Monday, Apr 25 2022
Roma Women Students’ Gatherings enhance access to higher education
Original posted by Andrea Khalfaoui
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Scientific Articles
- Aiello, E., Amador-López, J., Munté-Pascual, A., Sordé-Martí, T. (2019). Grassroots Roma Women Organizing for Social Change: A Study of the impact of “Roma Women Student Gatherings”. Sustainability. 11, 4054. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154054
- Aiello, E., Khalfaoui, A., Torrens, X., & Flecha, R. (2022). Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5524. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095524
- de Botton, L., Girbés, S., Ruiz, L., & Tellado, I. (2014). Moroccan mothers’ involvement in dialogic literary gatherings in a Catalan urban primary school: Increasing educative interactions and improving learning. Improving Schools, 17(3), 241–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480214556420
Explanation of the Post
Roma women are leading many processes of change within their families and communities by using education to challenge gender relations and overcome inequality. The action that grassroots Roma women are taking in their communities by establishing alliances with other women and other actors is framed within a dialogic perspective (Aiello et al., 2019). Roma women are considered the main protagonists of the changes that are taking place among the Roma people, specially through enhancing access to higher education.
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Los encuentros de mujeres gitanes nos ayudan y nos animan a apostar por la educación ya que vemos otras referentes y nos damos cuenta que, a pesar que en tu colegio o instituto puede que seas la única, no eres rara y a tu alrededor aunque no las tengas a tu lado hay muchas mujeres que están haciendo lo mismo que tú.
Cuando una mujer participa en la Trobada cambia algo. El impacto que genera en la persona y en el entorno cuando volvemos a casa, volvemos con más fuerza. También se generan redes que te facilitan conocer a otras mujeres y a través de estas relaciones podemos adquirir información muy importante que a lo mejor no nos llega normalmente.
Las Trobades d’Estudiants Gitanes se hacen con el objetivo de que las niñas y mujeres gitanas, las que están estudiando que sigan estudiando y las que no lo están se reincorporen a los estudios o acompañen en el camino educativo a niñas y otras mujeres gitanas.
Después de la mesa inaugural y de la conferencia, hablan mujeres gitanas referentes que están cursando diferentes estudios post-obligatorios y explican su experiencia que hace que las mujeres se empoderen y sientan orgullo. Seguidamente, empiezan los grupos de trabajo donde mujeres de diferentes edades y de diferentes perfiles pueden debatir y todas tienen voz para opinar sobre aquello temas que les inquietan o les preocupan. Después de la Trobada, muchas mujeres empiezan a estudiar otra vez.
Lo que más me gusta es la mesa de referentes porque todas las mujeres explican sus vivencias y el recorrido que han hecho para llegar hasta donde están ahora. También comparten las barreras que se encuentran y la oportunidades a lo largo del recorrdio académico.
Nos gustaría que desde todos los centros educativos se facilitara la información para que todas las mujeres gitanas pudieran participar.
The Roma Women Students’ Gatherings have proven to be an effective space to empower roma women and scaffold possibilities to reach the university. We know that even once Roma students enter the University, they face particular challenges in this new context. Thanks to the Roma Women Student Gatherings, Roma girls can not just envision themselves in higher education, but they also found strong social networks that help them to continue their paths at university.
Flecha A, Abad-Merino S, Macías-Aranda F, Segovia-Aguilar B. (2022). Roma University Students in Spain: Who Are They? Education Sciences, 12(6), 400. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12060400
Currently, two more papers on this regard are being reviewed in top ranked journals. But it is noteworthy to consider that the European Parliament has hosted the final conference of R-Transform project, which has successfully replicated the Gatherings in Europe: https://eldiariofeminista.info/2023/09/09/compartiendo-el-impacto-de-los-encuentros-de-estudiantes-gitanas-de-los-barrios-gitanos-de-cataluna-al-parlamento-europeo/
Para diversificar los grupos de estudio sería interesante ver si los resultados beneficiosos de estas dos asociaciones que han aparecido en el primer artículo se pudieran extrapolar al resto de España.
Romani student meetings are a very useful tool for a sector of society as marginalized and excluded as Romani women. Success and educational continuity for them is limited both by factors derived from the structural racism that exists towards their ethnicity and also those derived from cultural identity, such as early marriage and motherhood and the role expected of them in their community.
This is why the gender factor is so important in this area of study, since they are the ones who are most likely to leave school earlier and who will need more support and encouragement to return to school.
According to Fernández-Ferrer et al., (2022), in Spain a strong gender component is related to dropping out of school, as 40.4% of girls stop studying due to family responsibilities or burdens (taking care of someone), 39.1% due to engagement or marriage and 12.6% due to family pressure, while boys mainly drop out of school to search for a job (21.7%).
These encounters represent something groundbreaking and hopeful. In line with Hinton-Smith et al., (2018), Roma women’s HE participation must be understood as an enrichment not only for their own lives and those of their children, communities and Roma rights more broadly; but also the contribution made to HE classrooms and cultures, and society as a whole.
Bibliographical references:
Hinton-Smith, T., Danvers, E., & Jovanović, T. (2017). Roma women’s higher education participation: whose responsibility? Gender And Education, 30(7), 811-828.
Ferrer, A. F., Sanchís-Ramón, M., & La Parra-Casado, D. (2022). Emerging discourses on education and motherhood with Roma women. Ethnicities, 22(6), 943-962.