GENDER-RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY AWARENESS: INSIGHTS FROM EDUCATORS AND ACADEMIC LEADERS OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN ETHIOPIA
Authors:   Madda Walabu University, Totoba Baru Aboma , Mészáros György ,   ELTE-Eotvos Lorand University
Published: February 2025

Gender-responsive pedagogy refers to teaching methods that respond to the specific learning needs
and experiences of males and females. It plays a crucial role in overcoming the widespread gender gap in
education by promoting equal opportunities for students regardless of their gender. A number of studies
address the problems of gender equality in the Ethiopian education system. However, none of them address
the question of whether teachers and academic leaders are aware of gender-responsive pedagogy, which
could be one of the factors perpetuating gender inequality in the country’s educational institutions.
Therefore, this study aims to address this gap by defining the level of awareness of gender-responsive
pedagogy among teachers and academic leaders in some selected public universities in Ethiopia. This type
of study could contribute to an improvement and broader international discussion on gender inequality
from the perspective of teaching methods used by teachers. The objective of this study was to explore the
awareness of gender-responsive pedagogy among teachers and academic leaders in public universities
in Ethiopia. The study also aims to identify the solutions proposed by the participants to improve the awareness of gender-responsive pedagogy among teachers and academic leaders. Investigating university
teachers’ and academic leaders’ awareness of gender-responsive pedagogy helps to understand the extent
to which they recognize and address gender bias in teaching practice. In this sense, this study explores
the awareness of gender-responsive pedagogy among teachers and academic leaders in selected public
universities in Ethiopia using critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework.
Methodology. The aim of this study was to explore teachers’ and academic leaders’ awareness
of gender-responsive pedagogy and participants’ proposed solutions. Madda Walabu, Arsi and Ambo
universities were included in this study using purposive sampling as the researcher had very close contact
with these universities as a student and academic staff member. The researcher believes that this could
facilitate data collection. An exploratory qualitative research method was used with a semi-structured
interview as the main instrument of data collection. To explore the awareness of gender-responsive
pedagogy among educators and academic leaders in three selected public universities in Ethiopia, seven
academic leaders (two faculty deans and five academic programme leaders) and six university teachers,
a total of 13 participants (teachers and academic leaders) were included in this study by the means of
purposive sampling. All the selected academic leaders and teachers have teaching experience in more
than one public universities in Ethiopia, which can enrich the sample of this study. All the participants
are involved in teaching activities and can share their experience and knowledge on gender-responsive
pedagogy. In addition, the participants are from diverse fields of study and experiences which supports
the inclusion of different experiences and perspectives in this study. The data collected for this study was
analysed qualitatively. Accordingly, the data analysis involved various processes to transform the collected
data into a form of explanation, understanding and interpretation of the participants’ awareness of
gender-responsive pedagogy. The data analysis for this study was done by transcribing the data collected
through semi-structured interviews from the teachers and academic leaders into appropriate textual
units and reading them repeatedly to understand the meanings in the data. After the transcribed data
were thoroughly read and understood, they were coded and transformed into categories (or themes). The
themes for data analysis in this study were derived from the basic research questions guiding this study.
Accordingly, the gender awareness of teachers and academic leaders and the solutions proposed by the
participants are the themes for data analysis in this study. Finally, the data were interpreted beyond the
codes and themes to capture the larger meaning of the data.
Findings. The findings of this study show a lack of awareness and training on gender-responsive
pedagogy among the educators and academic leaders of the selected public universities in Ethiopia. The
teachers and academic leaders in the selected public universities in Ethiopia lack awareness and training on
gender-responsive pedagogy but recognize the importance of gender equality in teaching and leadership
positions. These participants proposed solutions such as continuous gender-responsive pedagogy training,
university support and commitment for the implementation of gender-responsive pedagogy and integrating
gender-responsive pedagogy into teachers’ education curricula.
Conclusion. Based on the findings of this study, we conclude that teachers and academic leaders
who lack awareness of gender-responsive pedagogy contribute to the perpetuation of systemic gender
inequalities that impact society. To mitigate these problems, it is important that universities provide
training and resources for gender-responsive pedagogy for all at the selected public universities in Ethiopia.
It is critical that policy makers, university leaders and educators work together to effectively promote
awareness and practice of gender-responsive pedagogy and create a more inclusive education system in
Ethiopia.