gender issues in education essay

How our education system undermines gender equity

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, and why culture change—not policy—may be the solution, joseph cimpian jc joseph cimpian associate professor of economics and education policy - new york university.

April 23, 2018

There are well-documented achievement and opportunity gaps by income and race/ethnicity. K-12 accountability policies often have a stated goal of reducing or eliminating those gaps, though with questionable effectiveness . Those same accountability policies require reporting academic proficiency by gender, but there are no explicit goals of reducing gender gaps and no “hard accountability” sanctions tied to gender-subgroup performance. We could ask, “Should gender be included more strongly in accountability policies?”

In this post, I’ll explain why I don’t think accountability policy interventions would produce real gender equity in the current system—a system that largely relies on existing state standardized tests of math and English language arts to gauge equity. I’ll argue that although much of the recent research on gender equity from kindergarten through postgraduate education uses math or STEM parity as a measure of equity, the overall picture related to gender equity is of an education system that devalues young women’s contributions and underestimates young women’s intellectual abilities more broadly.

In a sense, math and STEM outcomes simply afford insights into a deeper, more systemic problem. In order to improve access and equity across gender lines from kindergarten through the workforce, we need considerably more social-questioning and self-assessment of biases about women’s abilities.

As soon as girls enter school, they are underestimated

For over a decade now, I have studied gender achievement with my colleague Sarah Lubienski, a professor of math education at Indiana University-Bloomington. In a series of studies using data from both the 1998-99 and 2010-11 kindergarten cohorts of the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, we found that no average gender gap in math test scores existed when boys and girls entered kindergarten, but a gap of nearly 0.25 standard deviations developed in favor of the boys by around second or third grade.

For comparison purposes, the growth of the black-white math test score gap was virtually identical to the growth in the gender gap. Unlike levels and growth in race-based gaps, though, which have been largely attributed to a combination of differences in the schools attended by black and white students and to socio-economic differences, boys and girls for the most part attend the same schools and come from families of similar socio-economic status. This suggests that something may be occurring within schools that contributes to an advantage for boys in math.

Exploring deeper, we found that the beliefs that teachers have about student ability might contribute significantly to the gap. When faced with a boy and a girl of the same race and socio-economic status who performed equally well on math tests and whom the teacher rated equally well in behaving and engaging with school, the teacher rated the boy as more mathematically able —an alarming pattern that replicated in a separate data set collected over a decade later .

Another way of thinking of this is that in order for a girl to be rated as mathematically capable as her male classmate, she not only needed to perform as well as him on a psychometrically rigorous external test, but also be seen as working harder than him. Subsequent matching and instrumental variables analyses suggested that teachers’ underrating of girls from kindergarten through third grade accounts for about half of the gender achievement gap growth in math. In other words, if teachers didn’t think their female students were less capable, the gender gap in math might be substantially smaller.

An interaction that Sarah and I had with a teacher drove home the importance and real-world relevance of these results. About five years ago, while Sarah and I were faculty at the University of Illinois, we gathered a small group of elementary teachers together to help us think through these findings and how we could intervene on the notion that girls were innately less capable than boys. One of the teachers pulled a stack of papers out of her tote bag, and spreading them on the conference table, said, “Now, I don’t even understand why you’re looking at girls’ math achievement. These are my students’ standardized test scores, and there are absolutely no gender differences. See, the girls can do just as well as the boys if they work hard enough.” Then, without anyone reacting, it was as if a light bulb went on. She gasped and continued, “Oh my gosh, I just did exactly what you said teachers are doing,” which is attributing girls’ success in math to hard work while attributing boys’ success to innate ability. She concluded, “I see now why you’re studying this.”

Although this teacher did ultimately recognize her gender-based attribution, there are (at least) three important points worth noting. First, her default assumption was that girls needed to work harder in order to achieve comparably to boys in math, and this reflects an all-too-common pattern among elementary school teachers, across at least the past couple decades and in other cultural contexts . Second, it is not obvious how to get teachers to change that default assumption. Third, the evidence that she brought to the table was state standardized test scores, and these types of tests can reveal different (often null or smaller) gender achievement gaps than other measures.

On this last point, state standardized tests consistently show small or no differences between boys and girls in math achievement, which contrasts with somewhat larger gaps on NAEP and PISA , as well as with gaps at the top of the distribution on the ECLS , SAT Mathematics assessment, and the American Mathematics Competition . The reasons for these discrepancies are not entirely clear, but what is clear is that there is no reason to expect that “hardening” the role of gender in accountability policies that use existing state tests and current benchmarks will change the current state of gender gaps. Policymakers might consider implementing test measures similar to those where gaps have been noted and placing more emphasis on gains throughout the achievement distribution. However, I doubt that a more nuanced policy for assessing math gains would address the underlying problem of the year-after-year underestimation of girls’ abilities and various signals and beliefs that buttress boys’ confidence and devalue girls, all of which cumulatively contributes to any measured gaps.

More obstacles await women in higher education and beyond

Looking beyond K-12 education, there is mounting evidence at the college and postgraduate levels that cultural differences between academic disciplines may be driving women away from STEM fields, as well as away from some non-STEM fields (e.g., criminal justice, philosophy, and economics). In fact, although research and policy discussions often dichotomize academic fields and occupations as “STEM” and “non-STEM,” the emerging research on gender discrimination in higher education finds that the factors that drive women away from some fields cut across the STEM/non-STEM divide. Thus, while gender representation disparities between STEM and non-STEM fields may help draw attention to gender representation more broadly, reifying the STEM/non-STEM distinction and focusing on math may be counterproductive to understanding the underlying reasons for gender representation gaps across academic disciplines.

In a recent study , my colleagues and I examined how perceptions on college majors relate to who is entering those majors. We found that the dominant factor predicting the gender of college-major entrants is the degree of perceived discrimination against women. To reach this conclusion, we used two sources of data. First, we created and administered surveys to gather perceptions on how much math is required for a major, how much science is required, how creative a field is, how lucrative careers are in a field, how helpful the field is to society, and how difficult it is for a woman to succeed in the field. After creating factor scales on each of the six dimensions for each major, we mapped those ratings onto the second data source, the Education Longitudinal Study, which contains several prior achievement, demographic, and attitudinal measures on which we matched young men and women attending four-year colleges.

Among this nationally representative sample, we found that the degree to which a field was perceived to be math- or science-intensive had very little relation to student gender. However, fields that were perceived to discriminate against women were strongly predictive of the gender of the students in the field, whether or not we accounted for the other five traits of the college majors. In short, women are less likely to enter fields where they expect to encounter discrimination.

And what happens if a woman perseveres in obtaining a college degree in a field where she encounters discrimination and underestimation and wants to pursue a postgraduate degree in that field, and maybe eventually work in academia? The literature suggests additional obstacles await her. These obstacles may take the form of those in the field thinking she’s not brilliant like her male peers in graduate school, having her looks discussed on online job boards when she’s job-hunting, performing more service work if she becomes university faculty, and getting less credit for co-authored publications in some disciplines when she goes up for tenure.

Each of the examples here and throughout this post reflects a similar problem—education systems (and society) unjustifiably and systematically view women as less intellectually capable.

Societal changes are necessary

My argument that policy probably isn’t the solution is not intended to undercut the importance of affirmative action and grievance policies that have helped many individuals take appropriate legal recourse. Rather, I am arguing that those policies are certainly not enough, and that the typical K-12 policy mechanisms will likely have no real effect in improving equity for girls.

The obstacles that women face are largely societal and cultural. They act against women from the time they enter kindergarten—instilling in very young girls a belief they are less innately talented than their male peers—and persist into their work lives. Educational institutions—with undoubtedly many well-intentioned educators—are themselves complicit in reinforcing the hurdles. In order to dismantle these barriers, we likely need educators at all levels of education to examine their own biases and stereotypes.

Gender equality through school: providing a safe and inclusive learning environment

Credit: Khumais

Boys and girls must feel welcome in a safe and secure learning environment. Governments, schools, teachers and students all have a part to play in ensuring that schools are free of violence and discrimination and provide a gender-sensitive, good-quality education (Figure 16). To achieve this, governments can develop nondiscriminatory curricula, facilitate teacher education and make sure sanitation facilities are adequate. Schools are responsible for addressing school-related violence and providing comprehensive health education. Teachers should follow professional norms regarding appropriate disciplinary practices and provide unbiased instruction. And students must behave in a non-violent, inclusive way.

FIGURE 16: Who is responsible for what in ensuring gender equality through school

NATIONAL AND SCHOOL POLICIES SHOULD TARGET SCHOOL-RELATED VIOLENCE

School-related violence is a pervasive issue in some countries. Violence can be physical, psychological or sexual; it can occur on school grounds, in transit or in cyberspace; and it may include bullying, corporal punishment, verbal and emotional abuse, intimidation, sexual harassment and assault, gang activity and the presence of weapons among students. It is often perpetrated as a result of gender norms and stereotypes and enforced by unequal power dynamics. It was estimated that, globally, approximately 246 million girls and boys experienced some form of school-related violence in 2014 (UNGEI, 2017).

While the vast majority of teachers are caring professionals who put the best interest of their students first, some abuse their position of power. In West and Central African countries, sexual abuse and exploitation by teachers, school staff and others in position of authority is common practice (Antonowicz, 2010). Sexual violence happens frequently in many schools in South Africa but crimes are rarely investigated and prosecution rates are low (HRW, 2016). In the United Republic of Tanzania, over half of girls and boys who had experienced physical abuse identified a teacher as an abuser (HakiElimu, 2017). In Samoa, 41% of children surveyed in 2013 indicated that they had experienced violence at the hands of their teacher (Office of the Ombudsman and NHRI Samoa, 2015).

