With the goal of making higher education being accessible to all, primary, secondary, continued learning and retraining programmes need adjustment to ensure this accessibility. Although overall enrollment figures for women and girls in secondary and higher education have increased, disparities still exist, particularly in the developing world. Institutions of learning must be flexible and responsive to the needs of women throughout their lifespan for training and retraining, and take into account their often dual roles of caring for their families and life at work. The role of poverty in preventing access to education, including higher education, needs to be addressed as education can often provide escape from cycles of poverty and deprivation - particularly for women and girls who constitute such a high proportion of the world s poor. Women graduates are part of the essential human resource base of each country.
Women still earn less on average than men with equivalent levels of education.
Equal pay for equal work, as recognized by the Declaration of Human Rights, must be enforced legally by governments. Successive UN Conferences over this past decade have emphasized the need for active participation of women in positions of power and decision-making to effect positive social change. Higher education is the key to women reaching positions of power and decision-making in all sectors of society including educational institutions, government, business and industry. To reach a critical mass to effect change more women must be encouraged and supported to continue their education particularly in areas where they have been under-represented such as in science and technology. Equitable distribution of women in leadership positions in both the academic and administrative spheres of educational institutions is essential.