Abstract
This study examines how educational exclusion and patriarchal norms from the 19th to 20th centuries shaped persistent gender inequality in Zimbabwe. By using desktop research methodology, the researcher was able to analyse policy documents, ethnographies, academic literature, and archival materials. The research employs decoloniality and intersectional feminist theories to investigate how race, class, legislation, and education compounded gender disparities. The study demonstrates that colonial educational policies, including the 1899 Education Ordinance and 1929 Education Act, transformed pre-colonial complementary gender systems into hierarchical structures that systematically excluded women from formal education. Through case studies examining education, workforce participation, and political engagement, the research reveals how these policies confined women to domestic roles while preparing men for authority positions. Analysis of post-independence reforms, including the 1982 Legal Age of Majority Act, the 1987 Education Act, the 2007 Domestic Violence Act, and the 2013 Constitution, reveals significant formal progress. However, statistical evidence reveals persistent disparities, highlighting that women comprise only 28.79% of STEM degree holders, 28.9% of parliamentarians, and 26% of the workforce. Notably, rural girls complete 4.6 fewer years of schooling than their urban counterparts. The study also examines NGO interventions, provides a comparative analysis with Southern African nations, and concludes that addressing contemporary gender inequality requires an understanding of its historical roots. Recommendations include strengthening legal enforcement mechanisms, implementing gender-sensitive curricula, promoting women's economic empowerment, and addressing cultural barriers. Achieving gender equality demands sustained commitment to transforming both formal institutional structures and informal patriarchal practices rooted in colonial-era educational exclusion.