Achieving Gender Equality through Higher Education Internationalization: The Case of University of Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

The MDGs seek to create a more equitable world through addressing and combating poverty issues, inequalities between the global North and South as well as between genders in order to create a more inclusive world for all to foster development. The expansion in higher education in Nigeria to meet competitive International Best Standards in both teaching and cutting-edge research for development has provided opportunities for Universities in Nigeria to attract international support towards addressing the MDG-related goals. The University of Jos introduced a Gender Policy with support from the Jos - Carnegie Partnership Committee (JCPC), aimed at addressing gender disparities in educational opportunities. This paper employed data from the Staff Training and Development (STD) Unit of the University of Jos to examine the impact of the internationalisation of higher education on efforts made towards achieving the MDGs in Nigeria. A gender analysis of the opportunities for training up to PhDs, fellowships, conferences and workshops both internally and externally for academic staff showed that higher education is adding value to women; and that the conditions for accessing such opportunities is improving. However, challenges still exist. I recommended that challenges may be addressed through proactive setting of implementation machinery to ensure adherence to gender policies, sustain international networks and funding higher education amongst others. These can go a long way to enhancing the achievement of the goal of MDGs on gender equality for development.