This research paper examines the effects of women’s education in today’s economy with a goal of identifying its value. This research analyzes the impacts of the degree and kind of education on the female’s capability to secure employment and also, the quality of the job. With a focus on teenager girls, the paper examines the connection between the kind of schooling and the various routes of females to the labor force. The paper uses Egypt as an example to study these parameters. The study reveals that knowledge strongly influences girl’s employment paths in Egypt. In Egypt, higher women’s academic levels lead to high participation in the job market, and it also enhances competition. Female acquire more benefits than males from the university education in regards to improving their employment opportunities. Consequently, the gender gap in the workforce is reduced. Nevertheless, this study reveals that increasing women schooling level is not sufficient to empower females economically. It is necessary to improve the standards of education as an ultimate solution to empower young women economically.
Introduction
Apart from being a human right, education is vital as it enables women to take part in economic activities. Ideally, women who have high academic qualifications lead better lives. Education also empowers women to become productive in the economy. Most importantly, women education offers them a chance to secure high paying jobs. According to UNFPA (n. p.), post-secondary education opens more income opportunities for women. In essence, women who have university education have more earning opportunities than those with primary school knowledge.
Importantly, women require quality training to enhance their competitiveness in the job market. With the right education, females can avoid low-quality jobs and secure decent employment. For instance, if women don’t have access to the internet and other job search tools, they will continually fall in low-quality jobs. Post-secondary education is essential to gain techniques required to compete in the job market. Primarily, education is a gateway that facilities women to access decent jobs.
The purpose of this research paper is to evaluate the impacts of women’s education that present value of education in today’s economy. It analyzes how education opens opportunities for women to contribute to the economic development. In the case of Egypt, the study examines how schooling impacts the employment options of young females aged between 15 and 29 years.
The first part of this study is a literature review of how women’s education affects the economy. Second, it analyzes how education empowers women in Egypt to participate in the labor market. Finally, there short recommendation of how Egypt and any other countries should empower women through education.
Literature review
Impacts of women education on the economy
Primarily, education has created a channel for females to participate in the economy. That has notably improved their number in the labor market. Also, through education women have a chance to bargain for better pay just like their men counterparts (Lopez-Claros & Zahidi 4). Thus, education is a vital tool that empowers women to take part in economic activities, as it impacts:
Participation of women in the workforce
In an ideal situation, women with high education levels have greater chances of entering the labor force than those with lower or no education. Even though studying for many years may lower the degree of workforce involvement by rinsing the age of job market entry, education undoubtedly impacts the presence of women in the labor force. The connection between schooling and workforce is viewed in the following perspectives. First, with education one has the potential to earn more, thus, it offers women a motivation to look for jobs. Second, higher education levels endow women with the contemporary knowledge that the revolutionizing economy needs. Ideally, the rise of women’s entry into jobs diversifies choices; on the other hand, education enhances women’s ability to access these openings. Third, education level affects remuneration expectations. Highly-educated women expect to get a better remuneration than their low-educated peers. They aspire to get quality jobs and wages (Mehra 136). In essence, education also impacts a woman’s household tasks indirectly.
Importantly, education makes women opt for family planning methods which consequently increase female involvement in the labor force (Lewis & Lockheed n.p.). According to Mary (405), when girls get access to education for four years, there is a decrease in fertility by approximately one birth. Additionally, education leads to a reduction in early marriages and reduces infant mortality. Heckman (292) holds that each year a girl gets access to education; infant mortality reduces by about 5-10%. Hence, women have ample time and less distraction when engaging in the labor force.
Reducing unemployment rates
Mostly, education opens economic possibilities for the women. Higher education level lowers unemployment rates. The connection between the reduction in unemployment levels and education is that most organizations tend to employ women as a way of portraying gender equality. Moreover, education seems to decrease the instabilities of the workforce. The highly-learned women tend to experience a steady workforce. Therefore, these women have higher chances of maintaining their employment and encounter temporary unemployment. According to Woodhall (299), highly-educated women don’t suspend their jobs when they give birth. Instead, they pay for childcare. Ideally, education enhances women’s tendency to stay in the workforce.
Changes in job search methods
Education levels determine job search modes whereby highly-educated persons have a broad range of choices. Primarily, the means that an individual relies on to seek for a job can impact the chances of being employed. Hence, using formal ways to diversify search choices is vital especially to women who face lots of challenges when searching for jobs. Female education impacts employment options in several ways including;
Enhancing employment search energy; Education levels directly affects employment search intent in women. Hence, highly-educated women have a pro-active way of looking for work. The reason is that lack of job makes skilled persons lose their expectation of high returns. Diversifying job market; educated individuals can search jobs in a large geographical area. Also, they are ready to work in any place around the world. They can respond to adverts on local and international media. Utilizing formal means; Koning et al. (26), holds that educated women secure employment through formal ways. That is vital especially in some nations where men have open and shorter channels of securing jobs than women. Men may lack challenge since they have access to adverts and other job forums. Relying on contemporary methods; educated women can access the internet and search for jobs simply than before.