Some countries, including Chile, Fiji, Finland, Peru, the Republic of Korea and Sweden, have passed legislation on violence in educational institutions (UNESCO, 2015c, 2017b). The 2013 Anti-Bullying Act in the Philippines requires all schools to adopt policies to prevent and address acts of bullying. It explicitly refers to gender-based bullying, which is described as any act that humiliates or excludes a person on the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation and gender identity. Yet in the following year just 38% of schools had adopted child protection or anti-bullying policies. The low rate highlighted a lack of communication and a weak monitoring framework.

The Department of Education responded by issuing a memorandum to clarify submission requirements and is working to build implementation capacity (UNESCO, 2015c). Teacher education and codes of conduct can help change teacher attitudes and behaviours. In South Sudan, the UNICEF Communities Care programme engaged with teachers to challenge norms that enable sexual violence and brought about some shifts in teacher attitudes and behaviours (UNGEI, 2017). The Doorways programme in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi trained upper primary and lower secondary school teachers on children’s rights and responsibilities, alternative teaching practices, basic counselling and listening skills, awareness of sexual harassment at school and teacher code of conduct (DevTech Systems, 2008; Queen et al., 2015). The Communication for Change project trained teachers in the Democratic Republic of Congo to act as first responders when they witnessed school-related gender-based violence. The share of participating teachers who were aware of how to prevent gender-based violence in school increased from 56% to 95% after the intervention (C-Change, 2013). Teacher codes of conduct are generally written by teacher unions to guide their members. They promote professional accountability by giving peers a way to hold each other to account for adhering to norms (Poisson, 2009). A recent survey by Education International found that teacher codes of conduct were present in 26 of 50 countries surveyed (EI, 2017). A separate review of 24 countries found that over half of teachers believed the code of conduct had a very significant impact in reducing misconduct (McKelvie-Sebileau, 2011).

Teacher codes of conduct can be effective in reducing school-related gender-based violence if they explicitly refer to violence and abuse and include clear breach reporting and enforcement protocols. Mongolia’s Teachers Code of Ethics for General Education Schools and Kindergartens contains a section on teacher ethical norms, which specifies that teachers should protect student’s health and well-being, including from sexual abuse, and should ensure equal participation without discrimination, including on the basis of sex (Steiner-Khamsi and Batjargal, 2017). Kenya has a range of penalties for breach of professional conduct, including suspension and interdiction. Teachers convicted of sexual offences against students are deregistered (Kenya Teachers Service Commission, 2013). However, even when they exist, these codes are not always successfully disseminated.

The implementation of Ethiopia’s Code of Conduct on Prevention of School-Related Gender-Based Violence in Schools has been patchy. Some school staff reportedly lacked commitment to or a sense of ownership of the code (Parkes et al., 2017). Students are also responsible for ensuring their behaviour does not impinge on others’ right to education (UNICEF and UNESCO, 2007). Schools are increasingly implementing prevention-oriented models to teach students acceptable strategies for interacting with their peers (Horner et al., 2010). These models set clear guidelines for students and define consistent instruction, record-keeping and follow-up procedures for teachers and other adults, such as administrative and custodial staff, playground supervisors, cafeteria workers and parent and community volunteers (Lewis et al., 2014).

Students are more likely to show positive social behaviours and reduce negative behaviours after the implementation of such programmes (Durlak et al., 2011). There is also increasing evidence linking improved social skills to academic achievement (Horner et al., 2010). While these codes of conduct are mostly used in Europe and North America (Sklad et al., 2012), Asian countries such as Singapore have also begun adopting them (Durlak et al., 2011).

GENDER-SENSITIVE FACILITIES CAN INCREASE THE TIME GIRLS SPEND IN SCHOOL

Inadequate sanitation facilities for girls during menstruation can have a negative effect on school attendance. Among 145 countries with data, primary school access to basic sanitation facilities was below 50% in 28 countries, 17 of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Only limited data are available on whether girls have separate facilities, let alone whether the facilities are functional or well maintained. In only 9 of 44 countries did more than 75% of primary schools have single-sex facilities; in Benin and Comoros, under 5% of schools had single-sex facilities. An estimated one in ten African girls miss school during menstruation (HRW, 2016).

Regulations requiring separate toilet facilities for boys and girls can help. Yet analysis of regulations in 71 education systems by the GEM Report team shows that only 61% required sex-separate facilities for public schools and 66% for private schools (UNESCO, 2017a). Regulations alone are not sufficient to ensure facilities are available. Although separate sanitation facilities are mandated by regulations in Bangladesh, a survey found that in 2014 only 12% of girls reported access to female-only toilets with water and soap available. Combined with a lack of waste bins, the poor facilities contributed to girls missing school during menstruation. Two in five girls were absent during menstruation for an average of three days during each cycle (Alam et al., 2014). Girls in Haiti have reported having to go home to change the materials they use to manage their menstruation, resulting in lost instructional time (HRW, 2016).

School inspections play a key role in ensuring that schools adhere to regulations. However, inspections do not always take gender issues into account. In Sweden, the school inspectorate takes gender equality into consideration (Heikkilä, 2016) and in the United Kingdom inspectors evaluate equal opportunities in the classroom and whether the school provides an inclusive environment for boys and girls (Rogers, 2014). By contrast, gender issues are rarely included in inspections in Bangladesh, with sex-separate sanitation facilities only occasionally observed (Chatterley et al., 2014). In any case, inspectorates are severely constrained by human resource shortages in many poor countries. For instance, in Mvomero district, United Republic of Tanzania, although 80% of schools are supposed to be inspected annually, only one in five schools were inspected in 2013 (Holvoet, 2015).

GENDER EQUALITY IN EDUCATION REQUIRES UNBIASED CURRICULA AND TEXTBOOKS

To facilitate gender-responsive instruction, curricula and textbooks should be free from gender bias and promote equality in gender relations. How students perceive themselves and how they project their role in society is shaped to some extent by what they experience at school, including by how they are represented in textbooks.

Comprehensive sexuality education

School-based comprehensive sexuality education programmes equip children and young people with empowering knowledge, skills and attitudes. In many contexts, programmes focus almost exclusively on HIV as a motivator to encourage students to delay sexual activity and have fewer sexual partners and less frequent sexual contacts (Fonner et al., 2014). However, international guidelines and standards, along with emerging evidence about factors influencing programme effectiveness, increasingly stress the value of a comprehensive approach centred on gender and human rights (Ketting and Winkelmann, 2013). A review of 22 studies showed that comprehensive sexuality education programmes that addressed gender power relations were five times more likely to be effective in reducing rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy than those that did not (Haberland, 2015).

In 2009, UNESCO and other UN agencies published the revised International Technical Guidance on Sexual Education to provide an evidence-based, age-appropriate set of topics and learning objectives for comprehensive sexuality education programmes for students aged 5 to 18 (UNESCO, 2009). In 2010, the International Planned Parenthood Federation adopted a rights-based approach in its Framework for Comprehensive Sexuality Education, and the WHO Regional Office for Europe produced Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe as a framework for policy-makers and education and health authorities (WHO Regional Office for Europe and BZgA, 2010). Nearly ten years after the original report, UNESCO’s revised guidance expands coverage to both school-based and out-of-school programmes with a strong focus on human rights, gender equality and skills building. The guidance can act as both an advocacy and accountability tool for programme implementers, NGOs, and youth (UNESCO, 2018).

A 2015 review of the status of comprehensive sexuality education in 48 countries found that almost 80% had supportive policies or strategies. Despite this political will, a significant gap remained between policies and implementation (UNESCO, 2015b). In western and central Africa, UNESCO’s Sexuality Education Review and Assessment Tool was used to assess 10 out of 13 national sexuality education programmes. Fewer than half the curricula met global standards for required content for all age groups, with gender and social norms identified as the weakest areas (Herat et al., 2014; UNESCO and UNFPA, 2012).

Recent studies in Ghana and Kenya provided evidence of gaps in content and delivery. The Kenya study covered 78 public and private secondary schools. While 75% of teachers reported teaching all topics of a comprehensive sexuality education programme, only 2% of students reported learning all topics. Only 20% learned about types of contraceptive methods, and even fewer learned how to use and where to get them (Figure 17). In some cases, incomplete and sometimes inaccurate information was taught. Almost 60% of teachers incorrectly taught that condoms alone were not effective in pregnancy prevention (Sidze et al., 2017). Moreover, 71% of teachers emphasized abstinence as the best or only method to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and most depicted sex as dangerous or immoral for young people.

FIGURE 17: In Kenya, only one in five students reported learning about contraceptive methods

Barriers to effective implementation of comprehensive programmes include lack of well-trained teachers, poor support of schools, weak regulation and supervision of policy implementation, opposition from religious and conservative groups, and culturally imposed silence about sexuality. In the Ghana study, 77% of teachers reported lacking resources or teaching materials. A smaller share reported conflicts, embarrassment or opposition from the community or students on moral or religious grounds (Awusabo-Asare et al., 2017).

Textbooks increasingly cover gender issues but progress is insufficient

Self-reporting from governments in Cuba, Estonia, Finland, Mexico, Nicaragua, Slovenia and Spain indicates that gender equality is integrated into national school curricula (UN Human Rights Council, 2017). The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science equality as one of the key values in its new core curriculum (Steiner-Khamsi and Batjargal, 2017).

Over the past 50 years, mentions of women and women’s rights in textbooks have increased (Bromley et al., 2016; Nakagawa and Wotipka, 2016). Nevertheless, in many countries women remain under-represented or, when included, are relegated to traditional roles such as housework and childcare (UNESCO, 2016a). Women accounted for only 37% of images in primary and secondary school textbooks in the Islamic Republic of

Iran in 2006–2007 (Paivandi, 2008) and across nine Jordanian secondary school history books only 21% of images were female. From Sweden to the Syrian Arab Republic, despite governments explicitly identifying the importance of gender equality in textbooks, women and men were still routinely portrayed in a stereotypical manner (Bromley et al., 2016).

