This book provides much needed evidence from research in a rural community in Sub-Saharan Africa, that show the value of literacy in increasing the life chances of women. It concludes with macro and micro level policy options that are necessary for critical (re)construction of women's lives in the region and elsewhere.

Taking as a starting point the taken-for-granted assumption that literacy affects women's lives in very important ways, the author provides much needed evidence from research in a rural community in Sub-Saharan Africa, that show the value of literacy in increasing the life chances of women. The book concludes with macro and micro level policy options that are necessary for critical (re)construction of women's lives in the region and elsewhere.

Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tradition, Struggle and Change is the first book to bring together the topics of language and gender, African languages, and gender in African contexts, and it does so in a descriptive, explanatory and critical way. Including fascinating new work and new, often challenging data from Botswana, Chad, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, this collection looks at some ‘traditional’ uses of language in relation to the gender of its speakers and the gendered nature of the languages themselves; it also identifies and explores social change in terms of both gender and sexuality, as reflected in and constructed by language and discourse. The contributions to this volume are accessibly written and will be of interest to students and established academics working on African sociolinguistics and discourse, as well as those whose interest is language, gender and sexuality.

This book addresses major sociological issues in sub-Saharan African education today. Its fourteen contributors present a thoroughly African world-view within a sociology of education theoretical framework, allowing the reader to see where that theory is relevant to the African context and where it is not. Several of the chapters bring a much-needed cultural nuance and critical theoretical perspective to the issues at hand. The sixteen chapters thus aim to be of interest internationally, to those who work in such fields as social and political foundations of comparative and international education, and development studies, including university professors, teacher educators, researchers, school teachers, tertiary education students, consultants and policy makers.

Despite a spectacular expansion of the higher education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, the supply of tertiary education has generally failed to keep pace with demand and the region continues to lag all other regions in terms of access to tertiary education. This is in part a consequence of deeply entrenched patterns of inequitable access to higher education, and the perpetuation of what researchers refer to as “elite systems†?. To date, access to tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa has unduly benefitted students drawn from the region’s wealthiest households, and overall enrollment remains disproportionately male, and metropolitan. These factors stifle the catalytic potential of higher education, corroding its potential for driving economic growth and sustaining poverty reduction. Instead, patterns of access to tertiary education have generally reinforced and reproduced social inequality, instead of eroding its pernicious social and economic effects. This report aims to inform an improved understanding of equity in tertiary enrollment in Sub-Saharan African countries, and to examine the extent to which inequity functions as a bottleneck inhibiting the ability of African universities to effectively drive improvements in overall quality of life and economic competitiveness. In our survey of the evidence, we also aim to identify which policies most effectively address the challenge of promoting equity of access in SSA tertiary education systems. In order to achieve these objectives, the report collects, generates and analyzes empirical evidence on patterns of equity, examines the underlying causes of inequity, and evaluates government policies for addressing inequity.

Informal Learning and Literacy among Maasai Women highlights the importance and role of informal education in the emancipation and development of Maasai village women in Kenya. At present, knowledge and research on the impact of informal learning and literacy on community development is limited, and there is a gap between policy level discussions and women’s lived experiences. Using a postcolonial feminist framework, this book sets out to examine linkages between informal learning and literacy, human development and gender inequality. Despite improvements in recent years, access to traditional education remains restricted for many women in rural communities across Kenya. Takayangi’s book is the first to introduce how Maasai village women utilise informal learning and literacy for collective empowerment as well as to sustain their own well-being and that of their families. It presents the perspectives of both local women and institutions and argues that women’s learning is most effective when located within their own socio-cultural and political discourses, and when their voices are listened to and heard. This ethnographic research study is a valuable resource that will contribute to the knowledge of literacy from both theoretical and practical perspectives. It is an essential read for those studying or researching information education, development studies and gender, or education, as well as for teachers, community leaders and aid workers.

This volume highlights the role of language ideologies in the process of negotiation of identities and shows that in different historical and social contexts different identities may be negotiable or non-negotiable.