metadata: authors: 0: author: Dundar, Halil
1: author: Haworth, Jennifer
docna: 0: docna: Improving women's access to higher
            education : a review of World Bank project experience
docty: Policy Research Working Paper
subtopic: Labor Markets,Tertiary Education,Educational Sciences,Educational Institutions & Facilities,Gender and Development,Effective Schools and Teachers,Rural Labor Markets
teratopic: Education
abstracts: cdata!: World Bank project experience on what
            works to improve women's access to tertiary education
            is so limited that it may be premature to draw firm
            conclusions. Many of the projects with interesting multiple
            interventions are ongoing. But two conclusions emerge.
            First, the most essential factor for successful intervention
            seems to be a strong demand for educated women in the labor
            market combined with a high private demand for higher
            education by women (and their parents). How well a project
            succeeds depends on the extent to which project components
            are sensitive to the local situation in terms of these
            factors. Projects with often only a single intervention were
            successful in societies where the formal labor market is
            growing and there are few social constraints or
            qualifications to inhibit women's participation.
            Projects with single interventions are unlikely to succeed
            with such pervasive social factors as low secondary
            enrollment rates for women, high direct costs for female
            education, and heavy cultural restrictions in the labor
            market. Second, the link between programs offered and labor
            market demands is critical. High secondary enrollment rates,
            heavy private demand for women's education, and the
            availability of student places do not necessarily guarantee
            an increase in women's participation in higher
            education - unless the programs are dovetailed to meet the
            specific demands of the labor market. It is not enough to
            overcome social barriers through policy interventions.
            Projects must take an integrated view of social and labor
            market constraints. The Bank seems to be moving in a
            positive direction as more projects are addressing and
            taking action against gender inequities today than they did
            in the 1970s. Of the projects introducing gender-specific
            interventions, 62 percent were developed in the past five
            years (1987-92). Some recent Bank projects have multiple,
            interrelated interventions. Initial project results indicate
            that this combined (package) approach, made
            country-specific, could well increase female participation
            in higher education.
repnme: repnme: Improving women's access to higher
            education : a review of World Bank project experience
display_title: Improving women's access to
            higher education : a review of World Bank project experience
listing_relative_url: /research/1993/02/437307/improving-womens-access-higher-education-review-world-bank-project-experience
topicv3: Tertiary Education m1326349 482,Labor Markets m1326488 855,Teacher Training m1326786 1532,Education m1327048 470,Gender m1327621 615
publishtoextweb_dt: 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z
historic_topic: Education
origu: Poverty Division (PRMPO)
no_of_pages: 75
model_extractions: <!-- Start of picture text --> Policy Research<br>Wmen In Development<br><!-- End of picture text --> WPS 1106 This paper is a product of the Education and Social Policy Department. Copies of the paper are available free from the World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433. Please contact Stella David, room S2-270, extension 33752 (February 1993, 66 pages).

World Bank project experience on what works to improve women's access to tertuary education is so limited that it may be premature to draw firm conclusions. Many of the projects with interesting multiple interventions are ongoing. But two conclusions emerge.

First, the most essential factor for successful intervention seems to be a strong demand for educated women in the labor market combined with a high private demand for higher education by women (and their parents). How well a project succeeds depends on the extent to which project components are sensitive to the local situation in tetns of these factors.

Projects wsith often only a single intervention were succesbi ul in societies where the fonnal labor market is growing and there are few social constraints or qualifications to inhibit women's participation. Projects with single interventions are unlikely to succeed with such pervasive social factors as low secondary enrollment rates for women, high direct costs for female education, and heavy cultural restrictions in the labor market.

Second, the link between programs offered and labor market demands is critical. High secondary enrollment rates, heavy private demand for women's education, and the availability of student places do not necessarily guarantee an increase in women's participation - in higher education unless the programs are dovetailed to meet the specific demands of the labor market. It is not enough to overcome social barriers through policy interventions. Projects must take an integrated view of social and labor market constraints.

The Bank seems to be moving in a positive direction as more projects are addressing and taking action against gender inequities today than they did in the 1970s. Of the projects introducing gender-specific interventions, 62 percent were developed in the past five years (1987-92). Some recent Bank projects have multiple, interrelated interventions.

Initial project results indicate that this combined ("package") approach, made countryspecific, could well increase female participation in higher education.

The Policy Research Working PaperSeriesdisseminates the fidings of work under way in theBank. Anobjecrve ofthe series is to get these findings out quickly, even if presentations are less than ftuly polished. The fndings, interpretations, and conclusions in these papers do not necessarily represent of ficial Bank policy.

Produced by thie Policy Research Disseniination Center
# IMPROVING WOMEN'S ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION: A **REVIEW** OF WORLD **BANK** PROJECT **ERE**

by Halil Dundar Jennffer Haworth Women In Development Division Population and Humn Resources Department The World Bank
1.............

# Table of Contents

|Executive Summary ...........................................<br>vi|
|---|
|Introduction ..<br>1|
|I. Methodology and Data ...............<br>3|
|<br>A. Methodology ...............<br>3|
|<br>B.Data ...............<br>3|
|H. Trends in the Bank's Lending to Higher Education.<br>_5_|
|<br>A. 1972-1981<br>_.5_|
|B. 1982-1992 .7|
|C. Regional Distribution<br>.7|
|**M.**Constraints and Interventions .12|
|A. Identified Constraints in the Bank Projects .12|
|<br>B. Analysis of Interventions .17|
|IV. Quality of Interventions .29|
|V. Lessons From Bank Experience.<br>30|
|<br>A. Project Results .32|
|<br>B. Approaches in the Ongoing Projects for Which<br>Results are not Available.<br>3.|
|C. Effective Approaches Under Diverse Socio-Economic Setting .40|
|VI. Concluding Remarks .45|
|References .47|
# Appendices

|Appendix Table 1: Constraints and Interventions<br>in theBank's<br>Higher<br>EducationProjects.........................<br>.<br>_50_|
|---|
|Appendix Table 2: Results of Bank-Assisted Interventions to Improve<br>Femiale Higher Education ...................................<br>_55_|
|Appendix Table 3: Recent and Ongoing Bank-Assisted<br>Interventions to Improve Female Access to Higher Education .............<br>62|
|**List**of Tables|
|Table 1: Review of Bank-Assisted Higher Education Projects<br>.<br>..................<br>6|
|Table 2: Qualitative and Quantitative Treatment of<br>Gender-Specific Interventions ................................<br>31|
|Table 3: Characteristics of Countries and Promising Approaches:<br>A Typology from Bank Experience ...........................<br>41|
|List<br>of Figres|
|Figurela:HigherEducation Projects and Project Investment: 1972-1981 ....<br>...<br>...<br>. 8|
|Figure lb: Higher Education Projects and Project Investment: 1982-1992 ....<br>.......<br>8|
|Figure 2a: Projects Acknowledging Gender as an Issue and Project Investment: 1972-1981 9|
|Figure 2b: Projects Acknowledging Gender as an Issue and Project Investment: 1982-1992 9|
|Figure 3a: Projects with Interventions and Project Investnent: 1972-1981 ....<br>......<br>11|
|Figure 3b: Projects with Interventions and Project Investment: 1982-1981 ....<br>......<br>11|
|Figure 4: Specific Interventions by Type .............................<br>_20_|
# List of Boxes

|Box 1: Projects Without a Critical Analysis of Constraints ...................|16|
|---|---|
|Box 2: Increasing Women's Access to Traditional Fields ....................|19|
|Box 3: Yemen's Experience in Raising Female Enrollment ...................|26|
|Box 4: Pacific Countries Study in Raising Female Enrollment .................|37|
|Box 5: Package Approaches to Overcome the Constraints on Women's<br>Higher Education: Examples from Recent Bank-Assisted Projects ...<br>.|.....<br>38|
|Box 6: India's Experience in Raising Enrollment: A Case of Package Approach ...|... 39|
# Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the World Bank for providing us an opportunity to work as summer interns. This paper was written under the guidance of K. Subbarao. We are very grateful to him for spending so much of his time and effort guiding us through at every stage of this work, and for reading and editing successive drafts of this paper. It would have ueen impossible to get the required data base and material without the active and generous support of Laura Raney. We are very grateful to her for patiently helping us through the entire course of this assignment. We benefitted a great deal from comments and advice from Barbara Herz, Roger Slade and Guilherme Sedlacek. An early draft of this paper was presented at a Bank-wide seminar; we wish to thank the participants for their very helpful comments and suggestions. We also wish to thank several task managers in various Regions of the Bank and the Education Division for briefing us on past and ongoing Bank projects. Finally, Pauline R. Griller-Mitchell and Maria Abundo made our stay and work environment remarkably friendly and congenial; we are much obliged to them.
# IMPROVING **WOMEN'S** ACCESS TO **HIGHER** EDUCATION: A REVIEW OF **WORLD** BANK **PROJECT** EXPERIENCE

## lntroductie'

Although higher educational institutions have expanded in developing countries, participaaun rate for females at the post-secondary level continue to be considerably lower than for males. Clearly, gender parity in enrollments in higher education has not received as much attention as expansion of places. The disparity is most strongly evident in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. Even where gender parity may have been achieved, gender-streaming of disciplines persists, with women mostly concentrated in traditional fields.

Education of women is important not only from the angle of equal education opportunity between the sexes, but also for the substantial social and economic returns to female educc;on that can be achieved by raising women's productivity and income level, producing better educated and healthier children, and reducing fertility rates (Schultz 1989; Herz et al. 1991; Subbarao and Raney 1992; Summers 1992). Investments in higher education, particularly in developing countries, have high private rates of return measured by associated wage increases reflecting the existence of productive opportunities in the labor market. Wide gender disparity suggests pdrma **fac** that a large number of potential candidates are denied the opportunity to particir-f2e actively in productive activities and contribute to faster economic development.

The World Bank began lending for education in 1963. The shift in Bank' investment precipitated from changes in economic thought in the early 1960s when education came to be seen as a critical investment in human capital, essential to the development process. The objectives of many early education projects were to build infrastructures such as schools and to develop educational planning capacity. Since the early 1980s, the Bank projects have introduced policy reforms affecting the expansion, financing and internal efficiency especially of higher I The v.i rd "Bank" used in this paper refers to the World Bank.
-2 -

education systems. The reforms were designed to reduce uncontrolled growth of higher education expenditures by capping university intake, limiting grants and subsidies to students, introducing student fees, and rationalizing academic programs and staffing (Eisemon, 1992).

Despite the persistence of gender disparity in higher education in most developing countries, Bank projects between 1970-1985 rarely mentioned gender disparity as an issue or introduced significant olicies to overcome it. More significantly, there was no coherent Bank policy regarding women's access to education in general and to higher education in particular.

Since the mid-1980s, however, the Bank projects have increasingly paid attention to gender issues in higher education projects, notwithstanding the lack of a coherent policy regarding women's access to higher education. The purpose of this paper is to review Bank project experience in higher education over the last two decades and answer the question: How have gender issues been treated in the Bank projects for higher education? The specific objectives of the study are to: (a) assess how much attention the Bank has given to gender issues in post-secondary education; (b) examine what (if any) policies have been explicitly tried to increase women's access; (c) identify, on the basis of project experience, promising approaches to reduce the gender gap in higher education; and d) make recommendations for the treatment of gender issues in future higher education projects.