Education and Women’s Competitiveness
Women require education and chance to gain skills for them to be competitive in the job market. Higher education increases the women’s opportunities in the economy. Evidently, highly-educated females have the capacity and are willing to challenge men in the job market. When women gain a quality education, there is an increase in production and a reduction in discrimination. In the modern job market, various tasks demand more skills which force employees to advance their education or else become less competitive. Although the unemployed women might consider staying out of the job market, employment of the educated females keeps on rising. Enhancing women’s competitiveness improves their economic status by:
Avoiding vulnerable jobs
Women who have higher education levels have high chances of escaping unsafe jobs. Post-primary education offers the best opportunities for women since it raises remuneration chances. Importantly, women who have middle school knowledge and higher levels, have greater chances of securing employment. According to Glick & Sahn (793), better education for young women in Sub-Saharan Africa enhances their chances of getting formal jobs. Moreover, educated women stand to gain more from formal employment as compared to men.
Avoiding low-quality jobs
Better education correlates to high-quality jobs. In the past, lack of education among women gave men an upper hand in securing decent employment. Post-secondary education may not warrant a person a decent job, but it can be a path to escape low-quality jobs. Highly-educated women have higher chances of getting formal employment rather than working in the informal sector. For example, in India female with formal education have 25% chances of acquiring decent jobs (Patrinos n. p. ). Thus, formal education is necessary for women to secure high-quality jobs. Since high human capital raises the remuneration rates, education strongly influences income in women. Additionally, return to education tends to be higher on female’s education as compared to their male counterparts. Ideally, individuals who drop out of school usually have lower salaries across careers in comparison to educated women.
Various researchers evaluate returns to female’s education regarding the pay increase. World Bank research states that an additional year of studying above the average increases woman’s later salary by 10 – 20 percent (Patrinos n. p.). Dougherty (20) holds that the returns tend to be about 2% more for women than for men. These rates are true in both developing and developed countries. However, developed countries tend to have higher returns due to many job choices and quality education. Also, women who have more education experience less discrimination in the labor force in comparison to those with lower education levels. Hence, the distribution of salary and the gaps vary from one nation to another.
Conquering professional discrimination
Education is a fundamental means of achieving gender equality in various professions. Apart from the impacts discussed above, female’s education minimizes professional discrimination. Ideally, occupational discrimination on gender basis negatively affects salary rates and job promotions. Some employers may perceive women as less competent than males leading to discrimination. Importantly, the difference in education level heightens the segregation. However, gender discrimination is high in developing countries than in the developed nation. Further, highly-educated women have less chance of facing discrimination than those with little education or uneducated. In this light, schooling is a key path to overcoming professional discrimination.
Female’s education level and quality
In essence, the levels and quality of schooling impact the degree of women participation in economic activities and also the opportunities available. First, the level determines the type of economic activities that women can partake and how competitive they are in the job market. Ideally, higher levels of education empower women more than men in regards to job options. Additionally, women require post-secondary education for them to acquire skills that the current economy demands. Primary school education can’t propel a woman towards high-quality jobs or even make her competitive. Second, education levels determine the type and number of opportunities available for women. The kind of employment and salary that a woman gets primarily depends on her education.
Impacts of women education rates in Egypt
This research paper relies on the Egypt workforce panel research of 2006 to address impacts of female’s education in the economy. The paper uses the acronym ELMPS to refer to the above mentioned study. The data in this research paper focuses on individuals aged between 15 and 64 years. In this part, the study follows the parameters previously discussed.
Impacts of women’s education on the labor force
In Egypt, the number of men and women in the job market differ significantly. According to ELMPS, the number of men in workforce exceeds that of women by 2.8 times. Nevertheless, there is a remarkable difference in the presence of female with various academic levels. The presence of women who have lower educational qualification is below those with post-secondary education. Ideally, women presence in the workforce increases with advancement in education; the ELMPS estimates the number of university graduates to increase to about 2.3 times the total women workforce by 2020. Hence, the participation of female with secondary and lower education levels is expected to continually decrease as more and more girls acquire university degrees.
