Women’s Education in Four Villages in Kenya: The Perceived Outcomes on Livelihoods and Household Welfare

Abstract: This thesis is concerned with women’s education and the perceived effects it might have on households’ livelihood diversification into the rural non-farm economy. In addition, it looks at household welfare and how women’s education and potentially livelihood diversification adds to better welfare. Increasing human capital through education is thought to have positive outcomes for women in their roles as caretakers, but it can also have an effect on women’s economic role. Women are thought to be important actors in development but they do not always have the same access to resources and opportunities as men, which limits the power they could have in development. This study is based on fieldwork carried out in four rural villages in Kenya where a NGO provides women’s education. Mixed methods have been applied in the form of a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. These methods were chosen for a number of reasons, one being to get a fuller understanding of different people’s perception on the questions. The study shows that there is no clear linkage in the collected data between women’s education and livelihood diversification, but it shows that there can be improvements in existing livelihoods. There are many perceived welfare outcomes voiced by participants which confirm theories claiming that focusing on women have general positive welfare outcomes. When assessing these issues, considerations have been taken to the local context within the different villages and how it might affect these different outcomes.