<![CDATA[Women’s empowerment and gender equality remain global challenges despite substantial progress in women’s educational access. This study aims to critically analyze education as an instrument for empowering women and advancing substantive gender equality, focusing on the mechanisms through which education strengthens agency, capabilities, participation, and decision-making. A qualitative Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was employed, following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025 were systematically identified, screened, assessed for relevance, and synthesized thematically. The findings indicate that education contributes to women’s empowerment by increasing knowledge, skills, self-confidence, decision-making capacity, economic opportunities, and awareness of gender rights. However, its effects are neither automatic nor linear. Educational attainment alone does not guarantee substantive equality because patriarchal norms, labor-market discrimination, unequal domestic responsibilities, institutional barriers, socioeconomic conditions, and digital inequalities mediate the conversion of educational resources into agency and social achievements. The study concludes that education functions primarily as an enabling condition rather than a sufficient determinant of gender equality. Its scientific contribution lies in integrating human capital, capability, and empowerment perspectives to explain how educational resources become agency and empowerment under specific structural conditions across diverse social contexts. The study recommends gender-transformative, inclusive, digitally responsive educational policies and future longitudinal and mixed-methods research.]]>
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