Gender Equity in South African Education 1994-2004: Conference Proceedings

Education was considered a key component in the transformation of post-apartheid South Africa into a place of equal opportunity for women, but as this collection of essays shows, gender equity in education has remained an elusive goal in the last 10 years. South African and international experts discuss the weaknesses of organizations inside and outside the government, the ways in which cultural assumptions inform gendered practices, sexual violence, HIV/AIDS, and continuing unemployment and poverty among women. The successes and failures that other countries, such as Australia and India, have experienced upon implementing equal education opportunity are examined, as are the initiatives of the South African Department of Education. Strategies for achieving educational gender equity are also proposed.