Both governments and civil society can act to reduce textbook biases. The Human Rights Council has made it clear that ‘states have an obligation to periodically review and revise curricula, textbooks, programmes and teaching methods to ensure that they do not perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes’ (UN Human Rights Council, 2017). Some states include an explicit gender analysis as part of their textbook and review process. In Viet Nam, the National Strategy on Gender Equality for 2011–2020 specifies that textbook content should be reviewed for gender stereotypes (UNESCO, 2016c). In Ghana, the Textbook Development and Distribution Policy for Pre-tertiary Education included gender sensitivity as one of the main criteria for evaluating textbook proposals (Ghana MOE, 2001). By contrast, the Pakistan National Textbook and Learning Materials Policy and Plan of Action does not mention gender as a criterion of textbook review, referring instead to ‘quality of content, presentation, language and specific provincial coverage’ (Pakistan MOE, 2007).

Textbook monitoring by parents and civil society can be effective. In South Africa, a parent’s question posted on Facebook in July 2016 inspired a petition that ultimately led the textbook publisher to amend and issue an apology for content that promoted blaming the victim for sexual assault (Davies, 2016).

TEACHER EDUCATION CAN HELP ADDRESS UNDERLYING GENDER BIASES

Aside from the influence of official curricula and textbooks, teacher practice in the classroom is partly shaped by their assumptions and stereotypes about gender, which in turn affects students’ beliefs and learning. In Australia, female teachers felt particularly responsible for boys’ underachievement relative to male teachers (Hodgetts, 2010). In the United States, anxiety expressed by female mathematics teachers was associated with female students’ belief in the stereotype that boys are better at mathematics (Beilock et al., 2010).

Teacher education can assist teachers to reflect on and overcome their biases. Formal initiatives in teacher education with a focus on gender have taken place in Italy, the Republic of Moldova and Sudan (OHCHR, 2015). In Spain, the University of Oviedo requires teacher candidates to complete a mandatory course on gender and education (Bourn et al., 2017). In Ankara, Turkey preservice teachers that took a semester long course on gender equity in education developed more gender sensitive attitudes (Erden, 2009).

In low and middle income countries, teacher education programmes are often externally funded. The UNESCO Regional Bureau in Bangkok has recently funded a five-year project, Enhancing Girls’ and Women’s Right to Quality Education through Gender Sensitive Policy Making, Teacher Development and Pedagogy, which focuses on training participants from Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan to conduct gender assessments in teacher education (UNESCO, 2016b).

In Karamoja region, Uganda, the UNICEF Gender Socialization in Schools programme trained over 1,000 primary school teachers to enhance their knowledge, attitudes and practices related to gender equality promotion and conflict resolution. The initial training lasted for two days and was followed by two refresher training sessions. A subset of teachers received reinforcing text messages reminding them of examples of good practice. However, while the programme improved teachers’ knowledge and attitudes on gender equality, classroom practices did not become more gender-responsive (American Institutes for Research and UNICEF, 2016; El-Bushra and Smith, 2016).

Nigeria updated its teacher education curriculum in 2012, in part to address gender issues (Unterhalter et al., 2015). While a policy is in place to ensure minimum standards on gender equality, a survey of 4,500 student teachers in 2014 showed that very few had an in-depth understanding of what gender equality in education might mean, while many were hostile to women’s participation in public life and any form of social engagement. Among respondents employed following graduation, teachers reported receiving no professional development on gender, a point echoed by other colleagues at the schools where they taught. Teachers who had the most egalitarian ideas about gender reported themselves the most frustrated of respondents and said that they were unable to put their ideas into practice (Unterhalter et al., 2017).

The examples from Uganda and Nigeria highlight some of the challenges in changing teacher practices. To be effective, teacher education and training need to be continuous to recognize the time it takes for such practices to change. They also need to incorporate other stakeholders to help build a more supportive environment.

Gender Issues in Education

Living reference work entry
First Online: 04 August 2019
Cite this living reference work entry

Suzanne Manning 2

140 Accesses

Introduction

Our world is constructed around gender binaries, where women and men are assigned different roles and characteristics because of their gender. Often this leads to the oppression of women and of those who do not fit neatly inside the gender expectation “boxes.” Misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia are discriminatory attitudes held by many in society, which limit the freedoms and quality of life of people because of the way they choose to express their gender. Teachers and the education system are part of the (re)production of societal attitudes and can be influential in reinforcing or challenging gender discrimination. Awareness of gender issues is the first step in overcoming gender discrimination; action is the next.

This entry overviews gender issues in education, as a starting point for raising awareness. The first part deals with gender concepts by giving a working definition of gender as used in this entry, a brief selection of gender theoretical approaches, and...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Alton-Lee, A., Praat, A., & Haisman, G. (2001). Questioning gender. Snapshots from: Explaining and addressing gender differences in the New Zealand compulsory school sector, a literature review . Wellington: Ministry of Education.

Google Scholar

Connell, R. W., & Pearse, R. (2014). Gender: In world perspective (3rd ed.). Sydney: Wiley. Retrieved from http://gbv.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=4029932 .

Cushman, P. (2010). Male primary school teachers. Helping or hindering a move to gender equity? Teaching and Teacher Education, 26 (5), 1211–1218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.01.002 .

Article Google Scholar

de Beauvoir, S. (1949/2011). The second sex (C. Borde & S. Malovany, Trans.). London: Vintage Books.

Desmarais, F. (2018, November 15). Non-binary finery: The Kiwis whose gender doesn’t fit in a ‘neat little box’. Stuff.Co.Nz . Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/108178948/nonbinary-finery-the-kiwis-whose-gender-doesnt-fit-in-a-neat-little-box

Erden, F. T. (2009). A course on gender equity in education: Does it affect gender role attitudes of preservice teachers? Teaching and Teacher Education, 25 (3), 409–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.11.001 .

Gender Equal NZ. (2017). Gender attitudes survey. Retrieved from https://genderequal.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Gender-Attitudes-Survey-FINAL.pdf

hooks, b. (1981/1990). Ain’t I a woman: Black women and feminism . Boston: South End Press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Independent academic, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Suzanne Manning

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suzanne Manning .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

WMIER, The University of Waikato WMIER, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand

Michael A. Peters

Section Editor information

No affiliation provided

Alison Kearney

Mandia Mentis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this entry

Cite this entry.

Manning, S. (2019). Gender Issues in Education. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_333-1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_333-1

Received : 05 June 2019

Accepted : 09 July 2019

Published : 04 August 2019

Publisher Name : Springer, Singapore

Print ISBN : 978-981-13-1179-6

Online ISBN : 978-981-13-1179-6

eBook Packages : Springer Reference Education Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Module Education

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Find a journal
Track your research

Centre for Education and International Development (CEID), IOE

A forum for staff, students, alumni and guests to write about and around CEID's five thematic areas of engagement.

What do we mean by gender equality in education, and how can we measure it?

By CEID Blogger, on 18 May 2021

By Helen Longlands

Gender equality in education is a matter of social justice, concerned with rights, opportunities and freedoms. Gender equality in education is crucial for sustainable development, for peaceful societies and for individual wellbeing. At local, national and global levels, gender equality in education remains a priority area for governments, civil society and multilateral organisations. The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and 2020-2030 Decade of Action commit the global community to achieving quality education (Goal 4) and gender equality (Goal 5) by 2030. The G7 Foreign and Development Ministers, meeting this summer in the UK, have made fresh commitments to supporting gender equality and girls’ education , which build on those they made in 2018 and 2019 . Yet fulfilling these agendas and promises not only depends on galvanising sufficient support and resourcing but also on developing sufficient means of measuring and evaluating progress.

The urgency for gender equality in education has been compounded by the profound impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has exposed, exacerbated and created new forms of intersecting inequalities and injustices associated with gender and education. School closures have resulted in millions more children out of school, many of whom may never return, particularly the poorest and most marginalised girls . While UNESCO estimates that over 11 million girls are at risk of not going back to school once the worst of the pandemic is over, the Malala Fund indicates this figure could be as high as 20 million . Cases of violence against women and children have also risen during the pandemic. A recent review by the Centre for Global Development of studies on low and middle income countries presents evidence of an increase in incidences of various forms of gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, harassment, and violence against children. Assessment by UN Women connects this rise in violence to Covid-19 measures and consequences, including the closures of schools, suspension of community support systems, and increasing rates of unemployment and alcohol abuse. Meanwhile, heavier burdens of caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic, as well as reduced access to sexual and reproductive health knowledge and resources , limited availability of technology to support learning , and low levels of digital technology skills have gendered dimensions and risk further widening existing gender inequalities and power imbalances associated with education.

The effects of the pandemic add to the challenges of achieving gender equality in education and to the complexities involved in evaluating progress towards it. As we continue to develop and extend response, recovery and sustainability initiatives, to build back better , it is important to have explicit and honest discussions about gender and other intersecting inequalities in education. And it is vital to ensure we have robust and reliable ways of identifying, evaluating and holding people to account for these inequalities and their underlying causes in order to build more just and resilient societies. How we do this, however, is not straightforward and presents many conceptual and practical challenges around understanding, accessing and utilising the information, resources and approaches we need. What do we mean when we talk about gender equality in education, how can we measure progress towards it, and how will we know when we achieve it?

The AGEE project’s theoretical and methodological approach draws on key ideas from the capability approach, including the importance of public debate and democratic deliberation, recognition of how inequalities, opportunities and freedoms connect to the complexities of the physical, political and social environment as well as the distribution of resources, and a focus on both the interpersonal and the individual. We see these ideas as crucial components to identifying, understanding and meaningfully measuring gender inequalities and equality in education in diverse local contexts in ways that capture both unique and more general issues as well as longstanding and emerging concerns.

