Breaking the Stereotype: Supporting Malawi's Women and Girls for Careers in STEM and Sanitation

Gender equality advances sustainable development, strengthens human rights, and promotes economic growth and development. Even with commitments made by the Government of Malawi to increase gender equality throughout society, many Malawian girls drop out of school before completing secondary school or continuing to higher education. Among those who remain, even fewer chose to study in fields related to STEM and sanitation. As a result, many STEM and sanitation professions in Malawi are dominated by men, even though sanitation and hygiene tasks in the home general fall to the women and girls. This factsheet shares recent survey research from Mzuzu University and explains how attracting more women to pursue higher education and careers in sanitation will help to increase culturally sensitive and gender-inclusive solutions for sanitation in Malawi, as well as advance gender equality overall.

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