Volume 10, Issue 4, March 2015, Pages 1065–1072
Vincent Itai Tanyanyiwa1
1 Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Zimbabwe Open University, P.O. Box MP 1119, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Gender Mainstreaming is imperative in contemporary development planning. It is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality especially in institutions of higher education. Universities are crucial centres for change and gender mainstreaming their curriculum, enrolments, and general operation is crucial as it will enable them to fulfil this mandate. Enhancing quality education by women and men, and removing gender stereotyping in the curriculum, career choices and the professions is the sine qua non for sustainable development. In this respect, obstacles to women's participation in higher education need to be minimised or eradicated completely. Therefore, recruitment, enrolments, promotions and organisational structures need to be gender mainstreamed. This research involved extensive documentary reviews. Interviews with key selected stakeholders, representative of students, academic and administrative staff and top-decision makers and implementers were also conducted. The paper suggests that the application of a gender mainstreaming strategy is possible, though complex. The case study institution analysed shows some progress but there are still many challenges relating to structural issues, sustainability, policy formulation, the commitment of actors involved, and the whole aspect of attitudinal change both at individual level and collectively for the university.
Author Keywords: Gender, Gender Auditing, Gender Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming, Gender Planning.
Vincent Itai Tanyanyiwa1
1 Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Zimbabwe Open University, P.O. Box MP 1119, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Gender Mainstreaming is imperative in contemporary development planning. It is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality especially in institutions of higher education. Universities are crucial centres for change and gender mainstreaming their curriculum, enrolments, and general operation is crucial as it will enable them to fulfil this mandate. Enhancing quality education by women and men, and removing gender stereotyping in the curriculum, career choices and the professions is the sine qua non for sustainable development. In this respect, obstacles to women's participation in higher education need to be minimised or eradicated completely. Therefore, recruitment, enrolments, promotions and organisational structures need to be gender mainstreamed. This research involved extensive documentary reviews. Interviews with key selected stakeholders, representative of students, academic and administrative staff and top-decision makers and implementers were also conducted. The paper suggests that the application of a gender mainstreaming strategy is possible, though complex. The case study institution analysed shows some progress but there are still many challenges relating to structural issues, sustainability, policy formulation, the commitment of actors involved, and the whole aspect of attitudinal change both at individual level and collectively for the university.
Author Keywords: Gender, Gender Auditing, Gender Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming, Gender Planning.
How to Cite this Article
Vincent Itai Tanyanyiwa, “Gender Mainstreaming at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU): Opportunities and Challenges,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1065–1072, March 2015.
