women access to science at the university of dar es salaam - Ozean ...

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010ISSN 1946-6331© 2010 Ozean PublicationWOMEN ACCESS TO SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OFDAR ES SALAAM (UDSM), TANZANIAKAPINGA BERNADETHA BENJAMINDepartment of Higher Education, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyP.R.China-Wuhan-430074E-Mail address for correspondence: benadetakapinga@yahoo.com______________________________________________________________________________________Abstract: In Tanzania, gender gap in science enrollment is still wide, with females lagging far behindmales. Since the independence in 1961, various efforts have been made to bridge this gap.The policies thatare made to facilitate female’s participation have positive efforts in increasing female’s enrollment at theUniversity of Dar es Salaam, though girl-enrollment to such programmes has remained comparatively low.Much still needs to be done in Tanzania in the closure of the gender disparities in science enrollmentbeginning from the lower level of education so as to increase the entrance number of females in highereducation.Keywords: Higher Education, Gender Disparities, Gender Gap, Education Policies, Female’s Enrollment,Science Programmes______________________________________________________________________________________INTRODUCTIONImproving girls‟ access to science in higher education, with the goal of attaining gender equality, is acritical component of promoting development and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) inTanzania.Since the independence in 1961, the government and institutions of higher education in Tanzania haveplaced great emphasis on female access to higher education with particular focus to female‟s access toscience in higher education. Despite the recent increase in female‟s enrollment in science, owed to positiveactions, the increase has remained comparatively low.273

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010METHOD OF STUDYThis paper is based on secondary data obtained from university of Dar es Salaam records, reports, books,documentary of key policies, online articles and other publications.The analysis was carried out through critical examination of the roles played by education policies andprogrammes of action for the purpose of increasing female‟s enrollment for science programme in highereducation in Tanzania. The results are presented in the tables; 1 and 2.POLICIES GOVERNING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION INTANZANIAThe drivers behind policies addressing widening of women participation in higher education in the countrycan be traced to the ideals of the National Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania drawn in 1977(and amended in 1984), in which education was stipulated as a Constitutional right (URT, 1998). It wassince these early times that the government also propagated the ideology of cultivating developmentthrough eradicating the three „worst enemies‟ namely, illiteracy, poverty and disease.Education has therefore long been addressed as an impetus for development in the country. Theconstitution provides for education as a human right, and individual freedom of both sexes to educatethemselves up to the desired level. Since the 1970s, specific strategic initiatives towards increasingfemales‟ enrolment in higher education especially women access to science in higher education in Tanzaniahave been introduced.The Musoma Resolution (1978) that preceded the Women and Gender Development Policy as one of thefirst affirmative action policies later resulted in the increase of female enrolments in higher education.Through this resolution females were exempted from the two year compulsory work period that their malecolleagues had to adhere to after secondary education in order to be able to enter the university directlyfrom secondary schools. University of Dar es Salaam for the first time managed to enroll a large number offemale students.Through cost sharing Policy (1988), Tanzania government introduced Higher Education Student LoansBoard under Act No. 9 (2004) to provide loans to all eligible students (URT 2004) and as an incentive forthose educating female children. One of the criteria for securing a loan from the Education Student LoansBoard stipulated that; from the year 2005/06 academically outstanding students, i.e., those who hadachieved a Div. 1 grade in the final form V1 (Advanced Level) examinations directly qualified for the loanscheme while at the same time girls with a science specialization with a Div. 11 (HESLB, 2006), were alsoincluded to benefit from the same loan scheme.As a response to internal and external pressures for gender equality policies, the Tanzanian governmentformulated the Women Development Policy in 1992, re-named the Women and Gender DevelopmentPolicy in 2000. The policy calls for removal of barriers that hinder women‟s access to education andtraining to the limits of their abilities. The earlier policy was developed after the institution of the BeijingPlatform for Action of 1985, and most of its stipulations regarding equity and equality have been taken onboard. This policy and its predecessor have been instrumental in influencing processes such as removingbarriers to education and training as well as Introducing scholarships for higher education through theMinistry of Community Development, Gender and Children, specifically for women.274