The analysis focuses especially on policies and project components which have been effective in increasing women's opportunities in higher education and draws lessons for the future. The first section reviews the methodology and data sources used for the study. Section 2 examines trends the Bank's lending to higher education projects by regions and over time (1972-1981 and 1982-1992) from a gender perspective. In section 3, we analyze the constraints and interventions by region. Section 4 provides an analysis of projects with specific interventions to increase female enrollment. In the final section, promising approaches and lessons learned are examined with the hope of improving women's access to higher education for future higher education projects.
**-3-**

# **I.** METHODOLOGY AND DATA

# **1. Methodology**

In this study, we cover all Bank education projects with higher education components from 1972-1992, including formal and non-formal programs leading to a degree, certificate or diploma. The study also covers teacher training projects for which secondary degrees are prerequisites for admittance.

In examining Bank education projects with higher education components, we classified them according to their sensitivity to gender disparity in enrollment rates at the tertiary level and the degree to which the projects introduce specific policy interventions to improve women's access to higher education. Thus, there 're two main categories. The first category includes projects which at the minimum recognized gender as an issue through qualitative analysis of women's participation in post-secondary education and/or identified the constraints associated with low levels of enrollment. These are considered as projects which "acknowledge gender". The second includes projects which go beyond merely recognizing gender as an issue and introduce specific interventions to increase female participation and/or access to higher education. The central focus of the paper is on this second category of projects that contained specific policy interventions aimed at promoting greater gender parity. These projects are analyzed separately and in depth.

# B. Data

Primary resources for this study were World Bank Staff Appraisal Reports (SARs) for higher education projects between 1972 and 1992. For the purpose of analysis, we focused on education projects for which higher education comprised 25% or more of the total project cost. These also included education sector projects and teacher training projects.

For assessing possible shifts in the Bank's approach to gender equity in higher education
- 4 -

over time, we analyzed, two tima periods: 1972-1981 and 1982-1992. The expectation is that the Bank may have paid greater attention to gender equity in projects in the more recent period.

Further material was extracted from Project Completion Reports (PCRs) and the Project Performance Audit Reports (PARs) and servei as an evaluative tool for assossing project success in attaining the gender obJectives stated in the SARs. To analyze the preliminary results of recent on-going projects with gender specific interventions, we interviewed project staff for selected countries.

# Limitations of the Study

Notwithstanding the comprehensive coverage, the study has certain limitations in the selection and evaluation of projects. First, the study is limited only to the Bank's experience from 253 education projects with higher education components between 1972-1992. As such, it does not capture non-Bank project experience.

Second, limited gender awareness does not necessarily indicate a significant gender parity problem. For instance, in the Philippines, near parity in higher education enrollment exists. Not surprisingly, projects in the Philippines do not refer to the existence of a gender problem.<sup>2</sup> On the other hand, in th". Gambia, where gender disparity at the tertiary level is great, failure to recognize the inequity would indicate low gender-sensitivity in the Bank-assisted higher education projects.

Analyzing individual projects without understanding the government's overall plan for post-secondary education is not entirely satisfactory. In countries where primary enrollment rates remain excessively low, policies may focus on increasing access to and expansion of basic education, with less regard to gender parity in higher education. With these caveats, lets us examine the trends in Bank lending to higher education.

> 2 However, even in these countries, women may be opting for low-paying, traditional fields of study. This issue of gender streaniing could not be effectively addressed in this paper owing to insufficient data base.
_-5-_

# II. TRENDS **IN** THIE BANK'S LENDiNG **TO HIIHER** kDUCATION

_Overnew:_ Overall, the Bank approved 122 higher education projects between 1972-1981 and 131 projects between 1982-1992 in Africa, East and South Asia, EMENA and Latin America/Caribbean. Of the 122 projects identified between 1972-1981, 32 (or 26% of total projects) acknowledged gender as an issue and 13 (or 11 % of the total projects) introduced significant interventions to overcome gender disparity. The number as well as the proportion of projects addressing gender significantly increased during 1982-1992. Fifty-three (or 41 % of the total higher education projects) recognized gender as an issue while 36 (28%) introduced specific interventions.

_Resources for Gender Specific Interventons:_ Ideally, to determine the most costeffective approaches to increasing ger.der equity in higher education, one would have to examine the costs associated with each gender-specific intervention. This was not possible, given the paucity of disaggregated data from project SARs. We can, however, estimate the amount invested in projects with gender components as a part of total higher education investment. Examination of the total investment allocated to specific projects may illustrate the relative weight placed on projects addressing gender equity within the context of higher education projects. Table 1 below compares the distribution of total number and costs of Bank-assisted higher education projects by region for 1972-1981 and 1982-1992.

A. 1972-1981: The total cost of higher education projects approved between 1972 and 1981 was US $4.2 billion.<sup>3</sup> Interestingly, only 24% ($1 billion) of the total investments in higher education funded projects which acknowledged gerder as an issue. Further, only 41 % of the funding for projects acknowledgin **g** ender as an issue was allocated to projects with genderspecific policies ($420 million or 10% of 1! higher education investments). These figures sugges **t** hat projects acknowledging gender disparity did not receive primary attention from the Bank during the 1970s.

3 All **figures** **_arm_** expressed in 1985 dollars.
Table **1. Rview** of Bank-Assisted liigher Education Projects

|||1972 -|1981|||||1982 -|1992?||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Africa|S.Asia|E.Asia|EMENA|LAC|Total|Africa|S.Asia|E.Aia|EMENA|LAC|Total|
|1.All<br>Education Projects|62|II|36|35|30|174|71|23|58|40|37|229|
|2. EducationP°toics withhighereducation<br>components (inclutling teatcher training)<br>(a) Nuwmberof projcts<br>(b)<br>Total<br>invesument<br>(Millions ofUSsJ|46<br>363.4|6<br>194.9|23<br>2282.7|28<br>1300.4|19<br>65.8|122<br>4207.2|35<br>417.2|13<br>623.6|41<br>5102.2|29<br>1027.1|13<br>622.0|131<br>7792.1|
|3. Thost acknowledgin**g**ender issues<br>(a) Numberof pmojcts<br>(b) Total investment (Millions of USSr|9<br>162.9|3<br>83.6|4<br>T7.5|13<br>669.4|3<br>29.8|32<br>1023.4|9<br>198.6|S<br>530.9|20<br>2310.1|10<br>419.7|6<br>84.3|53<br>3543.6|
|4. Projects with signifrcant attion to addres<br>gender problem.<br>|||||||||||||
|(a) Numbcrof pro.cts<br>|4<br>|2<br>|3<br>|4|2|13|5|6|14|a|3|36|
|(b) Total investment (Millions of USS)_|113.2|71.8|7.8|205.2|21.8|419.9|312.3|520.3|1832.5|321.0|15.8|2800.9|
|5. (a) Row 3as**a**% of mw 2<br>0)Number of projects<br>|19.6%<br>|50.0%<br>|17.4%<br>|46.4%<br>|15.8%|26.2%|25.7%|61.5%|48.7%|34.5%|46.2%|40.5%|
|(ii)Total investmen (Millions of USS)<br>(b) Row4 as a% ofsow 2<br>|44.9%|42.9%|3.4%|51.5%|45.3%|24.3%|47.6%|85.1%|45.3%|40.9%|13.6%|4S.5%|
|(i) Number of projects<br>|8.7%<br>|33.3%<br>|4.3%<br>|14.3%<br>|10.5%<br>|10.6%|14.3%|46.1%|34.1%|27.6%|23.1%|27.5%|
|(6i4Total invcetmcnt (Millions of Uss)|31.2%|36.8%|0.3%|15.8%|33.1%|9.9%|26.9%|83.4%|35.9%|31.3%|2.5%|35.9%|

# Source: World Bank documents.

Notes: -eu-off-<sup>t</sup> date Mcy 31. 1992; **Expressed in 1985 dollars. **0**** lnclwive of monitoring, needs assssment and otber govememtt invterventions.
B. 1982-1992: During the 1980s however, the situation improved with respect to addressing gender issues in higher education projects. While the total investment in Bank-assisted higher education projects was $7.8 billion, investment in projects acknowledging gender as an issue constituted 46% of the total costs for all higher education projects. The investment in projects introducing gender specific policies was 36% of total higher education investment (up from 10% in the 1970s).

# C. Regional Distribution:

a) **All** higher education projects: The distribution of education projects with higher education components reveals significant regional shifts in Bank lending strategies over time. Between 1972-1981, Africa accounted for the largest regional share or 38% of 122 higher education projects. Despite an increase in the total number of higher education projects from 1972-1981 to 1982-1992, Africa's share decreased during the later period to 27%. Much of the increase in total projects in the 1980s can be attributed to an increase in the number of projects ailocated to E.Asia from 23 (1972-1981) to 41 (1982-1992) (see Figures la and lb).

With regard to total investment in higher education projects for both decades, the percent invested was highly skewed in favor of E.Asia (54% during the 1970s and 65% during the 1980s). It is interesting to note that while Africa had a higher number of projects between 19721981, E.Asia had a higher share of investment (Africa, 9%; E.Asia, 54%). This trend continued in the 1980s. Whereas both E.Asia and Africa had large numbers of higher education projects between 1982-1992, only 5% of total investment in higher education during that period was in Africa while E.Asia received 65%.

b) Projects acknowledging gender: The largest number of higher education projects acknowledging gender as an issue during the 1970s was in the EMENA region (41 %). Genderacknowledging projects in EMENA were comparatively well funded, receiving 65% of higher education investment during that period. EMENA was followed by Africa in both instances (see Figures 2a and 2b).
# Figure la: Education Projects w/Higher Education 1972-1981

<!-- Start of picture text --> Al rica<br>- 38%<br>ELAO<br>X~~~~w: 19%tI<br>EMENA%\ S. Asia<br>5%<br><!-- End of picture text --> Figure lb: Education Projects 164 w/Hlgher Educatlon 1982-1992 19% ~~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~8 <!-- Start of picture text --> LACO.Al<br>Sogure l: Edcalcltedn Projet ToalIvblen<br>Souroo: C :.eu d E.om Tablo t.Asia<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> Total Investment in Higher Education<br>1972-1981<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> EMENA<br>S1%<br>4% * % C91 LC<br>E Asia<br>54%<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> Total Investment in Higher Education<br>1982-1992<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> 9 %<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> MN<br>EMENA a c Africa<br>n1.geEuato<br><!-- End of picture text -->
# Figure 2a: Ed. Projects Acknowledging Gender 1972-1981

<!-- Start of picture text --> 10% AfrIca<br>:IIIqIHD.miti<br>EMENA 1. 2%<br>40%<br>S. Asia<br>9%<br><!-- End of picture text -->

# Figure 2b: Ed Projects Acknowledging Gender 1982-1992

<!-- Start of picture text --> LAC<br>11%<br>EMENA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MN<br>1 9 1ric 17%a<br>S. Asia<br>15%<br>38%<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> E. Asia~~~~~~~~~~~~~E.Ai<br><!-- End of picture text -->

# Total Investment in Ed Projects Acknowledging Gender 1972-1981

<!-- Start of picture text --> LAC<br>EMENA<br>~~~~~~65%E.Ai<br>8<br><!-- End of picture text --> Total Investment in Ed Projects Acknowledging Gender 1982-1992 <!-- Start of picture text --> S. Asia<br>15%<br>ca~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Arc<br>6%<br><!-- End of picture text --> Source: Calculated from Table **1.**
# - 10 -

However, there was a substantial regional shift during the 1980s away from the EM4ENA and Africa regions to the Asian regions in the numbers and investment in projects acknowledging gender. The number of projects in E.Asia increased from 12% to 38%; the percent invested in these projects also grew from 8% to a surprising 65% (see Figures 2a and 2b). S.Asia also experienced increases as the number of projects grew from 9% of the total projects to 15% and investment increased from 8% of the total investment to 15%. Looking at the Asian regions together for 1982-1992, a noticeable dominance appears in both the number of and investment in higher education projects acknowledging gender. The Asian regions together account for 53 % of the number of projects and 80% of the total project investment.

