Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice

ISSN: 2630-5984

Educational Empowerment and Gender Equality: Exploring The Role of Education in Women's Liberation

Simei Wang
Ph.D candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan, Bangi, Malaysia
Kim Ling Geraldine Chan
Ph.D, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan, Bangi, Malaysia.
Azlina Abdullah
Ph.D, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan, Bangi, Malaysia.

Abstract

The present article aims at revealing the perception of “women “empowerment”” in the framework of such a philosophy. It presents the four kinds of ““empowerment””: “political”, “economic”, “knowledge” as well as “psychological” based on empirical research. The highest probability of success of emancipation through education can be achieved as part of non-formal education for changing gendered norms and practices for corrective actions. Therefore, according to the paper, there is a need to employ both micro and macro level changes in order to create a new gender dissection among labour with the focus on the private sector which, as mentioned above, denies women availability and possibilities of transformative action. Hence, women’s liberation and advancement are highly dependent on the attainment of agency at the individual and group levels. For this to work, women led “non-governmental organizations (NGOs)” need to be involved. Considering the encounters related to policies, the last part of the article is devoted. This particular research also argued that the perceptions of female Chinese school leaders were more pessimistic than those of their male counterparts regarding the prospects of gender equity in modern China. However, most of our participants portrayed a positive attitude on gender relationships in Chinese academic institutions, with many confidently believing that they were striving towards the attainment of gender equity for all of their students. Women’s liberation is still a rich theoretical potential which has been never operationalized and strengthened let alone actualized to the possibility which means that there is a need for critical questioning of the normative meaning of the term and claim that it must be treated as serious theory of transformation in gender relations.

Keywords
Gender Equality; Women “empowerment”; Education Programs; Non-Formal Education (NFE); Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)..