Thus our aim is to help refocus the policy attention beyond gender parity in education to a more substantive understanding and recognition of what gender equality in education could or should entail within and across different contexts, and provide clarity on the data needed for public policy. Gender parity comprises a simple ratio of girls to boys or women to men in a given aspect of education, such as enrolment, participation, attainment or teacher deployment. Gender parity is a clear and uncomplicated measure, which makes it appealing to policymakers and practitioners, and has led to its widespread use as a measure of gender equality in education in national and global development frameworks. This is seen in many of the targets for SDG4 on education and previously in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2000-2015). However, gender parity is also an inadequate measure on its own because it is unable to capture more complex forms of gender inequality, the conditions and practices that underpin them, the ways in which they intersect with other forms of inequality and injustice, and the short and longer term consequences for individuals and societies. While it is important to ensure all children can access, attend and complete school, which are all issues that gender parity can monitor, it cannot measure issues such as girls’ or boys’ lived experiences of gender discrimination or violence in and around school, or gender inequalities associated with curricula, learning materials, pedagogic approaches or work practices.

Ongoing consultations and debates with stakeholders at community, national and international level are thus key components of AGEE’s research approach. Through them, we have sought to develop a deeper understanding of local, national and global forms of gender inequality and injustice in education and the ways these interconnect. We have scrutinised whether or not existing measurement techniques document this in order to enhance work on gender equality in policy and practice. Over the past few years, through workshops, interviews, technical meetings, academic papers, conference presentations, seminars and teaching, we have engaged in critical participatory dialogue with a wide range of key national and international stakeholders in education and gender, including representatives from governments, national statistics offices, civil society, international organisations, academics and students. This dialogue has explored and interrogated understandings of and debates around gender, accountability, measurement and data, and collated information on the range of factors, relationships, conditions and available data associated with gender equality in education.

Through this in-depth participatory process, we have developed, adapted and refined the AGEE Framework. The Framework is designed to be robust and comprehensive as well as flexible and adaptable, in order both to capture complex, enduring and widespread forms of inequalities, and to be responsive to local characteristics and changing conditions, including forms of crisis. The AGEE Framework comprises six interconnected domains for monitoring and evaluating gender equality in education: Resources; Values; Opportunities; Participation in Education; Knowledge, Understanding and Skills; and Outcomes. And we have identified a number of indicators and related existing or potential data sources to populate these domains.

If you would like to learn more about the AGEE project and engage with our work to support gender equality in education, please visit our website: www.gendereddata.org , where you can find more information about our research and the AGEE Framework, and join our community of practice.

Join the special event on May 27, 2021 where the AGEE Framework will be presented in detail : The politics of measuring gender equality in education: Perspectives for the G7

Acknowledgements:

Members of the AGEE project team: Elaine Unterhalter (UCL and AGEE PI), Rosie Peppin Vaughan (UCL), Relebohile Moletsane (UKZN), Esme Kadzamira (University of Malawi) and Catherine Jere (UEA).

Filed under CEID , Gender , Inequalities

One Response to “What do we mean by gender equality in education, and how can we measure it?”

your blog is very useful and your content ideas is wonderful nice job…

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

CEID | Twitter | Facebook

Subscribe by Email

Completely spam free, opt out any time.

Please, insert a valid email.

Thank you, your email will be added to the mailing list once you click on the link in the confirmation email.

Spam protection has stopped this request. Please contact site owner for help.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Smashing gender stereotypes and bias in and through education

“On this International Women’s Day and every day, UNESCO is committed to ensure all persons’ right to education free from bias and stereotypes”, said Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO.

Gender stereotypes and biases are built in people’s minds as early as childhood. They influence the toys children play with, the subjects they pursue, their entire experience of education, and their future lives and careers.

To mark International Women’s Day, UNESCO, the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Transform Education, with support from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), held a webinar calling on students, parents, teachers, governments and development partners to smash gender stereotypes and bias in and through education.

Moving from exclusion to inclusion

“When it comes to education, the system trains and teaches young children and young people, for example, how to dress, how to speak, influencing young people’s expressions,” shared Michael who along with Nicole, represented Transform Education, a feminist youth-led coalition hosted by UNGEI. “Obviously as we grow up, we see biases that have been created and partially embedded in the social, economic and political systems around us.”

Nicole shared her own experience of facing “negative norms since I was young saying how feminine and submissive a girl should be and classifying femininity as a negative characteristic when it comes to leadership at both school and the workplace.”

“A large number of boys tell us that if they don’t live up to these norms, they are bullied or otherwise experience violence at school”, said Gary Barker, CEO of Promundo, recognizing that gender norms also impact boys, and more broadly gender equality. “This matters for boys’ educational attainment… It matters also tremendously for girls and women. We know from our research that boys and young men who buy into these inequitable norms and learn them at home are more likely to use violence against a female partner and they are less likely to support gender equality overall.”

Choosing subjects and careers freely

“We know that gender stereotypes and biases become engrained in early childhood, and that they affect students’ decisions about the types of futures they should plan for,” said Erin Ganju, Managing Director of Echidna Giving and the moderator of the event.

“Girls and boys follow certain stereotypes. Girls’ aspirations are to become doctors, teachers, nurses, psychologists and veterinarians. For boys, they want to become engineers, work in ICT and in mechanics”, said Marta Encinas-Martin, Gender Ambassador at the OECD, sharing results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Gender stereotypes affect girls’ study paths and career choices. This has resulting implications, with fewer women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and fewer men in the teaching, health and social workforce.

Transforming bias through education and communities

The Global Education Monitoring Report and UNESCO launched a new factsheet challenging gender bias and stereotypes in and through education. Recognizing the transformative role of education, Anna Cristina D’Addio stated that gender bias and stereotypes can “be reinforced but they could also be challenged by the school programmes, the curricula and the teaching materials and the teaching that learners are exposed to.”

Amelia Fernandez, Advisor for the Government of Navarre, and laureate of the 2019 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education for the project SKOLAE, shared that “teachers have a duty to have a gender-transformative approach so that we explain to learners all of their capabilities and enable them to fulfil their potential as people and not as silos of boys and girls separately.”

Stephen Jalenga, from the Ministry of Education in Kenya, emphasized the role of mentors and role models to deconstruct gender stereotypes in STEM fields: “A girl from the rural area may have never seen a female engineer, or a female pilot. When you enable them to interact with such mentors, it gives them the impetus to move ahead.”

“We need to have these conversations in ways that are compassionate and caring and that call boys and men into the benefit that we all get when we embrace healthier versions of manhood”, said Barker.

Sujata Bordoloi, of UNGEI, said “We all have to unlearn and question false and limiting beliefs about others and ourselves. We think it would be really great if education around the world prepared students to think outside the ‘gender box’.”

Maria Nguyen, representing the SDG4Youth Network, closed the event with the following powerful words, “There is one key action that is needed to smash stereotypes and to challenge gender bias in and through education: to challenge the silence. Challenge it when no one else seems to be standing up against gender stereotypes in education. Challenge it when the needs of students and young people who are at the heart of education are unheard. Challenge what is spoken and what is left unspoken.”

Watch the recording of the event
Read the new factsheet: #BreakTheBias: Challenging gender bias and stereotypes in and through education
Learn more about the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education
Learn more about UNESCO’s work on education and gender equality

More on this subject

Transforming MENtalities: Engaging Young Men and Boys in Gender Equality in Eastern Africa

EDITORIAL article

Editorial: gender equality and women’s empowerment in education.

1 Department of Specific Didactics, Faculty of Education, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain
2 Department of Educational Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Editorial on the Research Topic Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Education

Current scholarly literature shows that gender inequalities are still present in the process of curricular decision making and teacher practices. These inequalities are expressed through the selection of educational content, the application of methodological strategies, the selection of teaching resources, interpersonal relationships, specific task assignments, or even seating choices within the classroom. These ongoing gender-related issues drive the need for teachers to receive specific and transversal training in this area. Such trainings should be aimed at revealing gender relations as a type of power relationship for the promotion of social change.

The literature in the field of teacher training indicates that the maintenance of gender stereotypes and biases in teacher discourses and practices reinforces the sex-gender system and, consequently, inequalities. Further research is therefore still needed to study the discourses that emerged from the teaching practices around gender. Moreover, research in this field should encourage critical reflection on teacher training plans and the teaching curriculum itself.

The adoption of coeducational approaches and the promotion of education in and for gender equality entails transforming the traditional teaching curriculum to overcome the androcentric constructive bases of historical, social, and literary knowledge. Such transformation would also motivate the incorporation of “polysemic views” in the understanding and interpretation of social reality. Even today, it is common to recognize in mainstream social communication discourses, such as advertising or audio-visual artistic expressions, clear imagery of unquestionable, allegedly identarian gender cultural patterns. The overcoming or relativization of these patterns should necessarily go through the reexamination of curricular content.

The eradication of gender inequalities requires not only the integration of all the voices that have built social knowledge but also the overcoming of gender stereotypes within the education system. It is thus essential to identify the shortcomings of teachers’ training and encourage gender studies as a requisite for their curricula in order to achieve inclusive, plural, and diverse models for teaching practices.

This Research Topic includes 15 manuscripts, from nine prestigious international academic institutions (Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, Germany, Spain, and Sweden) on important topics related to the inclusion of gender inequalities in teacher training, and the analysis of this concept in the official school curriculum, materials, and teacher practices.

The experiences and socio-cultural constructions of the concept of gender constitute the explanatory core of the research problem addressed in “ The Challenge of Women’s Inclusion for Novel Teachers. Case Study in a Teacher Educator Public University ”. This research analyzes the representations of novice teachers of History and Social Sciences on the presence and absence of women’s historical experience in their teaching practices. The research demonstrates the permanence of positivist and androcentric epistemological approaches in the teaching of History, and highlights the urgency of addressing gender inequalities as one of the most pressing social problems of our contemporaneity. In this vein, “ Classical Sociology Through the Lens of Gendered Experiences ” seeks to promote discussion on the mediating role of gendered experiences in classical sociology’s theories of the move towards modern society. This study evidences the constructive relativity of social knowledge and its consequences for sociological teaching and learning.