Total investment in higher education project acknowledgin **g** ender in the African region during the 1980s decreased to a mere 6% from 16% in the 1970s. The LAC region only received 2% of the total amount invested in higher education projects acknowledging gender, but there was a higher degree of gender parity in the region.' c) Projects with specific interventions: Regional distribution of the number of projects which introduced gender-specific interventions during 1972-1981 shows the highest number of projects in both the EMENA (31%) and Africa (31%) regions (see Figures 3a and 3b). Additionally, relative to other areas, both EMENA and Africa received the greatest portion of investment, EMENA leading investment allocation with 49% and Africa following with 27%. Between 1982-1992, E. Asia led in projects with specific interventions, with 39% of the projects with significant gender-specific actions, and 65% of total Bank investment on such projects in all regions.

To summarize, over the last decades, the Bank's involvement in higher education has increased both in the number of projects and the volume of lending, despite a shift in overall Bank lending from higher education to primary and secondary education during the 1980s. Regional project distributions indicate that E.Asia received the largest amount of lending for higher education over the past two decades and tried a wider variety of specific interventions to reduce gender disparity. The Bank projects in all regions gave more emphasis in gender issues in higher education in the 1980s than in the 1970s.

I Although LAC enjoys rclative parity in tertiary enrollment, there remain 'streaming' issues that affect female employment.
Investment in Intervention Projects 1972-1981

# Figure 3a: Projects with Interventions

## 1972-1981

<!-- Start of picture text --> LAA<br>LAC 15% ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~5<br>7%<br>E. Asia 2%~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~E.Ai<br>~~~~~ 8%~~~~~~~~~~~2<br>EME N J e A5l8% EMENA 49% -eAl<br>EMENA17<br>31% ~~~~~S.Aia<br>15%<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> Figure 3b: Projects with Interventions<br>1982-1992<br><!-- End of picture text -->

# Investment in Intervention Projects **1982-192**

<!-- Start of picture text --> EMENA LAC<br>22% 8%<br>Arica<br>S. Asia .:Z.fja<br>17%<br>E. Asia<br>39%<br><!-- End of picture text --> iAffica 14% E <!-- Start of picture text --> S. Asia 19X<br>f M E N A~~~~~~~~~~~EMN 112;<br>22~~~~~~~~j222. ~~~~~LAC 1%<br>S *1.t.. E IAfrica a E 4%<br><!-- End of picture text --> Source: Caloulated from Table 1.
- 12 -

# m. CONSTRAINTS TO FEMALE PARTICIPATION AND INTERVENTIONS

## A. Identified Constraints in the Bank Projects

The specific interventions introduced need to be assessed against the backdrop of the specific constraints to women's participation in particular countries. The important questions are: What factors inhibit gender parity at the tertiary level? Which interventions (if any) have been introduced to overcome these identified constraints? Which are the successful interventions? Are there regional variations in constraints and interventions?

The constraints on female participation in higher education vary across regions and even within countries; however, certain patterns in constraints affecting women's participation in postsecondary education exist among most regions. One obvious initial constraint shared by several countries is the small pool of students completing secondary school. It is very difficult to increase women's access to higher education without raising female enrollments at the secondary level. Even if a pool of qualified female students exists at the secondary level, a number of other constraints inhibit women's participation in higher education.

1) Societal Constraints: In some of the Bank projects social constraints have been relatively well identified (see Appendix Table 1). For example, recent projects in India identified the lack of single-sex higher education institutions, inadequate hostel facilities for women and the lack of female teachers as major obstacles inhibiting women's participation in tertiary education. Suitable interventions to overcome the identified constraints have been proposed in the projects, including provision for single-sex institutions and dorm facilities for girls and provisions for increasing female teachers. Preliminary results indicate that these gender-specific interventions may have been effective, for currently these institutions are experiencing excess demand by female students.

However, few projects identified the social constraints to women's enrollment. One such constraint is parental attitudes towards educating their daughters. Only four out of 49 projects
13 which introduced gender-specific policies to increase women's access to higher education underlined the importance of social barriers on female participation in higher education.<sup>5</sup> Ignoring social barriers in projects often results in failing to achieve targeted goals for female participation. For example, a recent project in Nepal introduced expansion-related policies such as reserving places for female students and providing dorn facilities in order to raise the low level of female participation in tertiary education. However, the preliminary results of the project indicate that the objectives set for female participation at the appraisal have not been achieved since only six percent of students were female despite the project's interventions due primarily to social barriers. Presently, a study is underway to examine the social constraints to female participation in higher education in Nepal.

2) Program of Study: '. aditional vs. Non-Traditional Curriculum: The types of programs available to women in tertiary education also seem to affect female enrolment at the tertiary level. In some countries, the existence of an imperfect link between education and the labor market is cited as a major obstacle affecting women's participation in tertiary education. Often women are channelled into traditional fields of study irrespective of market conditions. Lack of marketability of women with post-secondary education can then act as a deterrent, discouraging women from seeking higher education.

In two recent projects in India, one of the significant reasons cited for low female participation rates in higher education was the limited breadth of course offerings, which instead centered around fields traditionally reserved for women. As skills in non-traditional fields are considered more marketable, there is greater interest in pursuing higher education in nontraditional areas. In a market situation similar to India, it would be logical to intervene through expansion in non-traditional fields.

5 By contrast, **the** negative attitudes of **parents** towards their daughters education at the primary and secondary educadon levels have **received** relatively better attention **in** projects.
- 14 -

Yet expansion of non-traditional fields may not always result in higher<sup>female</sup> participation in tertiary education. In countries such as Nepal, Korea, Indonesia;<sup>and Papua</sup> New Guinea, expansion of student places within non-traditional fields would not<sup>necessarily</sup> increase female participation in tertiary education. Bank projects in these countries noted low interest in and demand for non-traditional programs among women.

To overcome the low levels of interest in the non-traditional fields, the above-mentioned projects sought interventions to increase demand. A Bank-assisted project in Nepal,<sup>for</sup> instance, attempted to increase women's access by expanding and reserving<sup>student places for</sup> women in the fields in which women seemed most interested (e.g., architecture and electronic and rural planning). Two projects in Korea and two in Indonesia addressed the problem<sup>of low</sup> women's demand in non-traditional fields through public awareness campaigns. In Korea,<sup>for</sup> example, faculty planned to visit girls' schools for recruitment purposes for engineering,<sup>to send</sup> information to parents and counselors to increase community awareness of<sup>schooling</sup> opportunities of girls in non-traditional fields, and to invite interested girls<sup>to university</sup> campuses to increase participation in non-traditional fields.

In Indonesia, the problem of low female participation in science and engineering was recognized, and efforts have been made to encourage more girls to take up<sup>scientific and</sup> technological endeavors as career options through school visits by women returnees<sup>from abroad.</sup> It was also agreed that efforts would be continued to address the problem in future Bank-assisted projects.

3) Unequal Access to Ouality Secondary Education: Unequal access to secondary education and poor quality of secondary education received by<sup>girls in much of Africa and East</sup> Asia has resulted in a limited pool of qualified female candidates for<sup>higher education (see Lee</sup> and Lockheed 1989). Unfortunately, the disadvantage women have<sup>in university entrance</sup> exams, due to lower quality of secondary education and girls' lower<sup>access rates to secondary</sup> education, often goes unnoticed and has been addressed in only a few<sup>projects. But a project</sup> in Tunisia identified the low representation of women in science and math related disciplines<sup>at</sup>
- 15 _-_

the secondary education level as a main factor of the low participation of female students in science and technology related fields at the tertiary level. Moreover, girls' tendency to have lower completion rates at the primary and secondary levels was noted as a major obstacle to women's access to higher education in projects in China, Malawi, Mali, and Niger. To broaden this pool, student places for girls in teacher training program and dormitories were reserved in Malawi and Niger, respectively.

4) Lack of Dorm Facilities: In general, higher education institutions in most developing countries are established in relatively well developed urban areas. Most people, especially from rural areas, have limited a;ess to higher education because of the distance to higher education institutions. The distance problem is a particularly critical obstacle for girls since parents often are concerned about their daughters' transportation to distant institutions and about their living alone. Provision of culturally appropriate boarding facilities is often used as an approach to reduce the distance problem to increase female participation in tertiary education, and lack of boarding facilities is identified as a barrier to female participation. However, only three projects identified the lack of culturally appropriate boarding facilities as a constraint on female participation in tertiary education. A Bank-supported project in Yemen provided culturally appropriate hostel facilities on the campuses of the Faculties of Education which increased female enrollment by about 50%. In India there is also evidence that the low women's demand for higher education is due partly to the lack of separate dorm facilities for women.

Interventions without Analysis: One interesting trend observable across all regions throughout both decades is the tendency to introduce gender-specific interventions without proper analysis of the gender barriers (see Appendix Table 1). For ir stance, when enrollment rates for women are relatively low, often it is believed that simple expansion of school places and/or provision of boarding facilities for female students will increase the enrollments of women in higher education. As a recent Bank study on secondary vocational education found, the results of such an assumption have been often disappointing because the low participation rate of women in higher education may be due to factors other than lack of space or accommodation. Failure to recognize these factors may prohibit the project from realizing the objectives set at appraisal
_-_ 16 (see Box 1).

# _Bo x: Projects Wthout a Critical Analysis of Constraints_

In some countrie **s** imple expansion of student places may not result in an inctease woman's access if low - _jtsehotd ftgk.for higher education is weak. In such a case, identifing constraints on female education and introducing specifc policies to overcome them arc key to having a successful project. .: . . n rhi esponse to the observed shortage of female teachers (i.e. favoable demand situation in the labor market), Pakistan's Third Education **Poect (1977)** attempted to increase output of female teachcrs by construction and expansion of female teacher taning institutes. Feamal tea-chertraining capacity was incread by **50%.** But the PAR (1990) found .Xi:although the expansion objective was ultimately achieved, project facilities had been consistently ta underutilized and Moracc&s Pourth Education Poject also sough **t** o nrease the output of both male and female silled teacher; by expand.ing ive.differnt postseconday education institutions. All programs would be open to women, with a target .. -20.%.female nrliient. .The PCR found that the five higher education institutions assisted under the project tenain une-enrolled. Only one third of the target enrollment figurea was achieved. Similarly, **_Maoo's_** .Fibh duction Roject assisted with the contruction ind equipping.of four sendary, Xhet t~~"6tid stitOsA solene and.'mathematios with- j,860:Asudn pies(fwiha.u-on6 third .wo.ul be:..-w.o.men) However, the PCR found.tt enrolments are well blow te spciii obectives :. **set** at the appraisal. -A rcel mki*itdpoetin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. .... .. ..d Nea 'p6Aded dor' facilities' and' 'esrd studen~sae o rs :Ho: vH., th p.r.eli.n. rsult.s ofthe proje.ct indcte tha teobjectives of the projectsetatth.e. .appr.sa halve notbee 10! . ..0 t iow prtvae demand f. r d .. ion. .... ... ..xmp ese e of underutization.. of t existing capit. . suest e: expanio p i nQ .w... .m::.l s o.ia d/}. o o abrn........ ..... ii Purt-f. a and gender constraints affecting women's access to higher education. _This_ mismatch between identified constraints and interventions is the prmary reason for the observed low enrollment at the tertiary level notwithstanding expansion of higher education institutions.