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010The Tanzanian government is also a signatory to the UNESCO Convention against discrimination ineducation. Government has ratified the African charter on Human and People‟s Rights (1981) and theSouthern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC), Declaration on Gender and Human Rights (1997).POLICIES AND STRATEGIES REGARDING WIDENING WOMEN PARTICIPATION AT THEUNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAMDue to increased policy commitments and other pressures to address gender inequality and inequity at theUDSM, a number of processes were adopted which became the springboard and nurturer of the educationaction programmes at the institution. Earlier in the 1970s, female and male academics at UDSM, some whoorganized themselves in professional, research and gender-related NGOs, conducted research, seminars andseveral other sensitization tactics including producing publications and interacting with non-academics toquestion the sex disparity in higher education in the country.It was however the introduction of the University of Dar es Salaam Corporate Strategic Plan (CSP) (1994),the core document that defines University of Dar es Salaam‟s plans and strategies for transformation, set inmotion developments which saw systematic increase in enrolment numbers through institutionalization ofaffirmative actions that have been instrumental in expanding female students‟ enrolment, specialscholarships to women students and those in professions where they are not well represented (e.g.engineering) as well as putting in place mechanisms and policies that deal with sexual and otherharassments. A Gender Centre has currently been introduced to monitor gender equity and equality issues.Moreover, in order to increase access to higher education the University of Dar es Salaam, femalecandidates are admitted at up to 1.5 points lower than male candidates but not lower than the universityentry points. As a result the enrolment percentage rose from 17% in 1995/1996 to 29% in 1996/1997.Gender Studies have also been introduced in such forms as the Women Studies Centre at the University ofDar es Salaam. For example gender Studies Courses have been introduced in the institute of DevelopmentStudies and Sociology while a gender perspective has been adopted from some courses in the faculties ofArts and Social Sciences, Law and Education, and the College of Land and Architectural Studies. Theinstitute of Finance Management and the Sokoine University of Agriculture also have a few courses with agender perspective (UDSM: 1996).Pre-entry Programme (PEP) and Preferential Admission Criteria (PAC) will be the current discussion‟sfocus in this paper. These are two of the more commonly used education programmes that the University ofDar es Salaam has used as strategies to open up and increase female‟s enrolment in science courses.Pre-entry Programme (PEP) studentsPre-entry programme was introduced in 1997 to address the Faculty of Science‟s concern in addressing therelatively small number of female students and academic staff in the Faculty. In their strategic plan, theprogramme is considered as “the immediate approach to effect an increase of the number of femalecandidates who may not have attained the minimum cut-off point for admission into the faculty althoughthey have the required basic qualifications” in order to “increase the proportion of female students from15% (in 1996/97) to about 30% in the year 2003” (Faculty of Science, 2001:18). It is worth noting that,with effect from 1998, the Faculty of Science also prepares candidates for admission in other sciencerelated degree programmes such as engineering, pharmacy, environmental engineering, dentistry, andnursing within this programme. Currently, six weeks remedial/pre-entry programmes benefit onlycandidates with a science background.275

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010The first cohort of the pre-entry programme female students graduated at the end of the academic year2000/01. The Dutch government under the Teacher Education Assistance in Mathematics and Science(TEAMS) project funded the first cohort. The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), FAWEand Gender Dimension Programme Committee (GDPC), and GDPC funded the second, the third and thefourth respectively.Assessment of the pre-entry programme for female students in science done by Besha (2001) indicates that87% and 13% of male peers viewed the performance of PEP candidates equal to others and below othersrespectively. 13%, 73% and 27% female peers viewed it as below others, equal to others and above othersrespectively. Their overall performance is very good. In fact the best student in the Physics Department forthe academic year 2000/01 was from the PEP students and several others did very well and were awardedpostgraduate scholarships in some departments in the Faculty of Science (Faculty of Science, 2001:18).Preferential Admission Criteria (PAC)The second major UDSM education programme is the Preferential Admission Criteria (PAC) for femalestudents, which has had the broader objective of facilitating the admission of qualified female applicantsbut with A-level grades and matriculation points lower than those of male applicants in all faculties atUDSM. The application of PAC depends on the number of applicants in each year as well as the level ofperformance in relation to UDSM's minimum entry qualifications. In addition, while PAC is applied by thewhole University, the decision to apply it or agree on a cut-off point is made by individual departments.Table 1 below shows the variations in cut-off points as determined in different selected disciplines.Table 2 bellow illustrates the preferential admission criteria as applied for University of Dar es Salaam(UDSM) admissions in selected disciplines for the 2005/06 academic year276