From the conception of a socio-constructive nature of sexism, the research “ Intersections Around Ambivalent Sexism: Internalized Homonegativity, Resistance to Heteronormativity and Other Correlates ” explores the levels of internalized sexism and homonegativity, and the resistance to heteronormativity of Spanish psychology students. Its results are consistent with those obtained in the study “ Evaluation of Sexist and Prejudiced Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in Spanish Future Teachers: Analysis of Related Variables ”, focused on the analysis of sexist and prejudiced attitudes toward homosexuality of future Spanish teachers. Both studies show the influence of factors such as political ideology, gender identity and sexual orientation on students’ beliefs and perceptions. They also point out the need to advance in the eradication of discrimination based on sex and sexual diversity in the training of future professionals, and the implementation of intersectional approaches to understand the sexist construct.

The consequences of the invisibility of female referents in education and, therefore, of models on which to build plural and empowered identities, derives from the limitations inherent in traditional gender expectations and attributions. The educational hegemony of these attributions, the basis of the study “ Nine Contradictory Observations About Girls’ and Boys’ Upbringing and Education—The Strength-Based Approach as the Way to Eliminate the Gender Gap ”, continue to limit the potential expectations and talents of girls. Through “nine contradictory observations”, this article directs its proposal towards a “strength-based approach” as a way to eradicate the gender gap. Along these lines, “ Mindfulness and Empathy: Mediating Factors and Gender Differences in a Spanish Sample ” highlights the lack of studies aimed at analyzing the potential moderating role of gender in the development of empathic skills.

The research production around the gender gap and gender-segregated differentiation seems not to have received the desired impact in educational social spaces. From this perspective, on the one hand, the article “ Differentiations in Visibility-Male Advantages and Female Disadvantages in Gender-Segregated Programmes ” starts from the differential articulation of inter- and intra-group visibility, by gender, in students, underrepresented in their programmes. On the other hand, the works “ Distributing Feedback Wisely to Empower Girls in STEM ” and “ Girls in STEM: Is It a Female Role-Model Thing? ” highlight the still distant presence of women in the development of STEM professions, a circumstance originating in the educational context and influenced, therefore, by traditional gender models and by social factors that have an impact on the construction of personal identities, as also evidenced by the work “ What Dominates the Female Class Identification? Evidence From China ”.

These constructed identities are revealed in the underestimation of the self-efficacy of secondary school students regarding their competences in STEM subjects, as shown in the work “ Parent and Teacher Depictions of Gender Gaps in Secondary Student Appraisals of Their Academic Competences ”. Consequently, the analysis of self-efficacy, expectations of results, interest in STEM areas and the intervention in the classrooms of plural female role models are proposed as necessary working spaces to redirect this trend. These results are completed with the analysis of the potential influence of gender stereotypes in biased student evaluations of teaching in “ Gender Stereotypes in Student Evaluations of Teaching ”.

From the area of Brazilian physical education, “ Gender Participation and Preference: A Multiple-Case Study on Teaching Circus at PE in Brazilians Schools ” reports on the elective influence of Primary Education teachers in the assignment of circus physical activities according to gender, extensible to the sports activities of traditional teaching. In order to advance in critical and emancipatory training proposals in gender equality in this area, “ Breaking Cultural ‘Taboos’ About the Body and Gender: Brazilian Students’ Emancipation From a Thematic Perspective of School Physical Education ” stresses the importance of teaching programs oriented to the cultural construction of the differential concept of the body. From this perspective, the work “ REFLECT—A Teacher Training Program to Promote Gender Equality in Schools ” emphasizes the hegemonic role of socializing agents in maintaining the status quo of gender stereotypes in education and in the future professional development of men and women. As a response to the permanence of the sex-gender system, and to the evidence of the influence of teachers’ attitudes and practices in the promotion of truly coeducational educational environments, this program, aimed at future teachers of Secondary Education, aims to contribute, in a sustainable way, to gender equality from the educational spaces of subjective action (such as self-efficacy), and objective action (teaching methods and knowledge).

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This Research Topic was completed with the main support of the Research Group Recognized in Didactics of History and Social Sciences (DHISO) (cod. 137), directed by Prof. Dr. Delfín Ortega-Sánchez (University of Burgos, Spain). Likewise, it has also been carried out within the framework of the projects Teach and learn to interpret contemporary problems and conflicts. What do social sciences contribute to the formation of a critical global citizenship? (EDU2016-80145-P), financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spanish Government), and Future Education and Democratic Hope. Rethinking Social Studies Education in changing times (PID2019-107383RB-I00), financed by the Ministry of Science, and Innovation (Spanish Government).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Keywords: gender equality, teacher training, gender representation, gender stereotypes, higher education, primary and secondary education, early childhood education

Citation: Ortega-Sánchez D, Sanz de la Cal E, Ibáñez Quintana J and Borghi B (2022) Editorial: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Education. Front. Educ. 7:833977. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.833977

Received: 12 December 2021; Accepted: 10 January 2022; Published: 26 January 2022.

Edited and reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Ortega-Sánchez, Sanz de la Cal, Ibáñez Quintana and Borghi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Delfín Ortega-Sánchez, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

International Bureau of Education

Promoting Gender Equity in and through Education

Gendered expectations have a strong impact on girls’ and boys’ educational outcomes and trajectories. Students' motivation, self-concept, and performance in various subjects are influenced by social stereotypes and gender-based expectations. As a result, curriculum and lesson design should incorporate measures to diminish, offset, and prevent their adverse effects.

Teachers' personal perceptions of their students' cognitive abilities carry significant implications for classroom dynamics, children's access to learning opportunities, and broader educational equity. When teachers hold gender-biased expectations, it results in disparate stimuli, teaching approaches, and interactions directed towards boys and girls.

UNESCO-IBE recognizes the transformative role of curriculum in challenging gender stereotypes and promoting the inclusion of men and women across all fields of study.

This contribution to the Educational Practices Series consolidates global evidence on gender disparities in educational processes and outcomes. The discussion delves into key implications for educators, highlighting educational practices with the potential to foster gender equity. The booklet explores how teachers can combat gender bias in the classroom, summarizes evidence on gender gaps in educational achievement, and identifies practices to reduce these gaps. It also examines gender segregation and social mechanisms, emphasizing educators' role in addressing stereotypes and promoting inclusion across all fields of study. The conclusion connects these principles, highlighting their relevance in fostering gender equity in education and beyond.

The Educational Practices booklets are the result of a collaboration with the International Academy of Education and the International Bureau of Education, to inform education policymakers and practitioners on the latest research, so they can better make decisions and interventions related to curriculum development, teaching, learning, and assessment.

The series is also a result of the IBE’s efforts to establish a global partnership that recognizes the role of knowledge brokerage as a key mechanism for improving the substantive access of policymakers and diverse practitioners to cutting-edge knowledge. Increased access to relevant knowledge can also inform education practitioners, policymakers, and governments on how this knowledge can help address urgent international concerns, including but not limited to curriculum, teaching, learning, assessment, migration, conflict, employment, and equitable development.

This and other titles in the series can be found here .

More on this subject

Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality

About the author.

Amartya Sen, often referred to as the father of the concept of ‘human development’, reminds us of a quote by H.G. Wells, where he said that “human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe”. Sen maintains that “if we continue to leave vast sections of the people of the world outside the orbit of education, we make the world not only less just, but also less secure”. To Sen, the gender aspect of education is a direct link between illiteracy and women’s security.

Not being able to read or write is a significant barrier for underprivileged women, since this can lead to their failure to make use of even the rather limited rights they may legally have (to own land or other property, or to appeal against unfair judgment and unjust treatment). There are often legal rights in rule books that are not used because the aggrieved parties cannot read those rule books. Gaps in schooling can, therefore, directly lead to insecurity by distancing the deprived from the ways and means of fighting against that deprivation. 1

For Sen, illiteracy and innumeracy are forms of insecurity in themselves, “not to be able to read or write or count or communicate is a tremendous deprivation. The extreme case of insecurity is the certainty of deprivation, and the absence of any chance of avoiding that fate”. 2 The link between education and security underlines the importance of education as akin to a basic need in the twenty-first century of human development.

GENDERED EDUCATION GAPS: SOME CRITICAL FACTS

While a moral and political argument can continue to be made for the education of girls and women, some facts speak powerfully to the issue at hand. Girls accounted for 53 per cent of the 61 million children of primary school age who were out of school in 2010. Girls accounted for 49 per cent of the 57 million children out of school in 2013. In surveys of 30 countries with more than 100,000 out-of-school children, 28 per cent of girls were out of school on average compared to 25 per cent of boys. Completion of primary school is a particular problem for girls in sub-Saharan Africa and Western Asia. 3

Surveys in 55 developing countries reveal that girls are more likely to be out of school at a lower secondary age than boys, regardless of the wealth or location of the household. Almost two thirds of the world’s 775 million illiterate adults are women. In developing regions, there are 98 women per 100 men in tertiary education. There are significant inequalities in tertiary education in general, as well as in relation to areas of study, with women being over-represented in the humanities and social sciences and significantly under-represented in engineering, science and technology.

Gender-based violence in schools undermines the right to education and presents a major challenge to achieving gender equality in education because it negatively impacts girls’ participation and their retention in school. In addition, ineffective sexual and reproductive health education inhibits adolescents’ access to information and contributes to school dropouts, especially among girls who have reached puberty.

The education of girls and women can lead to a wide range of benefits from improved maternal health, reduced infant mortality and fertility rates to increased prevention against HIV and AIDS. 4 Educated mothers are more likely to know that HIV can be transmitted by breastfeeding, and that the risk of mother-to-child transmission can be reduced by taking drugs during pregnancy.

