Vietnam 🇻🇳
While Vietnam has made encouraging progress at helping young women to enroll in university, there is a large urban-rural divide. In rural areas of Vietnam, men matriculate to university at twice the rate of women.
The Philippines 🇵🇭
Though government funded university education is widely available to qualified women in the Philippines, systemic barriers for the most marginalized women prevent them from fully accessing the benefits. Many young women who qualify for university do not attend as they cannot afford lodging, transportation, computers and books, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
Tanzania 🇹🇿
In Tanzania, only 16% of women complete upper secondary school, which is the minimum level of education required to qualify for university. Of that small number, fewer than 1 in 20 are able to then matriculate to university.
Pakistan 🇵🇰
Although women’s education has been a right since 1976, Pakistan’s very low women’s enrollment rate in tertiary education is only 12% – half the average of Southeast Asian countries.
India 🇮🇳
Young women in India who desire to pursue university education face numerous challenges. While lack of income is the most obvious, there are also issues of gender-based violence and harassment, inadequate sanitation facilities, language barriers, discrimination against “lower” castes, and long transport times to university campuses.
Cambodia 🇰🇭
Almost three-quarters of the Cambodian population live on less than $7 a day, making university education out of reach for many. This is especially true in rural areas, where 90% of low-income Cambodians reside.
Bangladesh 🇧🇩
Almost three-quarters of the Bangladeshi population live on less than $5.50 a day. University education is therefore unaffordable for most families, and those who can afford it prioritize their sons. As a result, only 16% of women attend university, less than half the rate for men.
Indonesia 🇮🇩
In Indonesia, men are twice as likely as women to attend university. These numbers are exacerbated in poor and rural areas dispersed amongst hundreds of populated islands across thousands of miles, where traditional gender roles persist and prevent millions from achieving their dreams.