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010Table 1: Enrolment for first year 2005/2006 UDSMDegreeprogrammeTotalnumberadmittedNumberadmitted(M/F)% of femalestudents admittedUDSM entry qualificationsMinimumpoints for AlevelsMatriculationcut-off score(%)M F M F M FBSc (MechanicalEngineering)BSc (Chemical andprocessEngineering)BSc (MiningEngineering)BSc (ComputerEngineering andInformationTechnology)13 11 2 15 6.5 7.5 52+ 52+20 16 4 20 7.5 6.0 50+ 62+18 16 2 11 7.5 9.5 60+ 63+4 4 0 0 4.4 4.1 40+ –BSc (Pharmacy) 30 19 11 37 9.0 8.0 40+ 40+Doctor of DentalSurgeryBSc (LandManagement &Valuation)35 30 5 14 8.0 7.0 40+ 40+68 52 16 24 8.5 6.5 59+ 62+Source: Admissions Office Records, UDSM, November 2005.277

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010Table 2 bellow illustrates the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) first year students‟ enrolment of2000/2001 illustrating the difference in enrolment on application of preferential admission criteria (PAC)Table 2: Enrolment of first year 2000/2001 University of Dar es SalaamProgrammeTotaladmittedTotalfemaleadmittedFemaleadmissionsame criteriaFemaleadmissionafter PAC% Femaleadmissionwith samecriteria% FemaletotaladmissionB.Com. 273 45 45 Not used 16 16Engineering 405 23 11 12 3 6Medicine 132 33 22 11 17 25Dentistry 14 0 0 Not used 0 0Pharmacy 26 12 12 Not used 46 46PESC 25 13 1 12 4 52Nursing 23 13 3 10 13 57Sciences 382 87 44 43 12 23Total 1280 226 138 88 15 18Source: Admissions Office, University of Dar es Salaam, 2003.RESULTSTable 1 clearly shows that there has been a serious gender disparity in female students‟ enrolment inscience and engineering disciplines at the University of Dar es Salaam. Of all the science and engineeringcourses at the University of Dar es Salaam, only Pharmacy had female enrolment rate of slightly close to40% in the year 2005/2006. This enrolment is analogous to what takes place in other universities inTanzaniaTable 2 shows the University of Dar es Salaam‟s first year students‟ enrolment of the year 2000/2001. Itillustrates the variations in PAC application. Female enrolments in all the science discipline were under50% with the only exception being in Nursing with 57%.278

