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Torres, (2002). The State, Privatisation, and Educational Policy: A Critique of Neo-Liberalism in Latin America and Some Ethical and Political Implications, Comparative Education, 38(4): 365-385

UNESCO, (2015). Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges. 153-185.

Vavrus, (2005). Adjusting Inequality: Education and Structural Adjustment Policies in Tanzania Harvard Education Review 75(2): 174-201.

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In some countries, boys are actually the ones who are not receiving gender equity in education. Even in these countries where the scale is shifted against boys, countries' educational policies still neglects boys' education. This is also due to the gender stereotyping outlined in the Equitable School/Classroom Environments post.

Boys' education can also have positive impacts on gender equality in countries where girls are more discriminated against. The more education a male attains, the less likely they are to express discriminatory gender views and be perpetrators of domestic violence. Males with more schooling are also more involved in child care.

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In many countries throughout the world, there are not enough female teachers. This provides female students with a dearth of same gender role models. Furthermore, the leadership in schools is overwhelmingly male. There are a few ways to combat these gender inequities, which will in turn assist girls in school. Actively recruiting female teachers and increasing the number of female teachers at all levels of schooling will assist female retention rates. Once females are actively teaching, it is also necessary to promote women more to leadership positions.

Gender bias in textbooks and curricula is another impediment that is necessary to overcome. The introduction of sexual education to students in 6th or 7th grade as a part of curricula is necessary to reduce adolescent pregnancy. Sex education needs to be provided to both females and males. Additionally, textbooks are typically gendered in favor of males. History books talk about male accomplishments and science books mention male scientists. Making these textbooks more gender neutral will empower young women. The IMF, UNESCO, and the Ford Foundation have all worked with countries to audit or remove gender bias in textbooks. Teaching teachers about their own biases is also imperative to making teaching more gender sensitive. International donors and NGOs have worked with teachers to recognize their biases and correct them in order to make their teaching more gender positive.

Gender biases manifest themselves in different subject areas in school. Boys typically perform worse in reading and girls perform worse in math. Gender stereotyping also plays a role in schooling. Boys are more likely to be seen as undisciplined, leading to more corporal punishment. Getting beat at school has detrimental psychologial effects on boys, causing them to dislike school more. This causes higher drop-out rates in male students, especially as they get older. Girls generally steer away from STEM subjects, tracks, and careers. Girls have lower confidence in math, which manifests in lower math test scores and fewer women in STEM tracks and careers. To combat this, International Agencies like UNESCO and USAID have supported initiatives to improve female participation in math and science.

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Easy access to schools and hygenic, functioning bathrooms increases school attendance and reduces the gender gap. The distance of a school from a village is a main impediment to the education of people living in that village. Building schools closer to or in villages drastically reduces the gender gap. Having clean, running water and proper sanitation encourages students to go to school. Global Partnerships like Focusing Resources for Effective School Health and WASH in Schools have assited local governments and communities in improving sanitation in schools. Gender segregated bathrooms are especially important for menstruating girls because of the shame some girls feel when menstruating. Having gender segregated bathrooms can make them feel comfortable at school during a transitional time in their lives. Global research initiatives have prompted many governments to rethink the infrastructure of school bathrooms. This has created governments to create more gender segregated bathrooms and create healthier and more sanitary bathrooms in schools.

A lot of neo-liberal policies have an adverse effect on school costs. These policies typically mandate that free education is replaced with privatized or payment based education (Vavrus, 2005 & Torres, 2002). Therefore, lowering school costs by providing stipends, waivers, or scholarships can combat the costs of education. Since poverty is one of the main factors prohibiting students from attending school, making school more affordable enables more students to attend.

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Creating and Promoting an Environment that Enables Gender Equity

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Creating and Promoting an Environment that Enables Gender Equity

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Gender Mainstreaming and Government Leglislation are the two main areas in which governments can facilitate gender equity in education.

Listen to the Description of Graphic Recording for a definition and brief synopsis of gender mainstreaming. The creation of sub-agencies, which are specifically charged with girls' education, under the Departments of Education or Education Ministries of countries is one method used to accomplish gender mainstreaming. Furthermore, the global agency, UN Women, critiques and provides solutions for gender responsive budgeting. National Advocacy and Media Campaigns and Community Mobilization have also been implemented to mainstream women's rights. These campaigns and community mobilization activities typically focus on promoting education as a human right and increasing girls' demand for more schooling.

As I mentioned in the Description of Graphic recording, gender mainstreaming aims to combat a country's entrenched patriarchal attitudes and discriminatory social norms. Some of these entrenched social norms are early marriage, division of household labor, and the belief that boys' education is more important than girls' education.

In the recording, I also mention that laws have been enacted to prohibit child marriage and provide harsher punishments for domestic violence. The efficacy of these laws is clearly tied to enforcement, which is difficult to ensure. Creating gender goals in a government's overall plan of action has helped many countries alleviate gender inequity.

Child marriage and sexual violence are two of the main impediments to female education. High dropout rates are associated with child marriage and childhood pregnancy, and sexual violence in schools leaves girls feeling unsafe at school. Of course, this leads to lower attendance rates.

There are a few solutions to combat this problem, which have been adopted by countries. First, programs and clubs specifically for girls have had led to better school retention. This is important because the more education the girl has, the less likely she is to be marriage during adolescence. Secondly, International NGOs and regional initiatives have been adopted to combat gender based violence in schools. Learn without Fear and One in Five are examples of regional initiatives, whereas Action Aid and the Safe Schools Project are examples of international NGOs working in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thirdly, alternative education schools have been developed particularly serving young moms. In these schools, moms are allowed to bring their children to the classroom. Finally, programs directed towards men preaching safe sex and encouraging respect for women have had a positive impact on both mainstreaming gender equity and preventing adolescent pregnancy.

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South/West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

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Arab States, Central/Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America/Caribbean

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Push play to hear me explain the graphic here ----->