Gender and TVET in Africa

A Review of the Literature on Gender Issues in Africa’s TVET Sector

Abstract

In this paper we present the findings of an extensive review of the literature on gender issues in Africa’s TVET sector. Specifically, we highlight a number of themes which emerge from this review and propose a theoretical framework for understanding TVET institutions as gendered spaces. The TVET sector is frequently spoken about the potential it holds for the advancement of the SDGs on the African continent as well as the achievement of Agenda 2063 - indeed, it is seen as crucial to achieving these goals. What the literature suggests however, is that in the absence of gender-responsive re-forms rooted in an understanding of how “gender regimes” operate and persist, TVET institutions may tend to be sites of reproduction of patriarchal dynamics as opposed to sites of their transformation.