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010PROGRESS, PROBLEMS AND FUTURE TRENDSThe findings have revealed the consistently lower rate of enrolment of females in science and engineeringdisciplines in the University of Dar es Salaam. Despite the remarkable recent progress in female enrolmentand performance owing to positive actions and sensitization campaigns, gender disparities still exist and arequite striking in some disciplines.Indeed some possible reasons for the low female science admission at the University of Dar es Salaamrevealed in table 1 and 2 are suggested below. First, the admission criteria, or standards, by which so manysecondary school test takers are weeded out, may simply be too much high, given the realities of poorlypaid and unmotivated teachers plus inadequate teaching and learning facilities in many secondary schoolsin Tanzania, especially public secondary schools.Additionally, the findings here have revealed that the education plans of action have led to significantimprovement in female‟s science enrolment at the University of Dar es Salaam, although male students stilloutnumber female enrolment. It also agrees with the observation of Morley (1997) that there is need tostrategize and create equality in higher education between male and females.Despite the positive efforts of gender-sensitive policies, factors that limit female‟s enrolment in sciencediscipline at the University of Dar es Salaam seem to bring a greater impact on gendered access thanfactors that facilitate it. Bookie Kethugisile, et al. (2000) indicates that social-economic and cultural factorswhich inhibit girls‟ access to education in primary and secondary levels effectively cut off their access totertiary education.Indeed Masanja (2001) reports that in 2000/2001 admissions, very few females qualified for admission intothe engineering and science programmes in University of Dar es Salaam even after the lowering of cut offpoints. Thus, in Africa, based on misconception, women students tend not to enroll in fields of science,Technology, Engineering (Rathgeber, 1995).Further still, the findings show that the much expected 50-50 enrolment between males and females inscience courses is still a challenge. This may be a result of several factors that affect girls‟ enrolment inscience subjects during the lower levels of education. It can also be attributed to the social and culturalbehaviour and perception in relation to the field of science as male domain. Mlama (1998; 2001) cites,among many indicators of the unwelcoming sphere of the higher education characterized by its „maleness‟,sexual harassment, the shortcomings of lecturers whose poor preparation and lack of awareness make itpractically impossible for female students to benefit fully from their learning experience, especially inhitherto male-dominated subjects,in which the few enrolled female students have to endure loneliness and lack of support from fellow malestudents.279

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010CONLUSIONIt has been found that the policies made have positive results in increasing females‟ enrolment in sciencecourses at the University of Dar es Salaam, although the number has not reached parity by sex. More workis needed so as to ensure 50-50 enrolment of girls in science at the university of Dar es Salaam. Theincreasing enrolment of female in science depends much on the manner in which the message about scienceis conveyed to students at the lower level of education. Indeed teachers need to be more responsive. Theyneed to be more supportive and encouraging of female students studying science. There need to be moreintroductions to science units or subjects at the secondary level to raise female students‟ awareness ofscience. University of Dar es Salaam should continue empowering female entrants through gendersensitization programmes, encouraging female students studying science courses.REFERENCESKethusigile, B., Kwaramba, A., & Lopi, B. (2000). Beyond Inequalities. Women in Southern AfricaHarare: Southern African Research and Documentation CentreMasanja, V. G. (2001, February). Structural changes and equal opportunity for all. A case study of theUniversity of Dar es Salaam. Paper commissioned for FAWE and presented at 10th GeneralConference of the Association of African Universities (AAU) at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.Morley, L. (1997). “Change and Equity in Higher Education.” British Journal of Sociology of18 (2): 229 - 240EducationMlama, P.M.( 1998). Increasing Access and Equity in Higher Education: Gender Issues. In: Shabani, J.(eds.), Higher Education in Africa: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects, Dakar, UNESCORegional Office for Higher Education in Africa (BREDA).Mlama, P. (2001). Gender equity programming in Higher Education. Paper presented at the HigherEducation Policy Forum, Nairobi, Kenya.Rathgeber, E.M.(1995). Missing Links: Gender Equity in Science and Technology for Development.Gender Working Group of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology forDevelopment (UNCSTD).United Republic of Tanzania.(1998).The Constitution of the United Republic ofTanzania of 1977. Dar es Salaam: M.P.P Printers.United Republic of Tanzania. (2004). Higher Education Students‟ Loans Board Act. Act No 9 of 2004. Dares Salaam: Key Hole Publishers.United Republic of Tanzania (URT), (2004). Higher Education Statistics 1999-2003280

European Journal of Educational Studies 2(3), 2010University of Dar es Salaam. (1996). Five Year Strategic Plan 1998-2003, Dar es Salaam: UDSM.University of Dar es salaam (2001). Pre-entry programme; remedial courses for admission of femalecandidates in Science and Engineering at the University of Dar es Salaam: progress Report for2001, Dar es salaam: Faculty of Science, UDSM281