Impacts of women’s education on employment search
According to ELMPS, the women employment search intensity is about 1.1 times in comparison to men. Conversely, men employment hunt tendency is 1.3 times when compared to women. Nevertheless, there is a remarkable distinction in job search intensity of female with various academic qualifications. Ideally, those with high academic achievements have a more pro-active approach. On the other hand, those with lower education levels don’t show an active approach when searching for employment. The job hunt for educated women and men tendency is 1.6 and 1.4 respectively while that of semi-illiterate individuals is 1.1.
When it comes to job search means in Egypt, educated women have more options. They have increased employment chances. While those with university degrees rely on six search options, the less educated only use four methods. Additionally, highly-educated female relies on formal means when searching for jobs while those with secondary education use social connections or rely solely on the government. Even though, some educated women in Egypt still depend on the government for employment, a significant number respond to adverts on various media.
Impacts of women academic levels on employability
ELMPS estimates that women unemployment level is about 3.9 times above that of men. However, overall unemployment rates are high in case of both male and female. Nevertheless, the number of women graduates who are unemployed is lower when compared to the male. The rates compare 25% vs. 34% for women and men respectively. Hence, it is undeniable that schooling is vital for females to avoid unemployment than for men.
Impacts of women education on workforce competitiveness
Importantly, women have 68 percent chances of securing skill job while men have 71 percent of getting the same work. In Egypt, women have higher chances of obtaining employment that require the use specific skills. Additionally, academic qualifications are very fundamental for female as compared to male to get employment that requires particular techniques. Evidently, 91% of female have skilled jobs as compared to 82.2% male all with university degrees.
Capacity to avoid vulnerable jobs
In the Egypt workforce, females have few chances of escaping unsafe jobs and secure a decent pay. ELMPS estimates that 58.9 percent of women are employed in decent jobs while 1/3% still do vulnerable jobs in comparison to 67% of men in decent jobs and 16% engaging in risky jobs.
Women academic level and job quality
Securing a job is vital for women in the economic advancement, but the standard of the employment is also fundamental. High-quality jobs require specific skills while low-quality jobs don’t require high expertise. In Egypt, 78 percentages of educated women have decent jobs in comparison to 2.9 percent of the semi-educated females. Evidently, university degrees are more vital to females than male to secure high-quality employment.
Academic qualification and overcoming professional discrimination
Just like in most countries in Africa, women in Egypt face professional discrimination. Most females work in clerical and agricultural jobs. Conversely, most males work as administrators and managers. However, according to ELMPS, 65 and 44 percent women and men have a presence in professional jobs respectively.
Recommendations
Apart from intensifying women education, quality should be considered. Importantly, women require skills and techniques that are relevant in today’s economy. Quality education will enable women to escape vulnerable and low paying jobs. There should be quality control in learning institutions to ensure quality education. Although gender equality is a virtue, there should be specific slots for women in the labor force to encourage more females to learn. Above all, occupation discrimination should not exist among intellectuals.
Conclusion
In the light of this research paper, it is clear that women education has significant positive impacts on the economy. Also, the effects of post-secondary education clearly show the need for education in today’s economy. Importantly, schooling is a fundamental means to empower females economically. It acts as a means to allow women participate in the workforce; significantly increasing women presence in the job market. Additionally, educated women get higher pay than their uneducated counterparts. Evidently, highly-educated women have access to childcare when they give birth, so they don’t forgo their jobs.
Regarding employment levels; women who have university degrees have high chances of escaping unemployment. Furthermore, higher education levels ensure women retain their jobs for long. However, they face short unemployment cycles. Also, education diversifies job search methods. Highly-educated women can access the internet and thus have more job hunt methods than those with primary or secondary school education. Also, women who have high academic levels utilize formal means when searching jobs while the semi-skilled ones rely on social connections.
Undeniably, education enhances female competitiveness in the job market. When women acquire skills either through vocational training or at the university level, they can compete equally with their men counterpart. They get the capacity to escape vulnerable and low-quality employment. Further, educated women don’t face occupational discrimination, and they have more capacity to improve production as compared to men. This paper also notes that the quality and level of women education is a major determinant of how they will participate in the economic activities.
In the case of Egypt, education empowers women to search for jobs actively in the formal sector. Although there is gender discrimination, a high number of the educated females have skilled jobs. Ideally, in some departments, the number of educated women is greater than that of men. However, a significant number of women who have university education still rely on the government for jobs.
Conclusively, women education has a notable impact today’s economy. There is competition between males and females for jobs that require high skills, resulting in more production. Also, women are no longer viewed as homemakers since they contribute to economic development. Thus, the impacts of women’s education in the economy are significant, and there is a need for more quality education.
Works Cited
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