Higher education in Ethiopia : widening access and persisting inequalities

This Chapter has argued that, even though socially and historically disadvantaged<br>groups (e.g., geo-politically peripheral ethnic groups and women) have been given a<br>nominal advantage at the entry point (by slightly lowering admission cut-off points)<br>and despite the fact that participation has considerably widened, social equity is far<br>from being a reality in Ethiopian HE. The persisting inequality in the form of high<br>attrition rates and low graduation rates among females and ethnic minorities, low<br>female participation in the fields of science and technology, prejudicial views and<br>hostilities against women and, overall, the subordinate position of women in HE<br>clearly shows that framing the problem of inequality as a mere lack of access and a<br>human capital disadvantage is misleading and counterproductive.