‘The more educated the better?’ Educational achievement and women’s voices during deliberation in the Ugandan parliament; [‘Plus l'éducation est élevée mieux c'est?’ La réussite scolaire et la voix des femmes dans les délibérations dans le parlement ougandais]

For years, women’s access to and consumption of quality education has been the outcry of the feminist movement and modern-day development initiatives like the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Even with progress such as the introduction of free elementary and secondary education, the gender gap nevertheless widens at higher levels of education (tertiary levels). This is evident in Uganda where men tend to achieve higher levels of educational qualifications than women. This study, therefore, aims at establishing the extent to which women’s educational achievement influences their voices during parliamentary deliberations. By employing a qualitative phenomenological and retrospective research design, women’s voices in two bills are analysed. Additionally, one-on-one interviews were carried out with long-serving Ugandan parliamentarians to identify their opinions on the influence of women’s educational achievement on their voices during legislative deliberations in parliament. Findings reveal that education as a whole, and most importantly higher levels of tertiary education, significantly influenced the voices of women legislators. As such, the study appreciates the need for the provision of alternative educational options to enhance women’s voices in parliament. © 2023 Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh.