Factors influencing participation of women in Distance Education: A case of Kenya Methodist University

Abstract

The concepts of girls and women in relation to issues of education have been met with a lot of resistance for a long time in history.  Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1779), believed that women were created to entertain and take care of men . His theories were concerned with promoting the interest of men. To him, women were dependent, declined to learn, silly and should be given little opportunity of independence. (Fiona and Collette 2002)  Chege and Sifuna (2006) a general misplaced perception that girls have to be socialized to be wives, homemakers, dependants and secretaries, while boys are to be husbands, bread winner, defenders and pilots.  The gender gap exists is as a result of stereotypes in both the society and the school.  However, Mezirow (1994) - Transformative adult learning is a process of freeing women from forces that limit their options and thus perpetuate control over women’s lives.  Freire (1997)- Education is a double-edged sword which can be used to reinforce or to question prevailing social forces that make learners passive and dependent.