Challenges Facing Women’s Empowerment through Adult Education: The Case of Ethiopia’s Integrated Functional Adult Education Program

Abstract

The study investigated the challenges involved in women’s empowerment through adult education in Ethiopia, focusing specifically on the Integrated Functional Adult Education Program, employing social constructivist paradigm and qualitative case study design. Women who had graduated from the program, facilitators, and adult education experts participated in the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the first two women and one Integrate Functional Adult Education (IFAE) expert from the city administration. Chain sampling was used to select the remaining eleven women for interview and seven women for the focus group discussion. Two facilitators and one IFAE expert from the Sub City were selected through a comprehensive sampling technique. Data were gathered through interview, focus group discussions, and document review. The inductive approach to iterative steps was used to analyze and interpret the data. Analysis of the data shows that women learners’ economic problems, lack of political attention, weak collaboration between bodies concerned, husbands’ influence, and societal attitudes are challenges to their empowerment process.