Abstract:
This study assesses the impact of education on women’s empowerment referring to the university female students in Rwanda (Liberian) as a case study. The specific objectives were to establish the extent to which education attained in a foreign country empowers female Liberian students, to analyze the extent to which Rwanda educational environment empower female Liberian students in changing traditional gender norms and stereotypes and to determine the situation, obstacles, and growth of Liberian girls pursuing higher education in Rwanda. Descriptive research design was used in this research and SPSS was used in data analyzing. The findings on first specific objective indicates that 40% of the respondents reported that education empowered female Liberians through promoting economic opportunities, 35.1 % reported that education empowered female Liberians through promoting leadership and advocacy while 25.9% reported that education empowered female Liberians through breaking cycle of poverty. The results on second objective indicate that 35.1% of respondents agreed that the traditional gender norms and stereotypes prevalent in Liberia is gender bias in education, 26% of respondents reported that the traditional gender norms and stereotypes prevalent in Liberia is early marriage, 15.6% of respondents reported that the traditional gender norms and stereotypes prevalent in Liberia is patriarchal authority, 13% of respondents reported that the traditional gender norms and stereotypes prevalent in Liberia is division of labor while 10.3% of respondents reported that the traditional gender norms and stereotypes prevalent in Liberia is gender roles. The third objective showed that 40.3% of respondents agreed that the main challenge faced by female students from Liberia in achieving empowerment through education in Rwanda is language barriers, 24.7% reported that the main challenge faced by female students from Liberia in achieving empowerment through education in Rwanda is cultural adjustment, 18.2% reported that the main challenge faced by female students from Liberia in achieving empowerment through education in Rwanda is social integration and 16.9% reported that the main challenge faced by female students from Liberia in achieving empowerment through education in Rwanda is lack of support systems. The study concluded that education has a significant influence on women’s empowerment by a correlation degree of 81.1%.
