, much less the goal of ensuring access to higher education. The majority of Africa’s women and girls have been denied access to education, which in turn is an economic and political issue. Within the context of social, economic, and political reforms, gender inequality has not been systematically, consistently, and seriously addressed, although scholars and institutions have identified inequality in all sectors of education in Africa as one of the most important internal factors that continues to contribute to the underdevelopment of Africa. The book brings analytical insight to the dynamic relationship between higher education and other levels of the educational system and between education and other social institutions.