In comparison with the EMENA and Africa regions, projects in S.Asia and E.Asia analyzed constraints inhibiting female participation in higher education more closely. In India, for example, three recent projects identified the lack of programs in non-traditional fields as one of the major constraints on female participation in higher education and in the labor force.
- 17 -

Similarly, a project in Nepal identified the low demand for mechanical and civil engineering programs and strong demand for agriculture and rural planning and architecture. Expansion of these programs is expected to enhance women's access to higher education.

LAC projects fail either to identify the barriers affecting women's access to higher education or to propose interventions to overcome them. Yet LAC countries still report gender disparities in non-traditional fields. Some studies reveal exclusion of women from specific technical schools in both the Dominican Republic and Paraguay (White et al., as quoted in Abadzi 1989, p.41) and among rural populations.

In sum, the identification of constraints on female participation in higher education varies considerably across regions. In S.Asia and E.Asia, analysis of constraints on female participation in higher education preceded project formulation. On the other hand, identification of constraints appear with less frequency in the Africa and EMENA regions.

# B. Analysis of Interventions

# Bank projects included the following interventions:

- General expansion of student places

- Expansion of places in traditional fields for women

- Expansion of non-traditional fields of study

- Provision of single-sex higher education institutions

- Modification of admission criteria for girls

- Provision of scholarships and other financial assistance

- Expansion of boarding facilities

- Recruitment of women faculty

- Introduction of community awareness campaigns

- Provision of counseling and guidance
- 18 -

Overall, there is a rich diversity of gender interventions tried across all regions (see Appendix 'rables 2 & 3). Seventeen completed and 45 recent-ongoing projects introduced specific interventions. Figure 4 below shows that the most extensively used intervention across all regions (21/62 projects) was expansion of student places in traditional fields for women (i.e., teacher training, nursing, home economics). Expansion of conventional fields was more widespread in many of EMENA and Africa region countries where the structure of economy was extensively agrarian, and female participation in the relatively small formal labor market was considerably limited due to traditional and cultural factors.

a. _General Expansion of Student Places:_ The most common intervention used to increase female access was the expansion of student places earmarked for girls, under the assumption that women would consequently participate in education. In many instances, projects without identifying specific constraints affecting women's participation assumed that expansion of higher education institutions would automatically increase the number of female students.

Wherever there were no inhibitions for women to join the formal labor market, women have benefitted from the expansion of higher education institutions. In some countries, increases in the supply of places in higher education institutions have contributed to increasing women's access to higher education. However, the degree to which expansion-related policies have increased women's access to higher education varies among countries and regions, depending upon the ease of access of women to the labor market.

If there are a limited number of student places, many young persons will not be able to attend college. Women are at a particular disadvantage in competing with men for limited student spaces due to negative social and institutional factors affecting their ability to attend higher education. In such cases, it may be sensible to reserve spaces for women when expanding institutions of higher education. In Nepal, for example, two recent projects plan to reserve 10% of the student spaces in the expanding agricultural institutes and the Institute of Engineering for women. Another project in Ethiopia plans to reserve 10% of the seats at the new agricultural department. Reservation of student places for women may serve an effective intervention to ensure availability of space for women planning on enrolling in particular institutions.
- 19 -

Another approach would be to decrease the distance to institutes of higher education by extending educational opportunities to the rural and remote areas. Provisions can be made through extension classes or through building new facilities awsay from the main campuses. A promising project in Tunisia, for example, will establish campuses in different locations in an attempt to expand higher education institutions in remote areas. Recruiting locally is assumed to create an opportunity for women to participate higher education. Moreover, a Bank-assisted project in Oman will also expand primary teacher training institute in rural and remote areas. Thk- decentralization of teacher training together with provision for boarding facilities is hoped to ensure increased access for females.

b. _Expansion of places in tradilional fields:_ Traditional fields in countries with mor, restrictive cultures appear to be more acceptable for women and motivate them to continue their education and enter the labor market. Therefore, expansion of women's opportunities in these fields in such countries seems to be a rational way of beginning to improve women's access to higher education. Unfortunately, although this approach has increased female participation at the tertiary level, women tend to be concentrated in fields with low rates of return, because wages tend to be low in traditional fields.

i.,o,:.,.,,,~~~ ~ ,.... ~~~~~~~ .... . - . ig- ovng wonna Bit~uainsdi Ioptoii tore _h_ aor Ban ,-hetans .saslate t a ~~~~~~~~a ,rci , **.** ~dese qec if .ee -D.e **e** ha. .as to .. th. sul -at.. of . al teaher .- th seeo...sy **rnate** o **oas** in thfaor fce aleatnhoagofelttcncan,h **p*0** I ilass ncpn~no
# Figure 4. Specific Interventions by **Type**

<!-- Start of picture text --> Number of Projects with Interventions<br>25<br>20<br>15<br>10~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br>5<br>EWPanslcn Single-BeX Finanolal T.aobers Traditional Guidance<br>Admission Curriculum Boarding Community Non-trod.<br><!-- End of picture text --> Types of Interventions
- 21 -

_c. Expansion of Non-Tradi*onal FRelds:_ In contrast with the above-mentioned intervention, the expansion of traditional fields in S.Asia, E.Asia and LAC regions has discouraged women from participating in higher education because these fields failed to provide necessary skills for employment in the growing formal sectors in countries. Recognizing this need, recent projects in India paid particular attention to the fact that higher education institutions for women ought to provide marketable skills to women by expanding polytechnics for women in non-traditional fields such as computer application, precision instruments and textile design. Certainly, this difference in the expansion of higher education for women between regions reflects not merely cultural differences but also the differences in the demand in the labor market and the size and dynamism of the formal sectors.

In India, for instance, although a high demand for technicians in emerging fields such as computer applicants, textile design, home appliances and precision instruments existed, most higher educatiop programs for women were traditional. An important aspect of three recent higher education projects in India is to provide a better link between higher education and employment from women's perspective. The project helped to expand polytechnics for women and to diversify the curriculum in the new and emerging fields. The preliminary results indicate excess demand for admission into the women's polytechnics.

Similarly, a current project in the Philippines attempted to improve employment and training policies and increase efficiency in the labor market by meeting the skill needs of the labor market, particularly with regard to women, through expansion of vocational training projects. The project supports non-formal, vocational training for women in rural areas and aims to support poverty alleviation by encouraging women to participate in non-traditional fields.

Interestingly, Sudan is making a major effort to increase women's participation in nontraditional-fields and formal labor market, to have a fuller participation of women in<sup>the</sup> development process and overcome projected chronic labor shortages. As women have been almost entirely confined to training in traditional fields such as home economics, nursing and teaching, they are reluctant to seek higher education because it yields few high-paying jobs. The
- 22 -

project would increase f-male access to a variety of occupations at the level of technicians through its support to training facilities, and in turn contribute to the resolution of skill shortages.

A recent project in Tunisia also provided measures to increase women's access to nontraditional fields in the five Higher Institutes of Technology. Introducing a wide range of disciplines would attract more women to technical fields and create more employment opportunities for women in these areas.

e. _Provision of Single-Sex Higher Education_ **_Instituions:_** Providing separate, single-sex schools is often used in culturally conservative countries where parental attitudes and societal restrictions limit women's participation in coeducational institutions. In India, for instance, the lack of single-sex post-secondary institutions is one of the important barriers to women's participation. Consequently, the provision of single-sex institutions would most likely increase women's participation both in higher education and the modern sector labor force. Similarly, the lack of culturally appropriate dorm facilities are also among factors affecting female participation in EMENA, S.Asia and African regions. Provisions to provide separate facilities in culturally conservative areas may well increase female participation in higher education.

Bank-assisted projects supported single-sex higher education institutions in countries where societal and parental resistance to coeducation exist, alongside private demand for girls' higher education. For instance, a project in Oman would expand girls' access to post-secondary education by providing a primary teacher training college for women. Similarly, a project in Pakistan attempts to increase the supply of primary and middle school teachers, particularly for girls' school in rural areas. Under the project three new female teacher training institutes would be established and seven existing institutes would be reconstructed and expanded. The project would expand female teacher training capacity by a 50%. Interestingly, recent projects in India attempted explicitly to increase female participation in higher education and in the labor market by expanding women's polytechnics.
- 23 -

f. _Modificadon of Admission_ **_Criteda_** _for Girls:_ Women attend poorer-quality schools in disproportionately high numbers. Gender streaming is also evident at the secondary level in many countries since women are restricted to access to a broad range curriculum particularly in the sciences and conditioned by biased learning materials and classroom dynamics (Lee and Lockheed, 1989). However, modification of admission criteria for women to facilitate them to join non-traditional fields of study appear only in a few projects, although these measures might be very effective in increasing female participation in non-traditional fields (i.e. science and technology). One problem is that the programs in the secondary schools fail to adequately prepare women in mathematics and sciences thereby limiting the qualified applicant pool for advanced education in non-traditional fields as in the case of China.

Some countries have tried to increase the number of female students through modifying admission criteria. For instance, an ongoing project in the Gambia attempted to establish new admission criterion for primary teacher training institutes to increase women students by 40% by 1996-1997. The Government is making efforts to increase the number of female teachers in traditionally male-dominated fields such as science and mathematics. Increasing the proportion of women in the teaching force would provide role models for school-age girls. Papua New Guinea experienced low female participation in teache training college. One development strategy listed by the government was to equalize participation of women. In late seventies, a Bank project in Papua New Guinea supported the revision of selection criteria for collegeentrance requirements to increase the number of female trainees in other sectors (other than teaching). In Ethiopia, the Government would also modify the admission criteria for teacher training institutes to encourage female candidates. Moreover, the Commission of Higher Education also planned to reduce constraints hindering entry and enrollment and modify the higher education environment by (i) providing counseling and career information services; and (ii) expanding selected academic programs.

Students from remote areas have received extra points in the entrance examination for certificated course to increase equality among regions in Nepal. In addition, the Government would introduce a six-month remedial program for students with weak educational background
- 24 -

in science, mathematics and language.

A recent study by the Government of Zimbabwe concluded that women are likely to remain a minority in all scientific and technical fields for many years, unless some marked changes occur in the country's education and training systems. Thus, the report recommended preferential admissions (quotas) for women entering scientific and technical fields (World Bank, 1991d).

These examples suggest that though used in only a few cases, curriculum reform, modification of admission criteria and quotas do contribute to expanding female enrollments in higher education. However, these interventions will be of little use if women receive poor quality education at the secondary level, especially in mathematics and sciences, as this would negate the beneficial effects of quotas and curriculum reform.

