An approach to addressing gender inequalities: is there a need for increased women's empowerment in Senegal?

• In Event: Poster session I
  In Poster Session: Poster session 1

Proposal

This project will examine the history of women in Africa, and take a critical look at women in Senegal, specifically teens and young adult. We will identify historical influence of colonialism,cultural and religious factors that contribute to access and quality of education for women in Senegal. This project will examine current models and circumstances in which Senegalese women are supported in reaching their full potential. A critical analysis of the government’s national policies contributing to gender inequalities will be conducted. Lastly, we will look at any other possible social issues that relates back to the lack of women’s empowerment.The main purpose of this project is to determine if there is a need for increased women's empowerment to better Senegalese women access to education. This research examines under what circumstances will women in Senegal reach their individual goals. How can policies, members of society, and the world contribute to improving the access to education for Senegalese women? According to Cornell University's Professor Sahn, Senegalese women have significantly lower educational achievements than men, and likewise, age at marriage and first birth is low, making the analysis of these key transitions particularly important (Marchetta & Sahn, 2015). Heckert examines the need for further research related to women’s empowerment. According to Heckert, areas. Three of the focal areas that show data needs in regarding women's empowerment. Those areas are economic empowerment, legal knowledge and recourse, and women's participation in decision making. Heckert also identified two important focal areas that need more research data. These are attitudes and social norms, and adolescent girls. It is believe that there needs to be a better approach to the type of questions asked during interviews and the type of sampling groups used in some research. ( Heckert & Fabic).

This research will use primary and secondary information sources. First, a critical literature review will be completed to examine previous efforts towards women empowerment in Senegal and other countries. Then, an analysis of models that have works and have not proved to be efficient, in the past. After, a period of field work in Senegal will be done for three months, June 2019- August 2019. Throughout the course of my stay I will research multiple organizations and do extensive interviews. Also, I will be interviewing women in the community. I plan to interview various women groups in order to get the perspective of the women. I will meet with policy makers and interview them on the various policies. I hope that I can get their honest opinions on how to fix the problem. This research will be conducted by qualitative and quantitative data.

Author

• Mame Diara Ndiaye, Cornell University