Each extra year of a mother’s schooling reduces the probability of infant mortality by 5-10 per cent. Children of mothers with secondary education or higher are twice as likely to survive beyond age 5 compared to those whose mothers have no education. Improvements in women’s education explained half of the reduction in child deaths between 1990 and 2009. A child born to a mother who can read is 50 per cent more likely to survive past age 5. In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 1.8 million children’s lives could have been saved in 2008 if their mothers had at least a secondary education. In Indonesia, 68 per cent of children with mothers who have attended secondary school are immunized, compared with 19 per cent of children whose mothers have no primary schooling. Wages, agricultural income and productivity—all critical for reducing poverty— are higher where women involved in agriculture receive a better education. Each additional year of schooling beyond primary offers greater payoffs for improved opportunities, options and outcomes for girls and women.

In the varied discussions on the post-2015 education related agendas, there was strong consensus that gender equality in education remains a priority. Various inputs noted that inequalities in general, and particularly gender equality, need to be addressed simultaneously on multiple levels—economic, social, political and cultural. A response on behalf of the International Women’s Health Coalition maintained that “all girls, no matter how poor, isolated or disadvantaged, should be able to attend school regularly and without the interruption of early pregnancy, forced marriage, maternal injuries and death, and unequal domestic and childcare burdens”.

Other inputs highlighted the importance of ensuring access to post-basic and post-secondary education for girls and women. Referring to secondary education, the German Foundation for World Population noted that the “completion of secondary education has a strong correlation with girls marrying later and delaying first pregnancy.” While access to good quality education is important for girls and women, preventing gender-based violence and equality through education clearly also remains a priority.

Gender-based discrimination in education is, in effect, both a cause and a consequence of deep-rooted differences in society. Disparities, whether in terms of poverty, ethnic background, disability, or traditional attitudes about their status and role all undermine the ability of women and girls to exercise their rights. Moreover, harmful practices such as early marriage, gender-based violence, as well as discriminatory education laws and policies still prevent millions of girls from enrolling and completing their respective education. 5

Additionally, given the extensive and growing participation of women in income generating activities, education for girls and women is particularly important, especially in attempting to reverse gendered patterns of discrimination. Not only is it impossible to achieve gender equality without education, but expanding education opportunities for all can help stimulate productivity and thereby also reduce the economic vulnerability of poor households.

GENDER EQUALITY, EQUITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Equity is the strongest framing principle of a post-2015 rights-based agenda, and underlines the need to redress historical and structural inequalities in order to provide access to quality education at all levels. This heralds what was effectively one of the strongest themes that emerged in the post-2015 education consultations, i.e., a rights-based approach in which rights are indivisible. This implies that all aspects of education should be considered from a rights perspective, including structural features of education systems, methods of education, as well as the contents of the education curricula. Indeed, overcoming structural barriers to accessing good quality education is vital for realizing education rights for all.

In related post-2015 consultations, equity is affirmed as a fundamental value in education. Several inputs noted that inequality in education remains a persistent challenge. This is connected to a focus in the Millennium Development Goals on averages without an accompanying consideration of trends beneath the averages. Many contributions in the education consultation, as well as in the other thematic consultations, highlighted the lack of attention to marginalized and vulnerable groups.

Equal access to good quality education requires addressing wide-ranging and persistent inequalities in society and should include a stronger focus on how different forms of inequality intersect to produce unequal outcomes for marginalized and vulnerable groups. Post-2015 consultations suggest that overcoming inequality requires a goal that makes national governments accountable for providing minimum standards and implementing country specific plans for basic services, including education. Equity in education also implies various proactive and targeted measures to offer progressive support to disadvantaged groups.

Amartya Sen notes empirical work which has brought out very clearly how the relative respect and regard for women’s well-being is strongly influenced by their literacy and educated participation in decisions within and outside the family. Even the survival disadvantage of women compared with men in many developing countries (which leads to “such terrible phenomenon as a hundred million of ‘missing women’) seems to go down sharply, and may even get eliminated, with progress in women’s empowerment, for which literacy is a basic ingredient”.

In the summer of 2009, the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued a report entitled “Give Girls a Chance: Tackling child labour, a key to the future”, which makes a disturbing link between increasing child labour and the preference being given to boys when making decisions on education of children. The report states that in cultures in which a higher value is placed on education of male children, girls risk being taken out of school and are then likely to enter the workforce at an early age. The ILO report noted global estimates where more than 100 million girls were involved in child labour, and many were exposed to some of its worst forms.

Much of the research around women and education highlights the importance of investing in the education of girls as an effective way of tackling the gamut of poverty. This is in line with assertions made in numerous other references, which also point to a strong link between education, increased women’s (as opposed to girls’) labour force participation, the wages they earn and overall productivity, all of which ultimately yields higher benefits for communities and nations. In other words, it pays to invest in girls’ and women’s education.

GENDER SOCIALIZATION

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Western feminist stalwarts, such as Simone de Beauvoir, were elaborating the difference between biological ‘sex’ and social gender. Anne Oakley in particular, is known for coining the term gender socialization (1979), which indicates that gender is socially constructed. According to Oakley, parents are engaged in gender socialization but society holds the largest influence in constructing gender. She identified three social mechanisms of gender socialization: manipulation, canalization, and verbalization (Oakley, 1972). Oakley noted that gender is not a fixed concept but is determined by culture through the use of verbal and nonverbal signifiers and the creation of social norms and stereotypes, which identify proper and acceptable behavior. The signifiers are then perpetuated on a macro level, reinforced by the use of the media, as well as at the micro level, through individual relationships.

The concept entered mainstream lexicon on gender relations and development dynamics, and through criticism and counter criticism, ‘gender socialization’ itself became an important signifier. As a tool to highlight discriminatory practices, laws and perceptions (including stereotypes), gender socialization is often identified as the ‘root cause’ which explains various aspects of gender identities, and what underlies many gender dynamics.

In 2007, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) defined gender socialization as “[T]he process by which people learn to behave in a certain way, as dictated by societal beliefs, values, attitudes and examples. Gender socialization begins as early as when a woman becomes pregnant and people start making judgments about the value of males over females. These stereotypes are perpetuated by family members, teachers and others by having different expectations for males and females.”

There is, therefore, a clear interaction between socio-cultural values (and praxis) with gender socialization. This only partly explains why it is that in many developing societies there is a persistent prioritization of women’s ‘domestic’ roles and responsibilities over public ones. Most young girls are socialized into the ‘biological inevitability’ of their socially determined future roles as mothers. This is closely connected, in many relatively socially conservative contexts, with the need to ensure (the prerequisite of) marriage.

Most related studies maintain that women with formal education are much more likely to use reliable family planning methods, delay marriage and childbearing, and have fewer and healthier babies than women with no formal education. The World Bank estimates that one year of female schooling reduces fertility by 10 per cent, particularly where secondary schooling is undertaken.

In fact, because women with some formal education are more likely to seek medical care and be better informed about health care practices for themselves and their children, their offspring have higher survival rates and are better nourished. Not only that, but as indicated earlier, these women are less likely to undergo early pregnancy. Being better informed increases the chances of women knowing how to space their pregnancies better, how to access pre and post-natal care, including prevention of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and family planning in general. The World Bank estimates that an additional year of schooling for 1,000 women helps prevent two maternal deaths.

The World Bank, along with UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund highlight in several of their reports the intergenerational benefits of women’s education. An educated mother is more likely, it is maintained, to attempt to ensure educational opportunities for her children. Indeed, the World Bank specifically notes that “ in many countries each additional year of formal education completed by a mother translates into her children remaining in school for an additional one- third to one-half year”. 6

In short, girls’ education and the promotion of gender equality in education are critical to development, thus underlining the need to broadly address gender disparities in education.

The rhetorical question that needs to be raised here is whether the consistent elements of gender socialization in the region, and the confusing messages for both sexes, can only lead to entrenching processes of gender inequality. At the very least, it is safe to argue that gender socialization, combined with the continuing discrepancies in education opportunities and outcomes not only provide a negative feedback loop, but effectively contribute to entrenching patriarchal norms.

Political events and the endorsement of political leadership are often catalytic, if not necessary determinants, of policy change. In fact, most education reform programmes are often linked to political dynamics. To date, such reforms are typically launched through a political or legal act. In most cases, countries prioritize aspects such as forging a common heritage and understanding of citizenship, instruction in particular language(s), and other means of building capacities as well as popular support for party programmes. All developing country governments have, at one time or another, put special effort into including girls in the education system. While there is a continuous role for policy makers and governments, it is increasingly clear that the socio-cultural terrain is where the real battles need to be waged in a studied, deliberate and targeted fashion.

Influencing the way people think, believe and behave; i.e., culture is the single most complicated task of human development. And yet, in policy and advocacy circles globally, this particular challenge still remains largely considered as ‘soft’ and, at best, secondary in most considerations. What is maintained here is that within the current global geopolitical climate, particularly where an increasing number of young men—and now also young women—are reverting to extremes such as inflicting violence, and where this is often exacerbated by socialization processes which often enforce certain harmful practices (e.g., early marriage) and outdated forms of gender identity and roles, then culture needs to be a high priority.

Needed cultural shifts require several key conditions. One of these is the importance of bridging the activism around gender equality and doing so by involving both men and women. While this still remains anathema to many women’s rights activists, it is nevertheless necessary that men become more engaged in gender equality work, and that women realize that their rights are incumbent on the systematic partnership with men and on appreciating the specific needs and challenges that young boys and men themselves are struggling with.

Another critical determinant of cultural change is that it has to be from within. Those who have worked with human rights issues more broadly have had to learn the hard way that any change that appears to be induced ‘from outside’, even if responding to a dire need and with perfectly sound reason, is destined for failure in many cases. Sustainable change has to be owned and operated locally. This points to the importance of identifying the ‘cultural agents of change’ in any given society, which include both its men and women activists, religious leaders, traditional and community leaders (in some cases these categories converge), media figures, charismatic community mobilizers, and especially youth themselves, who are the most critical agents of change.