**_g._** _Provision of Scholarships and Other FhancialAssistance:_ Provision of financial incentives such as financial aid and free tuition, transportation and accommodations are extensively used interventions. Though few projects identified the direct and opportunity costs of higher education as a deterrent to female participation, possibly because higher education is already subsidized for all in many countries, many projects either introduced or mentioned offering scholarships or other financial assistance as a means to increase female participation in higher education. Provision for financial assistance is likely to be most effective in areas where scarce resources of poor families affect parents' abilities to send girls to higher education (Wold Bank 1991). For instance, in Indonesia, low female enrollment in the rural areas was found to be due to high direct and opportunity costs of women's education. The Government objective is to create financial incentives to recruit women in rural areas to be candidates for primary teachers. Therefore, a recent project would increase recruitment of female candidates by providing financial aid and dormitory facilities.

Yet, financial aid, free tuition and boarding have not always been successful in raising
- 25 -

women's participation in higher education.<sup>6</sup> Low demand for education even with provisions for scholarships is most evident in socially conservative countries where scholarships encouraged women to travel overseas. One example is a recent Bank-assisted project in Papua New Guinea which envisaged increasing the number of women with graduate degrees by providing overseas scholarships. The project would finance an overseas scholarship program, and special preferences would be given to identify female candidates. However, the preliminary results of the project indicate that there has been low female participation in these programs principally because many women are reluctant to go overseas alone. Thus, provision of financial assistance for foreign education may not be a sufficient intervention where additional cultural barriers inhibit the effectiveness of the scholarships provision involving overseas travel by women.

But the same incentives proved beneficial in a culturally less restricted environment. The experience of Indonesia from two Bank assisted projects appear to be very promising regarding women's participation in the overseas graduate programs. Projects stated that the nomination and selection of candidates for fellowship for overseas training will emphasize increasing the participation of women in the public sector. The process to increase female participation will be monitored. Preliminary results indicate that female participation approaching the 25 percent target. Efforts are being made to further raise female participation in overseas fellowship.

A recent study about the constraints on female participation in overseas training programs found social barriers were extremely important for overseas training. The study suggested three policy options to overcome social resistance: first, a consultation with the family may be useful to receive the support of family; second, a shortening of the period for overseas studies may help increase demand; finally, increasing the age of application for overseas education from 35 to 40 years old might attract more women married and/with children.

h. _Expansion of Boarding Facilities:_ In increasing student spaces, it is logical to consider the provision for boarding facilities available to women as many colleges are often located in urban areas, especially distant from rural families. Lack of boarding facilities might

**6** In India, according to some observers, financial aid did not help women enroll in local colleges and universities but not for overseas study. This is yet to be documented empirically.
- 26 -

discourage female participation in higher education proportionally more than for male. However, provision of dorm facilities might also increase women's demand for higher education. For instance, expansion of dorm facilities at the agricultural training college in Jamaica increased women's participation rate more than was expected. According to the project audit report, future provisions for boarding facilities for women would doubtless increase female enrollment given unmet demand for women's training in agriculture. Current projects in India and Yemen recognize this need and provide dorm facilities where distance away from families might be a factor. In a project in Yemen, for example, the provision for culturally appropriate, single-sex hostels is expected to increase female participation by 50 percent at the Faculties of Education (see Box 3).

# **_`Box 3.3 ements Eprience in RaisingFaleErollments_**

_:_ A recentproject nYemenpropoe **to expand** woe' atcpto -in hige **qduciation bec'ause, of coiWWWt** .for. shoitage of wo.... **ts And** hih ost of expiate te Ahers. .ltough **th. pOeOt** imed at- fiiieaig: eductaons ortunities at the seod cation level _fr_ gil **byc** g t e tche supply, t p. - introduce pie to-Ud i"Pr' a **no.'. aer** c:me euctio."' r-a ara. The Tfi pr lac f **o** ject und that o .nlral . .u..rarpitec f **a** t. pla. a. sign housing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t mfor wome t th Fautyf 0ifianMr fo woe' - a it acestodd edcain,prtcualyiFdu.i dci*e S ls s. lmts UW :oe' |woen confront. Weractiona between professors and women students arm : tiuo c utuni fato. Unde t projc ht would be bui on _hou_ a800 q,| .~~~U. ExmJUpegte **:** x: tng mi:s. hotl h6" g **o** Incese e m.tmstb fac female noleta kiof bette tnArligete s mn Ad.fr to enueta 24 w. h aute 0o studnt woud a ede . of, ducainb on. wrup Iuc as6wmnadrrltahrsaebogtit **aut** bd. oou.5a.. o ecet -uw".d Th prvision Th tpnsprvddb mof ely. .z -s S nioe hh _-:sysieem. -Thi meanure_ prOvide for -tped from Xh Govenmnt for al f::e stn while mal :studens re:ce.ve a.targeted fnanial aidbased their a e thetsecndar duatin v _Le_ .n.additio..the. pjenodah ove f tesdte b .i a o. and in the labor force. An Advisory Group for Trained Manpower . - , .:.:: ... .... . - ) ould b - Ab - -.... ri n pupos--`%of the AGTM would be to review the r:equiremetfor tin V w roan ana bastisd wto oide tdietion w .meeting gender tieeds.:---: _and wme' tertiaryeducton. Aongothrthings, the ATwould a ~pckagappraoh~iwn aripativnin scoday and -6 tetAiary &proidi sevra meau education,(Astrgethr,whic wOul sinsni alfoadopt:4r- r-om -: poiie sto theCabine rea :: cOnrbt . --to inraiggrs::.:.: :n .: ,. .. ....... . The proj:ect diagnosed renarhbly well the constraints on fesale panicipation in higher education, an6d adopted

_i._ **_Recruitment of Women Faculty:_** Although there is little empirical evidence to substantiate a link between the number of women faculty and the number of female students at the terTiary level, it has been suggested that lack of women as role models within non-traditional
- 27 -

fields may have an influence on the acceptability of women in fields where women have been traditionally under-represented. The lack of female faculty has often resulted in inequality in educational delivery and high dropout rates for women. Recognizing this problem, the University of San'a in Yemen attempted to increase female faculty at the College of Education with some significant success.

Current projects in India also provide female instructor training institutes for women's polytechnics. Instructor training would be offered for 16 fields in four instructor training institutes. Similarly, a current project in Nepal also recognizes the influence of women faculty on female students and provides fellowship to women candidates with the hope of increasing female faculty in the engineering department. Through raising the quality and number of women faculty in the engineering department, the project will provide role models for engineering students, influencing the acceptability of women in engineering.

A more promising development in recent Bank-assisted projects is that overseas female education for graduate studies received particular attention from the recent projects. A few ongoing projects in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea provided incentives for female students to participate in overseas training. To attract more women candidates, the fellowship programs were designed to be flexible to accommodate women's needs. For instance, the project would, if necessary, assist women with families to return to home during long vacations. Preliminary results indicate the flexibility built into the project design encouraged greater participation of women candidates.

Nonetheless, the problem of low female participation in science and engineering related fields is persistent and is not easy to resolve. Even in a country which has a large pool of skilled manpower, such as India, difficulties are being experienced to recruit women teachers.

j. _Community Awareness Campaigns:_ Evidence suggests that community awareness campaigns are particularly effective at the primary and secondary education level
- 28 -

(Herz et al. 1991). However, this intervention has not been tried in many countries in higher education. Only three out of 62 projects with interventions have introduced components for public awareness about women's higher education. Two recent projects in India included a very promising public awareness campaign regarding the project, programs and the benefits of the girls' education at the tertiary level. This innovative approach used a National Information Center, television and press coverage of the projects and public meetings about the project and programs. In addition, employers were informed about the graduates, providing employment prospects for graduates. Similarly, in Korea public information campaigns were introduced in a leading undergraduate technical institute (Korea Institute of Technology) to overcome the low enrollment of women in institutes focusing on science and engineering. The leading undergraduate university proposed to introduce a program to attract more female students to their campus. Although it is to early to assess this intervention, preliminary results indicate that it has been successful in attracting more female students in science and technolo-y fields.

k. _Counseing and Guidance:_ Although the provision of counseling and guidance is mentioned in vague terms in a few projects, introducing such a policy at the secondary education level may have a positive impact to improve women's access to higher education. Since the early 1970s, in many developing countries admission to higher educational institutions has been generally based on some form of university entrance examination due to an excess private demand for higher education. Provision of counseling and guidance at the secondary level is important to make the best career decision, especially in countries where there are no career information centers and role models are few. Though the projects have not directly supported any interventions regarding counseling and guidance at the secondary level, they pointed out that a number of policies by either government agencies or universities would be introduced.

Although often a provision for counseling and guidance is suggested in a project, specifics are frequently left unmentioned within the project context. As noted above, however, one particularly impressive project in Korea outlines specific actions to be undertaken in an effort to increase more women in science and engineering fields. To overcome the low female
- 29 -

enrollment at the Korea Institute of Technology, the institute itself will introduce the following program to attract more female students: a) The faculty of KIT will visit girls' school to recruit interested women; b) The KIT will send information regarding science and engineering opportunities to the parents and counselors of targeted women; and c) Krr will encourage visits by women students to the campus to learn further of the opportunities available. With the outline of specific counseling and guidance actions to be undertaken, it is expected that more women will become interested in pursuing careers in science and technology.

# IV. **QUALITY** OF INTERVENTIONS

In order to get some idea about not only the number of interventions but also the quality of overall effort made in each project to address the gender problem, interventions are rated as follows:

|Rating Index<br>1|Qualitative Norms of Rating<br>No constraint analysis done; a single, passive intervention<br>was introduced.|
|---|---|
|2|General expansion of enrollment to meet the (observed)<br>demand in the labor market.|
|3|Introduced more than one intervention, but not based on a<br>prior analysis of constraints.|
|4|Introduced a single (specific) intervention based on a prior<br>analysis of constraints.|
|_5_|Introduced multiple interventions based on a prior,<br>thorough analysis of constraints.|

The rating index is based on interventions only, and not on the basis of the achieved results from the interventions.<sup>7</sup> The number of interventions along with the average quality rating index are shown for 7 **_As_** we **already** mentioned, the result from many **recent projects** ae not _yet_ **Lmown.**
- 30 -

each region, and for the country classifications in Table 2. Quite clearly, in terms of both number of interventions and the quality rating index, projects in South Asia appear to be more promising. In East Asia, the number of interventions is small, but the quality is high. In Africa and EMENA the number of interventions and their quality is much less satisfactory.

When countries are classified according to the income range, there is not much difference in the number of interventions, but the quality rating index does increase with GNP per capita. However, neither the number of interventions not the quality rating index seem to be related to the structure of the economies as revealed by the proportion of service sector employment, and the proportion of girls in secondary school It would be interesting to know whether projects with a high quality rating index were more successful in improving female enrollments that others. Unfortunately, the sample size of these projects with results is so small that no statistical tests are possible. However, preliminary results of the projects with a high quality rating index indicate that the projects with a high quality of index did succeed in improving female enrollment. In comparison, the projects with a low quality rating index failed to improve female participation.

