AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	18. Education and Social change in Eastern and Southern Africa
Paper ID	453
Author(s)	Ramos, Maria Luz
Paper	View paper (PDF)
Abstract	As Pierre Bordieu has pointed out, education is an instrument of social reproduction, but in a global process of society changing, it can also become an instrument of social transformation. After the independence Cape Vert had to find out a way of overcoming its limitations, namely the insufficient natural resources, its insulation and dry climate. At that time the government was also aware of the lack of qualified staff capable of taking part in the construction of the new State, therefore, the answer to that weakness had to be given by Education Better human resources, well prepared for public administration was seen as the right path to acquire competitive advantages within the African context. This idea was strongly spread out in all political discourses and had much impact within young people for whom education was more than a simple dream; it was an opportunity to take part in their own country’s modernization. In a way, it is possible to say that, a certain inspiration for this strategy were inherited from the colonial period in which the Portuguese government encourage schooling in order to use the archipelago’s labour for the civil services in other colonies. The role of educational credentials has allowed women to reach new position in social structure, namely, in the elite. This situation is, simultaneously, a paradox because, as a social group they are quite vulnerable and more affected by unemployment and poverty than men. Nevertheless, women had had the chance to graduate and apply for important positions in civil service and, even, in the Government but their participation in private sector management is almost inexistent. In Public Administration, they can be found in some departments, as top officials, traditionally related to men, such as justice, agriculture or commerce. This is a consequence the democratisation of education in the archipelago, where women were able to leave the country for studying abroad, since the country has created its first public University in this last year. In this paper, we intend to analyse the particular importance given to Education in Cape Vert and its consequence for women’s social mobility. We believe that, besides the diploma, its is also interesting to consider the mentality issue because, most of graduated people in the archipelago had the opportunity to deal with different cultures in more developed countries where the level of competition were higher between genders. This is of much importance for understanding the social power that women had achieved; even when they do not occupied formal powerful positions.

Women's Empowerment in cape Vert: The Role of Education