Gender biases against women in labor division in Kenya’s Ministry of Education

Abstract The study investigated gender biases against women in labor division in Kenya’s Ministry of Education. The research study was guided by the African feminism as a theoretical frame work. The concurrent triangulation design, which is one of the Mixed Methods Approach models, was used in the current study. The target population in this study consisted of the thirty-six Sub-County Education officers in the six sub-counties of Kisumu county. These are the six Sub County Directors of Education (SCDEOs), the six Quality Assurance and Standards officers (SCQASOs), the six Deputy Assistant Directors (Teacher Management), the six Sub-County Examinations Officers (SCXO). In view of the number of Education officers in the six Sub-Counties of Kisumu county, the current study employed saturated sampling technique. Thus, all respondents were given opportunity to participate in the study. The main Instruments of data collection in this research were the questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis guide. In order to ensure this, the researcher sought the expert judgement from lecturers in Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST). The split-half method was used to ascertain the reliability of the questionnaires. In this research study, the correlation coefficient was 0.845 and thus was considered appropriate. The results show that the multiplicity roles that women play in the domestic, productive and reproductive spheres which the labor policy seem not to recognize, limit women’s capabilities to seek top management positions. The study recommended that The Ministry of Education should strive to put in place and affect the policy that will ensure gender equality and equity in the recruitment and promotion of education officers in top management positions.