# V. LESSONS FROM BANK EXPERIENCE

This section discusses the promising approaches and policy options for increasing female enrollment in higher education. We examine both the projects for which some results are available and on-going projects for which the resu'ts are not yet available. Some conclusions about the effective and promising approaches for increasing female enrollment in higher education are given at the end.
- 31 -

Table 2. Qualitative and Quantitative Treatment of Gender-Specific Interventions

||Average No. of Interventions|Average Rating Index|
|---|---|---|
|Total|2.15<br>(62)|2.92<br>(62)|
|Regional Variation|___|__|
|Africa|1.7<br>(14)|2.93<br>(14)|
|E. Asia|1.9|3.3|
||(16)|(16)|
|S. Asia|3.6<br>(8)|4.0<br>(8)|
|EMENA|2.1|2.4|
|LAC|(18)<br>1.6|(18)<br>2.0<br>|
||(6)|(6)|
|Country Socioeconomic Factors|||
|Income Level|||
|Low|2.03<br>|3.13<br>|
||(16)|(16)|
|Lower-middle|2.33|2.79|
||(12)|(12)|
|Upper-middle|2.17|3.50|
|_____<br>____<br>____<br>_____<br>____<br>____|(3)|(3)|
|Employment in Service Sector<br><0%|2.13|3.12|
||(7)|(7)|
|0-0.9%|<br>2.56|3.14|
||(7)|(7)|
|15-25%|2.25|2.84|
||(8)|(8)|
|>25%|1.75|3.90|
||(2)|(2)|
|Female Secondary Enroll. Rate|||
|<br><20%|1.67|3.00|
||(11)|(11)|
|20-35%|<br>2.17|2.80|
||(6)|(6)|
|_>35%_|<br>2.08|3.08|
||_(6)(6_||

Notes: Figures in parentheses represent number ofprojects. The number of interventions is inclusive of<sup>interventions such</sup> as monitoring, needs assessment and government policies.

To assess the results of Bank-assisted projects with gender specific interventions, we examined available PCRs and PARs. Overall, sixty-five projects had PCRs and/or PARs.
- 32 -

However, our analysis had to be limited to the seventeen projects that introduced gender specific interventions, because many PCRs and PARs failed to quantitatively measu the impact of the project on women's enrollment rates d-urmng and/or following project implementation, even though the appraisal reports included components to overcome gender disparities (see Appendix Table 2).

Overall, four projects succeeded in meeting the stated gender objectives, five projects were unable to meet stated gender objectives, and four projects partially met gender objectives. On four projects nothing can be said since no measurement of success disaggregated by gender is available.

## A. **Project Results**

# 1. _Projects Successful in Meeting Gender Objective_

Although it is difficult to draw general patterns due to the extremely limited project experience, one thing is clear: demand for skilled women in the labor market was critical for the success of the projects. There seemed to be no strong correlation between the number and type of interventions introduced and the projects' success; the most influential factor among successful projects was a strong derived demand for higher education by women in response to favorable labor market conditions rather than any specific type or number of interventions introduced. This suggests that where a strong demand exists for women with higher educational or technical qualifications, even simple expansion of student places will improve female enrollments.

This point can best be imlustrated by Jordan's First Education Project which expanded student spaces by providing a coeducational Teacher Training Institute (Mfl). The results indicated that participation of women has been greater than envisaged. In contrast to the equal proportion of malelfemale enrollments anticipated for the TTI, the proportion of female trainees increased to about 66 percent in 1978. Opposition against coeducational teacher training among staff and the community were outweighed by the positive reactions of the students and the advantages in the flexibility and variety of the programs. The other projects successful in
- 33 -

meeting gender objectives were similarly due to a large extent by the high<sup>private demand for</sup> higher education among women.

# 2. _Projects Which Faled to Meet Gender Objectives_

In contrast to the projects for which there was success, among the projects which failed to meet the gender objective the common problem was low demand for tertiary education by women. The reasons for the subdued demand could be many. First, women's<sup>entry into the</sup> formal labor market is restricted by strong cultural factors (e.g., Yemen).<sup>Second, despite</sup> favorable demand conditions, parents may be unwilling to send their daughters<sup>unless their</sup> specific concerns are met by suitable interventions. Third, low participation rates in both primary and secondary education may result in a low demand<sup>for higher education (e.g.,</sup> Paldstan and Morocco). In all these cases, mere expansion will not be very helpful<sup>in rasing</sup> the level of women's participation in higher education. Focus then ought to shift to the<sup>causes</sup> of the low demand and introduce appropriate interventions.

For example, a project in Pakistan expanded spaces in Teacher Trainir.g Institutes with the intention of meeting labor market demands for trained teachers; the government could<sup>only</sup> meet 27 percent of the demand for women teachers. The project constructed three<sup>new female</sup> teacher training institute (770 enrollment capacity) and expanded student places in<sup>seven existing</sup> institutes (2,270 enrollment capacity). Upon completion of the new structures and student spaces, it was found that the project facilities were consistently<sup>under-utilized and under-</sup> enrolled, because the project neglected to evaluate the specific constraints<sup>faced by women</sup> candidates during their schooling and later in the job market.

However, mere assessment of constraints alone may not be sufficient<sup>to guarantee</sup> successful project interventions aimed at increasing women's access to<sup>higher education. In a</sup> project in Papua New Guinea, for example, the identification of the constraints was based<sup>on</sup> unsubstantiated theory. When the assumption made proved inaccurate, the<sup>project was unable</sup> to meet gender objectives.

In some countries, the demand for higher education places varied<sup>according to the</sup>
- 34 -

available programs. The existence of a high female enrollment rate in secondary education , a high general demand for educated women within labor market, and the availability of student places do not necessarily increase women's access to higher education, unless the educational programs offered to women link to specific demands in the labor market.

# 3. _Partially Successful Projects_

Four of the 17 projects have partially achieved the objectives set within the appraisal reports. Partial achievement of the goals may be related to the nature and quality of interventions introduced.

In Kenya, for instance, a Bank project assisted in establishing two agricultural institutes which planned to offer two-year certificate courses in agriculture with a special home economics option for women. Two projects reserved 25 percent of the student places for women. Preliminary results of the project indicated that two institutes were able to expand their enrollment capacity as planned. Surprisingly, upon project completion, one institute experienced a _5_ percent improvement in women's enrollment rates over the percent anticipated during project appraisal, while the other institution failed to realize targeted objectives. The reasons for the shortcoming was cited in the PCR as imperfect advertising and registration procedures at the time the institute was set up.

## _4. Unable to Determine Relative Success_

Occasionally, the PCRs do not enable one to determine whether or not the objectives of the SARs were realized. For instance, a project in Syria supported the establishment of two new Health Technician Institutes in which women were expected to comprise 50 percent of total enrollments. Cultural and social attitudes toward nursing were stated as a major constraints adversely affecting female participation in the nursing programs. Although the project itself did not introduce specific interventions to overcome the constraints identified, it noted that the government should intervene. However, because the PCR mentioned no gender specific outcomes, it is difficult to evaluate the project's impact on women. Interestingly, the Syrian p.Joject is not an isolated occurrence as we found four of 17 (23%) of the projects for which
- 35 -

gender interventions were introduced and for which PCRs were available had failed to adequately provide measurements to assess the impact of the project on female enrollment rates.

# B. Approaches in the **Ongoing** Projects for Which Results are not Available

Since the mid-1980s the Bank has paid greater attention to gender issues in higher education projects. Increasing numbers of projects acknowledged gender issues in higher education and a significant number of them introduced interventions to overcome the barriers affecting women's participation in tertiary education. Many of these projects are recent and the outcomes are not yet available. However, the approaches currently being followed deserve to be discussed.

_Increase the_ **_Qaliy_** _of Education at the Secondary Education Level:_ It is logical to think that the quality and kind of education received at the secondary level will affect postsecondary educational enrollment. In many developing countries, the irrelevancy and poor quality of educational materials affect girls' enrollment at the primary and secondary levels (Herz, et al. 1991). Therefore, in some cases where quality of basic education is particularly low for girls, improvement of basic educational opportunities (i.e. by increasing opportunities in math and science classes), may ultimately increase women's access to higher education. In fact, many projects addressed the low quality of female education at the lower levels. In Mali the Government would revise curriculum to emphasize the basics. This would overcome parents' initial reluctance, and is expected to produce more literate and numerate graduates who will be more productive and better able to adapt to the demands of an evolving labor market or continuing into the higher levels.

A project in China, for example, is focusing on increasing the quality of basic education in order to increase women's access to further educational opportunities. Introduced provisions include: (a) publicity and heightened public awareness of the importance to society of education girls; (b) strengthening measures to make education compulsory; (c) improving conditions for rural teachers to retain teachers parents trust to educate their daughters; and (d) targeting provisions of cash to poor families that need to cover school-related expenditures. The project expects a more effective delivery of educational services will result in higher school attendance,
- 36 -

higher completion rates and reduce illiteracy rates, thereby increasing the applicant pool for continuing education.

_Increase_ **_Flexibiliy_** _and_ **_Diversity_** _and Strengthen Links to the Labor Market:_ Rigidity in higher education programs has been a particular problem for women, especially for married and/or working women. Flexible programs in tertiary education help to increase women's attendance. Recent projects attempt to raise female participation in higher education through a number of innovative approaches in the design of programs. Short-term and part-time programs, night and weekend classes, and credit systems can enable working and/or married women to attend at a convenient time. The experience in India shows such interventions increased enrollment in higher education among working and married women. In Tunisia, a recent Bankassisted project which provided short-term courses envisaged an increase in girls' demand for tertiary education. The projects in India also introduced flexibility in polytechnics program. Introducing a credit-system allowed women to enter and leave programs.

Provision of choice in higher education by increasing course offerings can also enable women to choose from a wider range of study, thus helping them tailor their education to private demand. In India, for example, such an intervention was particularly important, for the lack of demand for higher education among women was principally due to limited educational choice.

Because of the rapidly changing economic structures in developing countries, many countries are experiencing growth in the manufacturing and service sectors. The linkage between women's higher education and employment opportunities may prove important in increasing parental demand for tertiary education for their daughters (see Box 4).

One current project in the Philippines addresses the employment/education link by encouraging women to enter fields for which demand exists in the labor market. The program encourages women to participate in non-traditional fields and further supports ongoing projects to increase female participation in occupations in line with labor force needs. Moreover, to more accurately combine women's employment needs and interests, the project supports funds for a training delivery system which would help meet the taining needs of women by supporting communities in identifying training needs for women and introducing matching programs.
- 37 -

The. Psoito Regioa "Poist4ecoonda ducation study **is** one of a sof Pad Cou ' S being undert.ak by the Wor.ld.EBank encompass4'ingfii, W. Sama, Tonga, Kiribati. Solomon Islands and Vawatu.i Tle luate. tXe :islaed' institu higher edu.cation aocording- **t** o aponsivasto market demands (oly' with r o...n. The ....'s i alysis of the paioipatn of women in post-secondary education I most onco~rsging Oii of t.he.n~o g er O" und egardig th' labor ftore was ta over the time period, stdied there was substntal ncrese. C; tlythore itl a shortage tit'woman in tachngg nurWing,busines adIt t id _ndt_ ,manyf th trini fa,Iti.s eprienevacancies (from n urs .lin to" **_42._** i* ssJous ad teci regs in nsites _of._ teobnlag), _sugetng the_ no _tar.-_ incnie oIces D ~~~~Attioipedou ~ oe figrrdcsiat~ pllcants g? ~ ~ .-The stud highlights tlhe 'following apraceor. ~ ~ t - 0 ; approa. . 0 rninttue 'increasing:female.. 00i; 0 Err recerve fo aac9,; assis.'anctoatd -scndayeuoati,X, only30% of scholashi' ar' allocated =_ to women. af the fourty^as of ,........~.......rsbs currently offer otunyeEi n Mr)'d aots' r.~ ~ ~ ~~ _!:._ m , , , g ,S .R.,.;..>-d' rate oar.roly m ent,n mlth hla in dioates he deeand for oomen sholarshins a.i {,.;,: .. :,--,:,,;S:,..,.-, :: ,,. .-x.,.-: **-** ; **-** E::: ingprojesg toaiing options woet _toe womkaen_ ivdoati -Ai~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` _hat_ Pesliomihoaryrshlts i ndicatethskewhed e ho pel in higher ca againsrwoens theae tion for womenhighsf vels **i** ca in prghet idenatified;:~>...<~.::. . .. .... .... . .. .... . .ntroduc. and No single measue catns fresolve persighen soino-culturnalditonas~traint afecing woen' participation in highereducationc.a Theret~iisfore anme torasn tumben fofg reconents Bak-roecshv intrduce mulipleintervestiogtedns. Fnte ex aor ample, an revent proeate intlc Neal istumont es _mute Package Appmach:_ Prelminary results indicate that where barriers to female access are particularly stringent, multiple interventions may be needed to overcome the constraints. _No_ single measure can resolve persistent socio-cultural constraints affecting women's participation in higher education. Therefore, an increasing number of recent Bank-projects have introduced multiple interventions. For example, a recent project in Nepal is among best promising projects to improve women's participation in higher education in technical fields. The project identified the barriers affecting women's participation in higher education and introduced multiple interventions to overcome identified constrants (see Box _5)._
_- 38_ -

**_&X:_** _._ **_e_** _X ppnw ppP4c s to Overcome the_ **_Constraints_** _on Women's Higher_ **_FEucatlow:_** _Recen Ran-AssstedProjects ,i_

. Wher6 banier to female access to higher education are pervasive, multiple interventions _may_ be needod to :n ..women's ae enrollment. The follwiswg are e*amples from a few recn, ongoing Bank-assistcd projet. which adopt a pckge ppoactoenance femalo enrilnent.