At the same time, it is a fallacy to think that there can be no linkages whatsoever between local ownership and external dynamics. International, especially multilateral, development partners have an important role to play in facilitating the bridge building between and among the cultural agents of change themselves on the one hand, and between them and their respective policymakers on the other. But in this day and age of technology and increasing speed of technology, international development actors, as well as transnational academic actors, are already facilitating the building of bridges between youth. Some of this is already happening through a plethora of fora (including social websites), and the impact remains difficult to gauge.

All this points to the fact that education in the traditional sense of school enrolment, drop-out rates, curricula development, and structural dynamics thereof are in multiple stages of transition. It remains to be seen how, and in what way, new forms of education, knowledge acquisition, and information sharing will significantly change patterns of gender socialization itself. It is too soon to definitely assess the shifting sands we are standing on. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to either overestimate the power of entrenched patriarchy, or to underestimate the capacity of women and men to significantly refashion their realities. At the same time, the changes in the culture of international development goal setting are already producing critical insights and inputs which are shaping the agenda of global, regional and national dynamics for upcoming decades.

The opinions expressed in this article belong to the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of any institution, Board or staff member.

1 UNICEF and UNESCO: The World We Want— Making Education a Priority in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, 2013 . Available at http://www.unicef.org/education/files/ Making_education_a_Priority_in_the_Post-2015_Development_ Agenda.pdf.

3 “Making education a Priority in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: report of the Global Thematic Consultation on education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda”.

4 All the figures and data herein presented from UNESCO. 2011b. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011. The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education, Paris and UNESCO . World Atlas of Gender equality in education. Paris, 2012.

5 UNESCO— http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-...

Alger, Chadwick. “Religion as a Peace Tool”, The Global Review of Ethnopolitics , vol.1,4: 94 -109. (June 2002).

Diamond, Larry (ed.). Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries (Boulder and London, Lynne Rienner, 1994). Huntington, Samuel. ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’, Foreign Affairs , vol.72, No.3, Summer 1993, pp. 19 -23.

Johnson, Chalmers. Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (New York , Henry Holt and Company, 2000).

Karam, Azza. Transnational Political Islam: Religion, Ideology and Power (London, Pluto Press, 2004).

Leftwich, Adrian (ed.). Democracy and Development: Theory and Practice (London, Polity Press, 1996).

Macrae, Joanna. Aiding Recovery? The Crisis of AID in Chronic Political Emergencies (London and New York, Zed Books in Association with ODI, 2001).

Pilch, John J. “Beat His ribs While He is young” (Sir 30:12): A Window on the Mediterranean World”, Biblical Theology Bulletin: A Journal of Bible and Theology, vol. 23, 3 (1993) pp 101-113.

Tynedale, Wendy. (ed.). Visions of Development: Faith-based Initiatives (UK: Ashgate, 2006).

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Arab Human Development Report (New York, 2002, 2004, and 2005).

UNESCO, “Key Messages and Data on Girls’ and Women’s education and literacy” (Paris, April 2012).

UNICEF and UNESCO, The World We Want—Making Education a Priority in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, 2013 . Available at http://www.unicef.org/education/files/Making_education_a_Priority_in_the... . United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population Report: Reaching Common Ground—Culture, Gender and Human Rights (2008).

Williams, Brett (ed.). The Politics of Culture (Washington D.C., The Smithsonian Institution, 1991).

World Bank MENA report: The Road Not Travelled: Education Reform in the Middle East and North Africa , (Washington D.C. The World Bank, 2008).

The UN Chronicle  is not an official record. It is privileged to host senior United Nations officials as well as distinguished contributors from outside the United Nations system whose views are not necessarily those of the United Nations. Similarly, the boundaries and names shown, and the designations used, in maps or articles do not necessarily imply endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

The "Memories" exhibition displayed in the Visitor’s Lobby of the United Nations Secretariat Building, August 2023. United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism Office

Voices for Peace: The Crucial Role of Victims of Terrorism as Peace Advocates and Educators

In the face of unimaginable pain and trauma, victims and survivors of terrorism emerge as strong advocates for community resilience, solidarity and peaceful coexistence.

Sailors for Sustainability: Sailing the Globe to Document Proven Solutions for Sustainable Living

Most of the solutions we have described are tangible examples of sustainability in action. Yet our sailing journey also made us realize that the most important ingredient for a sustainable future is sustainability from within. By that we mean adopting a different way of perceiving the Earth and our role in it.

What if We Could Put an End to Loss of Precious Lives on the Roads?

Road safety is neither confined to public health nor is it restricted to urban planning. It is a core 2030 Agenda matter. Reaching the objective of preventing at least 50 per cent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030 would be a significant contribution to every SDG and SDG transition.

Documents and publications

Yearbook of the United Nations
Basic Facts About the United Nations
Journal of the United Nations
Meetings Coverage and Press Releases
United Nations Official Document System (ODS)
Africa Renewal

Libraries and Archives

Dag Hammarskjöld Library
UN Audiovisual Library
UN Archives and Records Management
Audiovisual Library of International Law
UN iLibrary

News and media

UN News Centre
UN Chronicle on Twitter
UN Chronicle on Facebook

The UN at Work

17 Goals to Transform Our World
Official observances
United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI)
Protecting Human Rights
Maintaining International Peace and Security
The Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
United Nations Careers

Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education Essay

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Gender issues have been discussed during many international meetings and forums. The role of both sexes in society has raised many questions while most analysts and researchers have found out that education plays a great role in determining the role of a gender personality. Teachers instructing children should be familiar with methods of effective analysis of gender roles with students since it is a serious problem affecting contemporary society. Stereotypes produce a negative effect on human beings leading to failure in understanding the needs and motivations of another sex. In this essay, the relationship between stereotypes and genuine gender roles is discussed broadly about activities and the effectiveness of performance of individuals.

The academic performance of male and female students differs due to stereotypes producing effects on their self-identification and individual progress. According to researches conducted in most schools worldwide, girls perform better in languages than boys (Pajares and Valiante, 2002) whereas male students are better in exact sciences that require a logical approach and numeric data analysis. Females are found to be better at defining and describing their thoughts because their skills and logic enable them to do it better than, for instance, calculating and solving mathematical problems. Masculine motivation is oriented toward performing challenging and resource-consuming assignments that deal with calculations and scientific innovations. Teachers play an important role in modeling the self-identification of students at school since they spend most of the time with them.

Educators should be trained on methods of explaining gender roles effectively about possible differences and shifts that occur due to technological progress and changes in society. It is necessary to encourage both genders to play active roles in society regardless of their sex though taking into account their skills and competencies (Connolly, 2008). The best way the teachers can do this is by encouraging the students to use their inborn skills.

Recent findings show that stereotyping is harmful to society because it reduces the chances of people searching for information effectively. As information is an integral part of our lives and most work is related to it, individuals should resist the effects of stereotyping. In the USA, the racial stereotyping of youth has led to the increase of antisocial activities such as robbery and murder in the streets (Welch, 2007). Stereotypes are based on a generalization of certain characteristics that are said to be typical for some groups of people leading to the labeling of all people of this group as those possessing such a characteristic.

To sum up, the topic of gender should be introduced in educational institutions to enable the students to learn the differences and peculiar features of gender roles in the community. Though findings show that female and male students do have some differences in academic performance that occur due to their sex, students should be encouraged to shift roles and use their skills regardless of the effects of stereotyping. Teachers should be trained to give clear and useful instruction to students on the issue of gender roles in modern society. Stereotypes help people to manipulate others’ viewpoints by omitting the details and escaping a multifaceted approach in dealing with a particular individual. Therefore, students should learn more about gender roles and the negative effects of stereotyping; besides, students need to avoid those effects.

Connolly, P. (2008). A critical review of some recent developments in quantitative research on gender and achievement in the United Kingdom. Routledge and Francis Journal , 29(3), 249-260.
Pajares, F., & Valiante, G. (2002). Gender differences in writing motivation and achievement of middle school students: a function of gender orientation? Apps for Library Journal, 26 (3), 366-381.
Welch, K. (2007). Black criminal stereotypes and racial profiling. Journal of Contemporary criminal Journal , 23 (3), 575-596.
Evolutionary Explanation for Sex and Gender Differences
Sexualities and Cultures Relations Explained
Stereotyping and Prejudice
Self Identification at the Time of Enforcing the Law
How Gender Stereotyping Influences Female Participation in Stem
Sexuality, Gender, or the Natural History of Sex
Women in the Moso Community
Rust’s “Bisexuality: The State of the Union”
Gender Related Questions in the Jewish War Novel by Tova Reich
“Are There Differences Between the Brains of Males and Females?” by Doctor Sabattini
Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, January 14). Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gender-roles-and-stereotyping-in-education/

"Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education." IvyPanda , 14 Jan. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/gender-roles-and-stereotyping-in-education/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education'. 14 January.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education." January 14, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gender-roles-and-stereotyping-in-education/.

1. IvyPanda . "Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education." January 14, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gender-roles-and-stereotyping-in-education/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education." January 14, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gender-roles-and-stereotyping-in-education/.

