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Gender as a concept is among the most debatable jargons both in academic and political circles. Yet, this study accepts the claim that gender refers to the socio-culturally rooted differences between females and their male counterparts. In Ethiopian higher educational setup, such differences are quite vivid in enrolment, dismissal, academic performance and successful completion or graduation and the educational system appears to favor male students. For example, the situation in the two oldest universities of the country wherein this study has been conducted illuminates a patriarchal system of educational trend that the higher academic ladder seems an exclusive domain of male students. As explained in this study, female students´ participation and retention in university education steadily decreases up the ladder. This may be due to several factors but the most important reasons entail deprived academic base of female students, sexual harassment, and haphazard state intervention for remedial action.

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Lemessa Mergo is currently working on his PhD in anthropology at Panjab University, Chandigah (India). He received his MA in the same field from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) in 2007. He has taught at several secondary educational institutions and Mickey Leland College and served as instructor at Kotobe Teachers´ College and Jimma University.

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