Despite more women getting degrees during the past ten years, the number of women in entry-level job categories in the public sector has declined by 10%, exposing gender gaps in the workforce.

According to a Kenyatta University Women’s Economic Empowerment Hub (KU-WEE) evaluation, women’s involvement in job groups J through L fell from 41.7 percent in 2010 to 31.3 percent in 2020.

According to the research, men’s representation climbed from 58.3 percent in 2010 to 68.7 percent in 2020, maintaining at higher proportions.

According to the data, the number of women with first degrees increased from 27 percent in 2010 to 45 percent in 2020, whereas the percentage of men with first degrees declined from 64 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2020.

In line with this, the proportion of women with master’s degrees increased from 2.5 percent in 2010 to 4.4 percent in 2020, whereas the proportion of men with master’s degrees declined from 7 percent in 2010 to 5 percent in 2020.

“What we have found out is that mentorship for women is very crucial, not just at high school level where a lot of emphases has been put, but also at career development level,” said KU-WEE project lead, Dr Regina Mwatha.

Throughout the assessment period, the percentage of women at top management levels (Q to V), a higher level where critical decisions are made, hardly grew from 23 percent to 29 percent.

According to KU-WEE, just eight State departments in government ministries are open to programs for women’s economic empowerment, demonstrating a lack of gender-responsive budgeting in the public sector.

Kenya is getting closer to gender parity, according to an assessment of the education and health sectors.

Health and survival rank first (0.975) in Kenya, where there is the least gender disparity, followed by education (0.939).