Higher education in Ethiopia : widening access and persisting inequalities

 This Chapter has argued that, even though socially and historically disadvantaged<br />groups (e.g., geo-politically peripheral ethnic groups and women) have been given a<br />nominal advantage at the entry point (by slightly lowering admission cut-off points)<br />and despite the fact that participation has considerably widened, social equity is far<br />from being a reality in Ethiopian HE. The persisting inequality in the form of high<br />attrition rates and low graduation rates among females and ethnic minorities, low<br />female participation in the fields of science and technology, prejudicial views and<br />hostilities against women and, overall, the subordinate position of women in HE<br />clearly shows that framing the problem of inequality as a mere lack of access and a<br />human capital disadvantage is misleading and counterproductive.