Overview of the Education System in Somalia:
The
education system in Somalia has been severely affected by decades of conflict
and instability. The country has a low literacy rate, with only 37% of the
population being able to read and write. The education system is divided into
primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. The primary level consists of eight
years of education, while the secondary level consists of four years. The
tertiary level includes universities and colleges.
Gender Disparities in
Education and Employment in Somalia:
Gender disparities in
education and employment are significant issues in Somalia. Women are less
likely to have access to education than men, and they are also more likely to
drop out of school. Women are also underrepresented in the workforce,
particularly in leadership positions. The gender gap in employment is
particularly pronounced in the education sector, where women are
underrepresented in teaching positions.
Despite the challenges,
women's participation in higher education in Somalia has increased in recent
years. According to the Ministry of Education, women make up 40% of the student
population in universities and colleges. However, women are still
underrepresented in teaching positions in higher education institutions.
Current literature intended to focus on structural,
organizational and personal barriers which might impede the women to climb
academic hierarchies. As many types of researches demonstrate, that despite, an
increased presence of female employees in midmanagement positions, executive
positions and full professor positions across the globe continue to be male
dominated (Mayuzumi 2015; Liu 2013; Oforiwaa and Broni 2013; Johnson and
Onwuegbuzie 2004).
Structural barrier
At the managerial level, recruitment,
hiring, and promotion processes are informed by images of the successful
manager. This image is stereotypically masculine; the successful organization
and the successful leaders share many of the same characteristics, such as strength,
aggressiveness, and competitiveness. As Berger et al. (1974) expectations
states theory enlightened, that certain traits typically associated with men
and women are taken into consideration by hiring managers. Traits like
competence and authority are typically affiliated with those of higher status,
and because cultural and stereotypical beliefs have led us to associate these,
with men, there is a correlation between gender and higher positions within
organizations (Berger et al. 1974). Essentially, employers’ expectations of an employee based on
status, gender, or role shape the chances of that employee’s opportunity to take on greater and “valuable” responsibility (Correll and Ridgeway
2008). Such stereotyping has been documented, constituting a major barrier to
women’s entry into
top level hierarchical positions of diverse organizations, including academia
and in the public sector till recently (Lühe 2014).
These cultural stereotypes are communicated to men and women
from early childhood and become embedded in their behaviours. It is this
socialization that molds the ideas and minds of children, hinting at whom they
should be and what roles they should take on, as they evolve into adulthood.
Connell’s well-known
theory of Hegemonic Masculinity (1987) similarly argues that society privileges
a single version of masculinity above all others, which guarantees the dominant
position of men and the subordination of women.
Secondly, childcare and domestic
works are all structural factors that have affected women’s possibilities of shattering the
cultural and stereotypical beliefs. If it is inevitable for women than for men
to stay at home when the children are small, it might affect women’s chances of advancement within the
organization. It becomes practically impossible for women to obtain the same
merits, and compete on the same terms as men, these structural factors,
directly or indirectly might hold them back (Taylor-Abdulai et al. 2014).
Most disturbing, though, is that gender stereotyping remains a significant
problem over 40 years later. The majority of people hold implicit biases most
of us carry the prejudices of which we are unaware, but that nonetheless play a
large role in our evaluations of people and their work (Bombuwela and De Alwis
2013; Faiza 2013; Batool, Sajid, and Shaheen 2013; Cocchio 2009; Ahmed et al.
2008). Such biases create inequality by causing people to expect greater
competence from men than from women, and thus to expect greater rewards to go
to men rather to women who are otherwise their equals, biases also lead men, on
average, to pay less attention to information that undermines expectations
based on gender (Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Schwanke 2013; Ghaus 2013).
Organizational barriers
Somalia is a traditional and man oriented society,
where the male is the head of the family and is responsible for taking or
approving all the decisions about the women of his family like education,
selection of subject, fields of occupation, mate selection, and many others.
Since centuries, women were confined to the home and were only responsible for
doing domestic or non-paid work. But for the last two decades, women
considerably came into higher education and eventually started coming into paid
labour force. Once women have successfully found their way into the workforce
and landed a position in their desired organization by the help of National and
Local Non Govermental Organizations, other types of discrimination become
apparent. Although, women in Somalia have worked in gendered academic institutions
for long. But population expansion, advanced and professional education paved
their way for employment into co-educational institutions though it is very
rare. Where usually women were under-represented in universities, as inherently
universities were masculine in nature. Moreover, the discourse of academic
meritocracy may also be masculine and reproduce masculine practices, as the
typical career path in academia is structured according to a male perception of
success, which involves being research active, stay at work more than
designated time and submit to the research assessment exercise. A work ethic
grounded in long hours of conducting research, teaching, or writing papers were
the norm in the “male” university (Brink et al. 2013; Remler and Perma 2009).
Personal barrier
With reference to personal barriers, there are two important
points of views on women less representation in the upper echelon of academia,
Firstly; women do not have the skills or the interests or time to do serious
scholarly work. Secondly, men intentionally discriminate because they do not
want to share power. But it is not as simple as shows rather, there are some
more subtle dynamics at work, and that exist both on the individual and the
institutional level (Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Batool, Sajid, and Shaheen
2013;
Acker 2006; Bailyn 2003). There are
predictably some striking differences, or “gaps” for women’s academic responsibilities,
household duties, and family situations. Many academic women believe that they
have disproportionate responsibilities for service in their departments as they
tend to put in longer hours than their male counterparts for childcare,
housework, and elder care where somalia’s traditin gave men not to do such
(Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Robbins and Simpson 2009; Side and Robbins 2007).
Some women sacrifice their careers to be wives and mothers. Many women take
maternity leaves or request shorter workdays to take care of their children.
This, too, can hinder their chances of being considered for promotions. There
may be simple answers to explain these trends, such as women are more likely to
have their careers interrupted by parental leaves (Acker and Armenti 2004), or
are unable to stay long due to home and parenting responsibilities, or are hired
with less experience than men.
Reference
Mayuzumi 2015; Liu 2013; Oforiwaa and Broni 2013;
Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004.
Correll and Ridgeway 2008
Taylor-Abdulai et al. 2014.
Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Faiza 2013; Batool,
Sajid, and Shaheen 2013; Cocchio 2009; Ahmed et al. 2008).
Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Schwanke 2013; Ghaus 2013.
Brink et al. 2013; Remler and Perma 2009.
Bailyn, L. 2003. Academic Careers and Gender Equity: Lessons Learned
from MIT. Gender, Work and Organization 10(2): 137–153.
Batool, S.Q., M.A. Sajid, and I. Shaheen. 2013. Gender and Higher
Education in Pakistan. International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies
1(1): 15–28.
Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Batool,
Sajid, and Shaheen 2013;Acker 2006; Bailyn 2003.
Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Robbins and Simpson 2009; Side
and Robbins 2007
Bombuwela and De Alwis 2013; Schwanke 2013; Ghaus 2013.
Berger, Joseph, L. Thomas, Conner, and M. HamitFisek. 1974.
Expectation States Theory, PERSPECTIVES ON:148.
Bombuwela, P.M., and A.C. De Alwis. 2013. Effects of Glass Ceiling on
Women Career Development in Private Sector Organizations-Case of Sri Lanka.
Journal of Competitiveness 5(2): 3–19.
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