=Teprojc¢twasdeigedtoassistinimproving :urAJ trining atteWdde sad -higher levels. k _WaB_ ialeady decided that at Icast 10% student spaces would be reerved or women in middle and higher level grioultural training beoause the government of Npal encourge women ote aipaie in agritumi 0 nd iarai developinctt atvits. Acordngly, the project inroduced genderspeoifi _.nterventions_ XPb.inase to feale participation .in kiculturt Jgher educaton. First,te project would hbilit and .. ate isting buAlding to accommoat 600 agrIcultul juniort hnicianassistant at two .baining center, of which 70 .w.O.uld bo-woma nstdens. Scd,to aBcowmmodatcaudeints, addionalboarding fci1ities or 180 wouid be oVnstc of whi 80 would be for feakle students. To attact moro female atudeu and students fom rmote : -and underj:iledhi;l areastio e _at inrll_ **histitute** of Agriciture, a total of 40 -tbree-yar- local scholaiships (120 student _yers)_ wo.-Uld b provided. -.- - .*: {-.. **.** . ... ~~~ ilie ~~~~~~~~~~~projec aii ate . ...... f f) .paig Inttt **.** } fEgneig (lOB). _, sa o idE'lesd a h f enerngpeonne lugh 10% f. plaesMomn.hd .s...n iulty lig his gua. Q0f e str f Q i wmmen wer ereted **was** ited. d tlo apo pa a otS **ol** fr wocn ate O a .. ~ ~ ~~ . ..... _...._ - x ' ' _, W"' ~~~~~~~.... **.** .. **.** 0 **....** ." ''''...k.............................. ' **.** | .ha th dafla bflizy~ hsefclits old ecurage moreom*en t m soil¢; t d, ed htecure and t .- **:** ST~~~~~~~-- g< Win'g:pwo: **AcV.o** ig **...:** ~ience1iidia, **.-.....** ad6h triei:

'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~h -rmr PWj pu_s of th prjc is toW -. ....~~~~~~~~~~~t :. .... .. ... . -;dressin sp M tp ( t **, be,** p,' _.... E_ R . tgii- _._ w 606 'rE ...d. . .... _:>~~~~E_ evanate.t0d Inte **IVIeBof.** _:Y8Wt-O_ co.larsips in .att.mcting: **fw.om en.m** ;-ffot ilb v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pastiei-atiOt =al4 =he project=5 _In_ ore to inra th pecn 'op **o** "'st fferinancial **o** f femal = _vestluo.pro.visions otQvetIeas.acholarabips.,1be,_roject aimed at increasing the numbetof women in nonW traitonl iedsinpitiiiar T a eterlik etee eplymntoportniie wthwoens duatonotenprjec willidenify f woh **e** * t pertit tainig neda mo effctiv mathingof nedawithtraiint pporuithe' r Through aef ofprovidin scholarahja in non-traitional secors and reserching tr'Iing the ombined **n.ed..o** E ~ ~ ~~~. wor6n Nw . ..... th _f:_ uiea P~~a ; eprmia. . o nt nl inrenoome~' :-: E **-wool"ar** prtiiptio h _c_ edcaio but toincreae partcipaton in reas o high emand suggest that incent proj~~~~etsddesdteenepolmihihrduaonyitoucn
- 39 -

Three recent on-going projects in India appear to be among the most promising projects aimed at improving women's access to higher education, for the projects not only expand higher education institutions for women but simultaneously address various constraints restricting women from fully participating in post-secondary education (Box 6: India's Experience). Preliminary results of these projects indicate that the package approach to overcome constraints to women participation is promising. Clearly, some on-going Bank projects with multiple measures are most to likely increase women's participation in higher education.

_. ox.6..Inta &periewce lRisngEnrollment: A Case of Package Approach_

|:Ith the a.sistance :f the Bak4f India<br>4iA<br>an innovative progami in 1990 to expand technician education<br>.fior io`eth-of.<br>expansion of sholo6 places, -A numbeF of stateieS to overCome<br>varnou constaints on women's<br>i<br>i<br>in<br>ecn:a wero i:oduced._Apart_from expansion of places for woenm, the folowing_were_ang<br>h lii idd '|
|---|
|tc poces ntrouceto improve womensa sto higher educatio: expansion of. osIu, provision for financial aid<br>_.(by hege_<br>ien<br>d link.betwneain<br>_and_emnds_of the abOr_mart, itroduction of gender neutral<br>Iicuums<br>atinof publ<br>i<br>as:s<br>'<br>aT p<br>sOand<br>**ro**exi<br>p<br>gr<br>isfot<br>g education.<br>Htpmu*rnof_Plac:._<br>_:_<br>Theprojeotallmi<br>-<br>coeucainlpo<br>iasupp<br>e<br>ma<br>d<br>ile<br>to<br>ai<br>lilfeal<br>ito<br>ee<br>fbtstin<br>_4~_**ni~na**po$ecblc.ndM<br>*l<br>.ic<br>OOnI**Ilow.Pte..0<br>Uof<br>actsve<br>ti s<br>tii<br>Nt<br>re<br>h<br>il<br>;i<br>n<br>.a<br>ti.projenct w<br>_R^-_<br>_0_<br>_Mi_<br>_is_<br>technica. inthe<br>ii<br>soe|
|_._<br>_._<br>___<br> <br>____<br>......<br>..<br>==n~~~~~~~t<br>n di'<br> <br>p<br><br>a..d....o..ra.s. -;V program about..<br>tl pXojects~<br>**j~~¶/**<br>addition. th... e. hat<br>"rnme.t<br>-<br>bee<br>X<br>..<br>~apr~<br>pautheroet<br>nceain<br>pb<br>aw<br>hep~opnt.<br>lica......<br>.. ..... .e<br>b-.n<br>.....<br>n<br>.r<br>an metns botth<br>poec adprgrm..Toicras.npoyietoffeae<br>ec lcan,emloes<br>reecorae<br>.PM<br>sekwmn<br>n*mzhteomu~aiN<br>b4)lewenistucan'mpot|
|W_=~<br><br>_Linkto iab~ Makrn_<br>Hila dman fo tehnici~ni<br>reldssuca<br>a comute aplictions, textile<br>desig, beaplt**s**oea,<br>'tntrutnnl ,aadseoiietM.<br>~<br>heeistin~gns<br>wari~aitlonl an<br>didnotticlitte he artciatIn<br>o wosenin oden<br>rwge.mplymet.<br>n ipotan asectof he roh ct|
|.<br>.<br>l. . , ..... 0<br>.....<br>.......<br>..<br>. .<br>X<br>-<br>2 .<br>- 0 -<br>f~~~~~**.**<br>............ ..<br>i<br>.<br>:<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..<br> :: -:<br>-<br>E<br>:<br> <br>|
|. . <br>........ .. .. .......**....**.<br> <br>..<br>these institutions,~<br>~<br>**~~~~~~~C-upisol**<br>u|
|4emand fa~~~~~.f~**~***~<br>~~<br>_Q~~_~~out fj~~~~.~ad**<br>ft<br>"64ICR<br>yt<br>cu.ic"<br>tese<br> <br> <br>|
|pokey<br>lntewention.~<br>~<br>~<br>~<br>~<br>~ ~ ~~~mnai~&'tew<br>ADO|
- 40 -

# C. Effective Approaches Under Diverse Socio-Economic Settings

In terms of effective approaches across countries, what broad patterns do these projects suggest? What are the typical constraints affecting women's participation in higher education across countries? Is there any relation between the effective approaches and the stage of country development and/or the nature of the socio-economic setting?

As noted above, differences in gender disparity are striling when comparing countries within different stages of development. What explains these differences? It is argued in the literature that a decline in the proportion of female participants in secondary and higher education in low-income countries as compared with middle and high-income countries suggests a relationship between women's access to higher education and a country's state of economic development (Verspoor 1990). In other words, economic growth measured by per capita GNP appears to be conducive to development of higher education and increased participation rates for women. Demand for girls' education is estimated to be more elastic than for boys', suggesting that demand for girls' education fluctuates more with the level of national income as contrasted with the more stable and constant demand for education experienced for boys (Schultz 1989; World Bank 1989c).

