Empowering Women Through Education
ROLE OF EDUCATION IN
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Education is everything. Education can open doors that people didn’t even know existed and expand their worldviews without having to travel across the globe. Expanding one’s horizon through boosting their curiosity and fostering a growth mindset is game-changing for anyone, especially those in poverty-stricken areas who don’t have the tradition of education built into their cultures. It is particularly transformative for women and girls.
We can’t deny that we live in a male-dominated society. Many organizations exist to help bring gender diversity and balance to our world, but the main driver to give women a voice and equal opportunity in the workforce is education. At the moment, globally, 119 million girls are not in school across primary and upper-secondary school, and we need to change that. The days where we shut our girls away from education and force them to become homemakers are in the past!
The role of education in women empowerment is hugely important, and NARA Education recognizes its severity and is working relentlessly to provide education to girls and equality through education.
Stronger Sense of Purpose
When girls have access to education, they are already assured that their brains, opinions, and lives matter, instilling in them a sense of purpose. If teachers and family members trust them to learn and to use the material they learn in their lives, that already gives the girls a strong sense of purpose in the world, reinforcing that they are valued. And the main problem in most countries, especially poverty stricken ones, is that women and girls are not valued as equal members of the society.
A girl with a clear purpose and view of what she wants to do becomes incredibly independent because she has the educational foundation and the confidence in herself to make her own decisions about her own life, instead of being at the whim of the males in her society. This is a strong example of using education to empower girls.
Confidence and Mental Health
Similarly, girls also gain confidence through education. When we provide education to girls through school, they are encouraged to think critically and question things in order to form their own opinions on the world they live in. If they develop their own solid grasp of what their life and the world is about, then they gain the confidence to take an active role in it. Girls and women get the confidence through education to craft big goals and know they have the tools to achieve them. As a result, they become leaders in their communities and serve as positive examples.
Economic Stability
Once women gain self purpose and confidence through education, they know they are fully equipped to join the workforce, take on community leadership roles, and wholly contribute to society. All of these steps result in women taking higher paid and more elevated job opportunities and seizing control of their finances. Women become free thinkers and completely independent as a result, making this the most tangible and important role of education in women empowerment.
Economically independent women also have the knowledge and the capacity to make informed decisions for themselves and their families across the board. They have better access to health information like nutrition, mental, and reproductive health that all contribute to building stronger, more stable families and individuals. Societies become stronger when women have agency over their own lives and pass that empowerment to future generations.
Greater Workforce Diversity and Gender Equality
Education to empower girls is only achievable if the gender gap in schools and society is directly addressed and abolished. Equality through education is possible, but it is a large global commitment with many factors and nuances. For example, the World Bank has laid out a global Gender Strategy for the next few years that promotes gender equality in societies. Their final goal is to engage women as leaders, as there is evidence that societies with women involved as decision makers are more economically robust and cohesive.
Research shows that countries with greater gender equality in the workforce have higher GDPs, especially in countries like the United States. A study conducted from 2018 to 2022 shows the steady increase in the number of women in the American labor force who have a college degree, even through the turbulence of the pandemic. The numbers keep growing to this day, and women make up more than half of the educated workforce in the United States.
Equality through education is not only essential to close the cultural and educational gender gap, but it can also help lift all children out of poverty, not just girls and women. Educated boys who go to school with strong and confident women will build up respect for them, resulting in less opposition in the workforce and more societal cohesion with better openness to empowered women in leadership roles.
Barriers to Provide Education to Girls
The reasons speak for themselves on the importance of the role of education in women empowerment, and it seems like a no brainer to so many of us to provide education to girls and give them equal access. However, there are so many barriers that make it seem almost impossible to achieve this important goal.
In many poverty-stricken countries, there are cultural reasons why women are seen as second-class citizens and discouraged from gaining an education, making it very dangerous for those who try. Gender-based violence in schools and forced child marriages are just a couple of examples of the dangers that work against providing education to girls. In some societies, outspoken women are seen as scandalous and dangerous and are dealt with violently.
Most importantly, the lack of financial means and opportunity to send girls to school are major factors in those areas where they would like to send girls to school, but can’t. Most families can’t afford the fees, books, uniforms, or the lack of income that could result when a girl is in school instead of working.
This is where organizations like Unicef, World Bank, and NARA Education are the most valuable because they recognize the importance of using education to empower girls, and build the awareness to overcome these hurdles.
Conclusion
The world can be changed for the better when we provide education to girls. Empowering girls and women through education not only builds up their own confidence and sense of purpose, but promotes their agency to gain economic stability, take action in their communities, and contribute to more equal and thriving societies on both the micro and macro levels.
NARA Education recognizes the role of education in women empowerment and promotes the elevation of girls and women as equal members of society in our schools and our education technology.
Donate now to see how you can help girls find their agency and help their communities thrive.
Ilona Sindhu
Ilona is a writer focused on Old Norse mythology, drawing from her Hungarian, Pakistani, and American roots. She holds a BA in Dramaturgy and Theatre History from NYU and a Master’s in Religion and Literature from the University of Edinburgh. Her work blends myth, culture, and storytelling across borders.
