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Affirmative action (AA) is considered as a tool in enhancing representation of females at all levels of the education system and many countries in the world set policies and strategies to effectively enhance females participation in the education sector. In this research, focus was given to exploring AA used in the recruitment of female academics in Bahir Dar University (BDU), Ethiopia. Emphasis is given to these questions: 1) what policies and practices are in place to decrease under-representation of women academics in the University? 2) What is the perception of the academic staffs of BDU towards the AA practices? 3) What challenges women academics of BDU face in their career? 4) What PD practices and strategies are being used to support women academics? 5) What kind of PD support do the women academics still need in order to develop professionally? 6) Which context related factors can have impact on the implementation of PD initiatives in BDU? Thus, the book will give insights as to how AA is being practiced in the Ethiopian context, the challenges being faced and possible solutions.

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Lecturer at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. Studied Bachelor of education at Bahir Dar University, and Master of Arts in Literature at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Master of Science in curriculum and instruction at Twente University, the Netherlands; Currently PhD student at Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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