However, contrary to these propositions, considerable variation in female participation in higher education seems to exist among developing countries with similar levels of deeoment, suggesting that factors other than income level may influence women's participation. Just as the level of development is an important determinant of the breadth and quality of higher education available (the supply side), the social setting of the country appears to be another important influence on women's demand for higher education. In Table 3, developing countries are classified according to income level (as low, lower middle, an uppermiddle income levels according to their per capita GNP) and social setting of the country (ranging from difficult to moderate setting). Factors generating a "difficult" setting in which to improve women's educational participation include: cultural restrictions for female participation in education and in the labor market, dispersed population and low percentage of
- 41 -

TablG 3. C a r of Counries and Promidng Appraches: A Typology from Bank Experienco'

|Income Lev<br>(CDP/pc)|el<br>Socia<br>Setting<br>.<br>I|
|---|---|
||Difficult<br>Modate|
|Low|e.g., Pakistan.<br>Nepal.Bangladesh. Nigeia, Etbiopu<br>e.g., Egpt, Kenya.IndiaLesotho|
||'Expandonof tnditional fields (Ethiopia.Lao)<br>'Expansion<br>of female polywchnics (India)<br>*ProvisioofDonm(Etopi.Nepal. Niger)<br>'Expansion<br>ofaditionalfieds(Kenya)<br>Singleaesools (Pakdsa)<br>'Conversiton<br>ofall-mIle,polychnicsInto<br>*Resrving places (Ethiopa. Nepal. Malawi)<br>coedua onititutons<br>(India)<br>Establish ew criteria for awardig fellowhip<br>OProvision<br>of one polytechnic<br>istute for the<br>(Djibouti)<br>handicapped<br>wome (India)<br>*Modifyingadmission<br>cnteri (Gambia. Ethiopia)<br>Public infoiuon campaign<br>(India)<br>Provide targeted<br>scholaship (Nepal. Indonesia)<br>*Introducing**gender**<br>neutrl curculum (LIdis)<br>'frovison of overe scholahips (Indonesia)<br>OReaervigplmm for women (Kenya)<br>-ntrducg<br>new pfogruas with stromg<br>dei-d<br>*linkto Labor Market (India)<br>(Nepxl)<br>-Provision<br>of ducipli<br>n chnical fields.<br>tPrVisiODofcoimiingand caeer servces<br>-Provisionof tbe widerangeof disciplines<br>(Ethiopia)<br>-School-industy<br>p<br>hipto incrse<br>OMonitoring<br>femle enrollts<br>(Indona.<br>employability of womengaduaes (India)<br>Gambia)<br>-Examining<br>theutilityof technicaltraining<br>reevedby women<br>*Recruit women inuuceon<br>'Provideflexible curculum<br>*Prousion of financil incenoves(freetuion.<br>t<br>_sporauo<br>and ccom"udaonXIndia Kenya)<br>'Provisionof dorm facilities (Kenya)|
|Lower<br>Middle|e.g.. Y_en. Algea Morocco. Papua New Guinea<br>e.g., Turkey,'Jordan. Tunisia. Bolivia. Philippines<br>'Expansionof places(Algeria)<br>'Expandplaces (Turkey, Tunsia.Jordan)<br>*Single-exshools (Yemen)<br>1'Provisi**o**n fcoeducatonal<br>schools(Jordan)<br>OProvinos ofdorms(Yemen. Algia<br>Morocco)<br>DBouding<br>facilities for_gis_(Jordan)<br>*Public**awainem**campaign<br>.ink<br>tolbormaret(Turkey.Tunisa. Philippines)<br>*Provison of sdpeds (Yemen)<br>'Provisionof discipnesintechnical fields.<br>'Modify admiioncnitena (PNG)<br>*Provision of the**wide**rangeof disciplines<br>'lrnovingWorking Conditions<br>-Improvedworing conditionsndcareerprospects<br>(JloU)<br>-Givegreter responsibilty to registd<br>nunes and<br>midwives(Jordan)<br>-Reducing the penod of obligated eniploymen**t** oone<br>yesr for esch year training (Jordan)<br>-Provision of atractive saaries<br>*Flexible course offenogs (Tunisia)<br>Fre boardingandlodging for female students (Jordan<br>'Provisionofstipends(Jordan)<br>*Reduce distance(e.g.,esublshing campusesimdifferent<br>locatons (Tunisia).|
|Upper<br>b1iddle|e.g.. Liby. Gabon. Oman. Imq. SArabia<br>e.g.. Portugal. Korea. Hungary. Greece BraZi. Venezuela<br>*Single-sex schools (Oman)<br>OExpand ccess<br>*Incmea quahty**at**tht teriary level<br>-Traditional fields (Portugal. Korea)<br>ntcresse female facultv<br>-Non-traditional fields<br>*Provision of boadig facilities (Oman)<br>*Increase quality**at**secondaryandteruarv levels (Korea)<br>*POVIsion of traimg supends (Omn\<br>*Link to labormarket(Korea)<br>'tmprovwng<br>working conditions<br>*CounselingandGuidance(Korea)<br>-Provision of anracve salares(Oman)<br>*Monitorandevaluatefemaleenollmenttrends<br>ODecentralize igher education pmgrms (Oman)<br>*Public**awueness**<br>campang to encourage female totake<br>cousesinscience and technology (Koreai.|
|--ounrv exampi<br>Note:Someof th|es given are promisingintervenuons<br>airectead to umprove temaue mgner eaucauon m recent and on-goigtianyprojes.<br>ese mtervenuonsare introduced<br>by the govnenutsandmenuonedinthe SARs.|
- 42 -

urbanization, infrastructural bottlenecks, and low levels of female participation in the secondary education. Countries characterized as socially less conservative are those having greater urban population and a medium or high levels of enrollment at the secondary level; these are classified under a "moderate" setting. Thus, from the available project experience, a typology of country situations and possible strategies can be delineated to remedy gender gaps in post-secondary enrollment.

_Low Income and Difficult Setting:_ Available evidence suggests that countries with low levels of income (hence low supply of places) and difficult social settings (with low parental demand for higher education) may have the greatest barriers restricting female participation in higher education. Countries in S.Asia such as Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh and much of north Africa fall into this category. Per capita GNP in these countries is below $500; the demand for women's higher education is very low due to factors such as high direct and opportunity costs, cultural restrictions of women's participation in education and labor force, distance to universities, low level of participation in secondary education and poor quality of secondary education for girls (Herz et al., 1991). These countries experience low overall enrollment rates both at the lower levels and at the tertiary level of education.

In difficult settings, women's access to any education, and particularly to higher education, is extremely limited, especially in rural areas. For example, in low-income, agrarian economies of Africa, women are particularly disadvantaged because they are expected to help considerably on the farm when they continue their secondary education. The effective approach appears to be not only an increase in the supply of student places and single sex institutions, but also introducing policies to increase the private demand for higher education since the houselevel constraints have considerable effect on female participation. Despite introducing very gender-specific policies on the supply side such as reserving student places on single sex institutions for women in some countries, the projects often fail due to difficult socio-economic setting restricting the demand for higher education (e.g. Nepal and Pakistan). In such situations, the only promising approach is the introduction of multiple components in the projects, and encourage women in specific occupations as role models.
_-_ 43 _Low Income and Moderate Setting:_ Countries such as Egypt, India, and Kenya appear to have fewer social constraints inhibiting on women's participation in higher education despite their low level of national income. These countries are socially less conservative, moderately urbanized, have faster growth in their GNP, with medium or high female participation in secondary education. Often the problem in such low income/moderate category countries is the limited supply of school facilities and resources. Therefore, expansion related policies have often been successful in increasing female enrollment rates in higher education. Policies such as increasing student places, reserving places for women, and providing boarding places for girls have successfully increased women's access to higher education.

However, it is also interesting to observe that some of the low income/moderate setting countries have experienced an excess supply of trained personnel in some fields, especially in traditional fields for women, despite a demand for trained workers in non-traditional fields. This is one of the prime reasons of low female participation in technical post-secondary education in India. Establishing a link between labor market and higher education programs, then, is a critical factor in increasing female participation in this category of countries.

_Lower Middle Income and Difficult Setting:_ Lower middle income countries within a difficult setting share constraints similar to low income countries with difficult setting, the greatest constraint being family or societal restriction. In Yemen, for example, higher education is accessible to students who have a respectable secondary education grade point average (World Bank 1992d). Accordingly, those who qualify academically have access to tertiary education. However, family concern about 'protection' of their daughters has been the main barrier on female participation.

Interestingly, in these countries, there has been a relatively high demand for educating women in traditional fields. For example, a recent Bank sector report on Yemen found that teaching is increasingly seen as a socially appropriate profession for females. Policy should focus on professions culturally accepted as suitable for females. Projects expanding places for women in such fields as teaching with appropriate housing for women would doubtless expand
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female participation in h;gher education. Careful attention needs to be paid to the choice of fields nd to culturally accepted modes of housing.

_Lower Middle Income and Moderate Settlng._ Countries in this category often experience excess demand for higher education by both male and female students as existing higher education institutions are unable to accommodate all students who seek admission. Due to the limited supply of student places, entrance examinations or similar measures are used to determine the qualified students for higher education studies. As such, the constraint affecting women's participation in higher education in these countries comes from the cumulative effects of inequitable access to, and quality of, education at earlier levels. Since female students usuaUy concentrate in non-science and mathematics programs at the secondary education level, access for them to higher education in the fields of science and engineering is particularly limited. Further, the existence of an admission exam appears to negatively affect women because they receive lower resources from their families (than for males) and are therefore less able to compete with the more affluent students preparing through private tutoring to enter the university (Kudat and Abadzi 1989).

Turkey, Tunisia, and Jordan are among the countries in this setting where the demand side problem almost does not exist. Limited space is the greatest concern for equal educational opportunity. Since women receive low quality of education at secondary level, they are less able to compete with boys for the limited spaces available in higher education especially in sciences and engineering. Expansion related policies result in an increase in female enrollment at the tertiary level. In addition, modifying admission criteria and reserving places for girls are promising interventions to increase female participation rates in higher education. Above all, addressing the quality of education and providing counseling and guidance at the secondary level will be imperative to improve women's access to higher education in these countries.

_Upper Middle lncome and Difficult Setting:_ Many oil-producing Arab countries fall in this category. Although they are classified as upper middle income countries, the social setting for female participation in higher education is difficult. Saudi Arabia, and Oman are among
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these countries. Women's participation iA the labor market is very restricted and concentrated in traditional fields. Accordingly, demand for higher education is also very limited due to factors such as family restrictions on female education. The eftective policies seem to be to increase parental demand for their daughters' educatioti. Provision single-sex schools in traditional fields seems to be the most effective strategy. In addition, community awareness campaigns identifying the benefits of female education may increase parental and hence female demand for post-secondary education.

_Upper Middle Income and Moderate Seting:_ This category enjoys the most gender parity in higher education for all categories. However, women may lag behind men in non-traditional fields in many of countries, such as Greece, Portugal, Korea, and much of LAC region countries. The main constraint here is not the demand for higher education, but the link between higher education that women receive and the labor market. Gender streaming at secondary level is the prime reason for women's inability to gain access to non-traditional fields. Also, in some LAC countries, legal restrictions do not permit women to accept jobs in some professions. Reform of the legal framework and greater emphasis on science and mathematics at the secondary school are critical for overcoming gender streaming in these countries.

# VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS

Bank project experience on what works to improve female access to tertiary education is so limited that it may be premature to draw firm conclusions. Many of the projects with interesting multiple interventions are currently ongoing. However, two conclusions emerge.

First, the key prerequisite for the observed success across countries of some interventions appears to be a strong demand for educated women in the labor market combined with a high private demand for higher education by women (and their parents). The degree of success of a project depended critically on the extent to which the project components were sensitive to the prevailing labor market situation for women and private demand conditions. Projects with often only a single intervention were successful in societies where the formal labor market is growing
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and few social constraints or qualifications inhibit women's participation. Projects with single interventions are unlikely to succeed in countries where social factors, including low secondary enrollment rates for women, high direct costs of women's educaeien, and high cultural restrictions within labor market were pervasive.

Second, the link between programs offered and the demands in the labor market is critical. High secondary enrollment rates, high private demand for women's education and the availability of student places do not necessarily guarantee an increase in women's participation in higher education, unless the programs are dovetailed to meet the specific demands in the labor market. It is not enough to overcome social barriers through policy interventions; future projects need to take an integrated view of the various social and labor market constraints, and include appropriate interventions in the project design.

The above conclusions underscore the inherent complexities surrounding women's participation in higher education. Fortunately, the Bank appears to be moving in a positive direction as a greater number of projects today are addressing gender inequities and taking action than was the case in the 1970s. Of the projects introducing gender-specific interventions in the 1980s, 62 percent were developed during the last five years (1987-1992). A number of recent Bank projects have multiple, inter-related interventions. Initial project results indicate that this combined or "package approach", well-grounded in country-specific circumstances, may prove to be an effective project design for enhancing female participation in higher education.