The changing role of women

It is generally accepted that in today`s society women have access to education and can promote themselves much more easily than in the seventies. Women`s changing role is happening because women nowadays are educated. It is recognised as an essential need for achieving equality in  most walk of life. There are still problems for girl pupils or women students but no one would deny their rights to study or question it.
This is a comforting viewpoint until you begin to dig a little further in the subject of women in education. In the very informative Women Human Rights net page. The most interesting seems to be  the follow up of the Beijing conference.
The Beijing conference identified  640 million adults women who remain illiterate in the world, mostly in the developing countries. Because women often have to cope with home duties: child rearing and everyday domestic tasks, they do not follow their education and often the girl child will leave the education system without any qualification.
The conference is mainly concerned with global education for women. It is reassuring to know that there are strategies set in place for the promotion of women and girls education. My main critic of this conference is that it does not have strategies explore in any form how these stategies can be practically implemented at ground level. There was no links to more specific situations on women.
However, The Annual International Conference(IWD) focusing on the themes of current interest to women learners and those working with them, (NIACE`s Annual International Women`s Day Conference in Birmingham, reports on the 2000 and 2001 conference. Their understanding of women mutifacetted form of learning is encouraging. The reality is that not all women have been able for all sorts of reasons to follow their education. Some have qualifications and experience but wish to further their knowledge during a career break. Mothers may wish to have an educational focus whilst raising their young children. They are the child first educator. A role which is demanding and ongoing for many years. Others are studying to shape a career for the future. Facilities for these women ought to be part of a stategy. It also takes little account of the improvement of women education in terms of skills. In internal training in trade and industry, it is often the men who go on courses. Holding key positions, they are thought to implement a trickle down theory of their acquired knowledge to women working in their unit or department.
My working experience in education tends to mirror the conference statement on the education system. Efforts have been made to correct the stereotype role of male and female in text books but the promotion of stereotype images of women is still prevalent. The language of text books remain bias in most subjects or its approach is male orientated. One example in my view is History where men`s achievements are promoted and women`s achievements left in the background but for few exceptions. Curricula are also gender biased, the commission says, especially in science girls are missing out on basic mathematics, science and technological skills which would give them a kick start in life as well as access to a career valued by society. The article by Prof. Dr. Hannelore Schwedes Universität Bremen, Germany has clearly identify key factors on gender discrimination in education. His material for this research in extensive and, in my view, read can be with the English educational system in mind. However in England many young women have been successful in getting to grip with what is commonly considered male subjects. They tend to get better grade results too. The involvement of girls and women in education at all level is of prime importance for a changed, informed and participatory role of decision-making in society.
 
One of the most important factor arising from the 70`s feminist movement is the recognition that women should get equal pay for equal work, to see them as contributors and valued members of society. Today, women are protected by the Sex Discrimination Act.  Yet the Equal Opportunities Commission  in  `Valuing Women`  puts next to the law on Equal Rights the reality against the application of the act. It shows that flagrant inequality still persists. The examples of unequal pay given in the site above is a point in case. It also reveals that the changing role of women in society by means of education as a way to promote themselves to the level of their expertise is not working as it should.
However, individual employment right includes Maternity rights. The Thompsons - Scotland Trade Union Briefing page give a guide on Maternity Rights.
In most fields of employment women`s presence is felt and their voice is heard. Although there has been progress in understanding the value of women`s contributions in many employment fields, there are still huge problems to resolve. Persistence of gender inequalities - facts and figures in   1995-2000 statistics from the `European Women Lobby`  website show that the proportion of women in top jobs is minimal compare to the entire women`s task force. The latest report by the Equal Pay Task Force to the Equal Opportunities Commision in pdf format is worth visiting as well as the  chart on statistics from the European Commission.
It is true that statistics can always be argued on their accuracy yet they can also demonstrate an overall trend. In this case, it shows that even in the best qualified