‘Education is as important for me as water is to sustaining life’: perspectives on the higher education of women in Afghanistan

Abstract

Progress in education in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban has been described as ‘fragile, limited in reach, depth and uncertainty of sustainability' [UNICEF. 2013. Basic Education and Gender Equality: Afghanistan. United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. http://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/education_2206.htm]. This is particularly true for Afghan women participating in higher education, within a culture that remains resistant to women's education. This article documents the views and attitudes of Afghan women who have sought to gain a higher education, within a context where only 5% of the Afghan population attends university, and less than 20% of university students are female [The World Bank. 2013. World Development Indicators: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines. The World Bank Group. http://data.worldbank.org/country/afghanistan]. It is an attempt to listen to the voices of Afghan women to ascertain what they see as the best ways to improve their educational outcomes. Findings illustrate that while progress has been made in enabling a small percentage of women to pursue higher education, there are still significant and enduring obstacles for Afghan women seeking such a path.

Keywords:

• women
• gender
• higher education
• Afghanistan
• tertiary access

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank staff based at the Gawharshad Institute who undertook the interviews and translated them into English: Assadullah Jawid, Farahnaz Malik and Sakina Qasemi. Also many thanks to our two anonymous reviewers who provided valuable feedback to improve this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. It is not possible to determine girls’ participation rate in schools in 2001 as the Taliban implemented a nation-wide ban on public education for women and girls in 1997; in 1998, private education was limited to girls under eight and was restricted to the teachings of the Koran (PBS 2007).

2. For example, the Gawharshad Institute offers a 30% discount on fees for female students to encourage their participation.

3. A Mahram is any man with whom a woman has a relationship (of blood or fosterage) that precludes marriage or sexual intercourse.