Challenges Faced by Women in Education

Being an educator isn’t an easy job.

Along with long hours, heavy workloads, and both mental and physical struggles, they also have the responsibility of educating and shaping the next generation to continue evolving the world.

Sounds challenging? Add being a woman into the mix.

Don’t get us wrong — we believe that women can do anything they set their minds to and we want to empower them, however, it isn’t news that women face an alarming amount of prejudice in life.

Women make up 70 per cent of educators. Despite this, they still face discrimination. Be it in their work or personal life, there are stigmas and stereotypes placed on women in our society. We’re talking gender pay gaps, hiring bias, and differing expectations.

This article will delve into the biggest issues faced by educators, in hopes that more of us can work together to change the education environment and make it a more empowering space for women.

Challenges Faced by Women in Education

1. The pandemic has multiplied the workload for educators

While all of us had to adjust to the ‘new normal’ as we settled into living in a pandemic (now endemic), we were adapting to new processes put in place by the government, our companies, and places of leisure.

Educators, however, had to find and create new ways around teaching through screens. It was a new experience as everyone had to transition to home-based learning.

For female educators who do not live alone, this proved to be challenging as they had to juggle the increased workload, responsibilities, and stress on top of their activities at home.

2. Educators work longer hours during the pandemic

That brings us to the next point, which is the fact that female educators are switched on 24/7 when they work from home.

It’s difficult not to be, when they had to blindly find their way around making classes fully online, making online classes interactive and engaging, helping students to adapt to online learning, and trouble-shooting throughout the day when they or their students face any problems.

This caused some female educators to take time away from the education industry because it was extremely challenging to cope with the non-stop activity and their family obligations at home.

3. There is insufficient tech and automation in the education industry

We’ve discovered the necessary tools that educators and the education industry need. With digital advancements and tools that can revolutionise work processes, you’d think that educators would have it easier by now.

Unfortunately, not all educational bodies have been able to incorporate them because while this isn’t always the case, some implementations can be a confusing or long process.

There has been a rise in technology implementation to help educators, but it is still lacking. Educational bodies need to set aside time to focus on this to best help their educators.

The bottom line

It’s 2022, and although women are now able to study and work, there’s still a long list of changes that need to be made.

Systemic and systematic may not be easy to change, but together, we can make a difference.

Continue supporting and uplifting the women around you, especially if they are in the education industry.