Emma Watson’s Academic Path: Why This Global Star Chose University

As one of a few globally renowned actors who chose to go to university after finding fame, Emma Watson is an exception to the rule. Abode2 reveals why.

With a mantra “learning keeps me motivated,” it’s perhaps no surprise that what sets Emma Watson apart, is her active effort to break out of the mould many actors sink into after they find success. Choosing to place her education before her career, she juggled a serious acting career with an education at the prestigious Brown University. It wasn’t easy, and the pursuit involved fending off some cruel rumours, but if anyone could pull off such a magical feat, it’s the young woman who played Hermione Granger, a character renowned for her intelligence and ethics.

Today, Emma Watson is known for her work as an activist and feminist. In 2014 she was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, giving speeches around the globe about gender equality.

“Being asked to serve as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador is truly humbling,” said Emma. “The chance to make a real difference is not an opportunity that everyone is given and is one I have no intention of taking it lightly. Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life, that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress, I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role.”

In 2019, she helped launch a sexual harassment advice hotline in England and Wales. Legal advice is provided by Rights of Women, a charity that helps females “understand and use the law and their legal rights and increase women’s access to justice”. She also went on to set up her own feminist book club “Our Shared Shelf”.

Emma Watson reflects, “I’ve kind of been in charge of my own education since I started out on Potter when I was 10. I liked that I could design my own major if I wanted to, and I could take independent studies if I wanted to on subjects that weren’t necessarily in the curriculum. I did an independent study on the psychology and philosophy of how and why we fall in love, which was awesome.”

With her extensive breadth of education, it’s no wonder that Watson has thrived in a variety of areas outside acting. Her university experience helped expand her knowledge on a wide range of issues that, in turn, opened up doors for her to pursue a variety of careers. To this day, she remains a passionate advocate for education, and is dedicated to using her voice to advance important causes and events.

CAMFED CHAMPION

Championing women and girls around the globe, Emma Watson is also a supporter of CAMFED, working to build the social, emotional and physical infrastructure that supports girls in the poorest communities, to stay in school succeed and step up as leaders of change.

Girls between 15 and 19 are twice as likely to die from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth than women in their 20s, and 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa are married before the age of 18. Where poverty is acute, families, and sometimes girls themselves, see marriage as the only way to secure their future. The longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to get married and become pregnant during her teenage years.

In 2017, at an International Women’s Day event at feminist activist and writer Gloria Steinem’s home, Emma was reunited with Alice Saisha, whom she met in Zambia on a trip with CAMFED. Alice herself narrowly escaped child marriage, was educated with CAMFED support, and is now one of the movement leaders supporting the next generation of vulnerable girls through school.

Gloria Steinem has spent her career travelling the world, investigating and drawing attention to the issues affecting women today. In her powerful US documentary series ‘Woman’, she highlights the story of Dialess, a 14-year-old Zambian girl being prepared for her marriage to a 48-year-old man. The marriage marks the end of her school going days, leading to early pregnancy, and a vulnerable life as little more than a domestic servant. Gloria Steinem comments: “By confronting the problems once marginalised as women’s issues, we can tackle the greatest dangers of the 21st century. The greatest indicator of the world’s stability, wealth and safety is the status of women.”

In response to the documentary’s U.S. broadcast, Emma Watson joined the call to end child marriage in Zambia, pledging her support to CAMFED on Facebook. Nearly one million people have viewed Emma’s call to action, having seen first-hand how child marriage crushes prospects of individual girls and affects the health and wealth of an entire nation.

Emma adds: “In 2012, I went to Zambia with two close friends of mine. I saw how dire the situation is and how much support is genuinely appreciated. I am pledging to purchase bicycles for girls and women in Zambia so that they can get to school so that they can work and continue to be part of making a change. Be a witness and stand with me in this important fight for gender equality.”