Women and the University Curriculum

Emerging from the World Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995, this volume assesses the links between the university curriculum and gender issues. The contributors examine the challenges facing higher education, relating them to: the current phase of reform and renewal in higher education and to the challenges of sustainable human development; aspects such as access, discrimination and the importance of empowerment as an avenue to decision making; reasons for the inclusion of gender issues in the university curriculum today. This evaluation of whether and how the teaching, training and research functions of higher education sensitize students to the principal questions affecting women and their role in society, the contributors argue that the gender dimension in university disciplines can and should exist. They conclude that in fields where this has not previously been considered, change must occur to better orient social policy making.