IIEP Buenos Aires

A global institute
Governing Board
Expert directory
60th anniversary
Monitoring and evaluation

Latest news

Upcoming events
PlanED: The IIEP podcast
Partnering with IIEP
Career opportunities
11th Medium-Term Strategy
Planning and management to improve learning
Inclusion in education
Using digital tools to promote transparency and accountability
Ethics and corruption in education
Digital technology to transform education
Crisis-sensitive educational planning
Rethinking national school calendars for climate-resilient learning
Skills for the future
Interactive map
Foundations of education sector planning programmes
Online specialized courses
Customized, on-demand training
Training in Buenos Aires
Training in Dakar
Preparation of strategic plans
Sector diagnosis
Costs and financing of education
Tools for planning
Crisis-sensitive education planning
Supporting training centres
Support for basic education quality management
Gender at the Centre
Teacher careers
Geospatial data
Cities and Education 2030
Learning assessment data
Governance and quality assurance
School grants
Early childhood education
Flexible learning pathways in higher education
Instructional leaders
Planning for teachers in times of crisis and displacement
Planning to fulfil the right to education
Thematic resource portals
Policy Fora
Network of Education Policy Specialists in Latin America
Strategic Debates
Publications
Briefs, Papers, Tools
Search the collection
Visitors information
Planipolis (Education plans and policies)
IIEP Learning Portal
Ethics and corruption ETICO Platform
PEFOP (Vocational Training in Africa)
SITEAL (Latin America)
Policy toolbox
Education for safety, resilience and social cohesion
Health and Education Resource Centre
Interactive Map
Search deploy
The institute

Gender equality in education: Digging beyond the obvious

Shutterstock_muslims_girls_at_school_in_north_part_of_nigeria_kaduna_on_july_30th_2013_richard_juilliart_shutterstock.com_.jpg.

When we talk about gender inequality in education, we first think about the barriers to schooling for girls and young women. And for good reason: three-quarters of the children who are at risk of never going to school are girls. Yet disparities exist in other dimensions of education, sometimes to the detriment of boys. To reduce them, IIEP-UNESCO favours an intersectional approach, which looks at gender through all other forms of discrimination and social exclusion. Here is how it works.

Globally, progress towards gender parity in schools has been significant over the past 25 years. According to UNESCO data, the number of girls enrolled in primary and secondary school has increased by 180 million over this period, including 69 million in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet girls and young women still face the most severe forms of exclusion, which are the result of several cumulative factors. Among them are socio-economic status, place of residence, ethnicity, religion, and living with a disability.

As a result, nine million girls aged 6 to 11 will never go to school worldwide, compared to about three million boys.

Poverty, rurality and intersecting inequalities

The recent Education Sector Analysis ( ESA ) of Sierra Leone shows that only 5% of poor, rural girls complete secondary school, compared to 68% of urban boys from better-off backgrounds. This high vulnerability of rural girls has also been observed in Nigeria. These two recent gender-sensitive ESAs are part of the Priority to Equality Initiative, the technical component of which is led by the IIEP-UNESCO Africa Office .

Beyond the issue of schooling, gender inequalities are manifested in other components of education, such as learning or school guidance. Two types of obstacles are generally distinguished. On the one hand, are those related to the educational offer, which are directly related to education systems, policies, or schools. On the other hand, are those related to the demand for education, i.e. the obstacles inherent in families, children, and society at large. Ultimately, all these factors are linked and impact each other.

What about boys?

Contrary to popular belief, gender disparities in education also weigh on boys. The social expectation for young men to earn an income can lead them to drop out of school before the end of lower secondary school. They may even never attend school to help their families.

In Sierra Leone, 67% of boys who drop out of school do so for economic reasons, compared to 53% of girls, according to the ESA. In Nigeria, food shortages during the rainy season and armed conflict in some areas are seen as additional barriers to boys' retention and completion.

Addressing the weight of social gender norms

Around the world, IIEP observes the growing political and legal commitment of countries to gender equality in education. While early pregnancy and early marriage are among the leading factors in girls' dropout from secondary school in sub-Saharan Africa, many states have recently lifted bans that previously prevented pregnant girls from attending classes. Sierra Leone and Mozambique, for example, did so in 2020. This is an example of a significant step towards more inclusive education. "However, the presence of entrenched gender norms at the local level, combined with weak institutional capacity, can hamper the implementation of gender policies and strategies in education," explains Fabricia Devignes, Head of the Gender at the Centre Initiative at IIEP-UNESCO Africa Office.

Social gender norms are the set of implicit ideas, stereotypes, and rules that consciously or unconsciously dictate how a person should supposedly be and act, depending on whether they are a woman, man, girl, or boy.

These norms manifest themselves, for example, through an unspoken rule that men should be strong and financially support their families. Or through the conditioning of boys' educational orientation towards technological and scientific paths, and less towards 'care' professions, for example (personal services, health and social work), associated with lower salaries. In Niger, only 6% of science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates are women.

Schools can play a key role in challenging these gender norms, the impact of which can have serious consequences for children's education and women's economic empowerment. But it can also reinforce and reproduce them, if education policies and systems are not based on the principles of gender equality.

"In education, we see significant differences in the treatment of girls and boys, linked to socio-economic realities, ethnicity, vulnerability to conflict, or gender norms. Taking these specificities into account is a way to produce more comprehensive and effective education sector analyses and plans. Fabricia Devignes, Head of the Gender at the Centre Initiative at IIEP-UNESCO Africa Office

Gender-responsive education planning: What conditions, what solutions?

Gender-sensitive educational planning is not limited to the formulation of strategies to combat gender inequalities. It must take into account the weight of gender norms and social roles in both process and content.

In addition to IIEP's support for the whole process of gender-sensitive planning, strengthening the gender sensitivity of budgets is one of the technical levers promoted by the Institute to the member countries of the Gender at the Centre Initiative. This approach ensures that investments in the education sector advance gender equality.

IIEP also works with countries on gender mainstreaming within education administrations. The aim is to strengthen their capacity to introduce gender into their operations in a systematic and considered way. This includes building the capacity of all staff in ministries of education on gender issues at all levels. It may also involve increasing the representation of women in senior positions in ministries of education.

New website coming 29 August 2024
Q&A: Educational planning brings people together 27 August 2024
Gender at the Centre Initiative for education: A journey in graphics 01 August 2024
‘Gender at the Centre Initiative’: putting gender equality at the core of education

Privacy Notice

Gender Inequality in Education

This essay will discuss gender inequality in education, examining how disparities in access, treatment, and expectations affect educational outcomes for different genders. It will explore the causes and effects of these inequalities and highlight initiatives and policies aimed at creating more equitable educational environments. At PapersOwl, you’ll also come across free essay samples that pertain to Gender.

How it works

Culturally, there is a belief that every individual has the same chance to succeed in society. Even in our constitution, it states that all men are created equal. What is underlying in this belief is that a failure to succeed is the fault of the gender or race of the individual. Inequalities in educational institutions affect students in various ways; providing greater impact on children from lower socio-economic backgrounds and maintaining advantages of those with money, which are then passed on to their children (Bradbury et al.

2015). Education is a right of all humans, allowing individuals to lead healthier, fuller and more satisfying lives. For economies and societies as a whole, teaching and learning is an investment, improving prospects for advancement. When students are given the opportunity to learn, they will excel.

Inequality, as defined by Merriam-Webster, refers to the quality of being uneven or unequal, social disparity and a discrepancy in opportunity (Merriam-Webster, 2011). This can clearly be seen in establishments around the country. Students who are plagued by economic stress are generally described as lonely, isolated and neglected, their disadvantage bolstered by the schools, while their neighborhoods eventually become indifferent (Gerson, 2015).

Children of more affluent families are supported by a network of resources including; counselors, parents, coaches, and tutors, with the ability to reduce the consequences and direct students from future complications (Gerson, 2015). Those with access to financial assets can benefit extensively by utilizing the private sector and implementing more support for the school. Cultural capital is where teachers are able to gather more information about higher education and better prepare their students to succeed and get in, at the same time, those with social capital use it with regard to gaining access to the best schools (Wong, 2004).

Poverty remains as the most pervasive and significant factor for inequality in education. Based on data from demographic and health surveys in low-income countries, 34 percent of girls in the poorest households completed elementary school; in comparison, with 72 percent of girls in the richest households. This difference was due solely to income poverty (World Bank, 2010). The unequal administration of scholastic resources, including; qualified teachers, funding, books, and technology tend to leave these communities disadvantaged. Data from the 1992 Trial State Assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that socially advantaged students had more access to scholastic resources than socially disadvantaged students. Access also depended on student race; however, the extent of ethnic and social disparity varied unquestionably across states (Bradbury et al. 2015).

A thorough report providing information on how ethnicity and race affect the way students learn is available in The U.S Department of Education’s 2014 Civil Rights Data Collection. The report ascertained that black students were expelled at three times the rate of white students; that black girls were suspended at higher rates than most boys and all other girls, and that Black, Native American and Latinos have a greater chance of attending schools with a larger number of first-year educators than white students (Educational Equity Report, 2014). This report is indicative of the marginalization of students based on race. While gender inequalities may have reduced, those of social class remain and are now reinforced by racial inequalities.

One pattern that is evident in the data is that higher family income is associated with a greater probability that a child will enter and graduate from college. A study by Northwestern University found that the physiological response to race-based stressors, whether it be perceived racial prejudice, or the drive to outperform negative stereotypes, leads to the body releasing more stress hormones in adolescents from traditionally marginalized groups (Levy et al. 2016).

Unfortunately, schools and teachers are contributing to the process of educational inequalities. While school competition and the social blend is important, research shows that some schools are more capable of evening up than others. The elements dominating the subtraction in the difference between lower, middle, upper-class students are more regularly seen in schools where the greater number of the student body is of middle or upper-class. This indicates that those of lower-class backgrounds attending school can progress through organizational change. Substantial improvement will only come from making changes in the ethnic and social configuration of places of education (Van Zanten, 2005).

An interesting interview outlining ‘a day in the life’ of two high school students attending different schools highlights the inequalities of education in a very clear way. Jackson is a white student at Mclean High School, Virginia and Cedric is a black student at Heritage High School in Maryland. Jackson takes a lot of AP classes while participating in a men’s course, a leadership program and technical theater. He drives to school and comments how “a majority of the students attending this school are motivated to learn and succeed, both athletically and academically”. His school has a new studio in it (it is one of three high schools in the county that have studios) which is run solely by students, who also partake in performances and production. Jackson says “if every school was like McLean, it would increase the standard of living and make things better”. Cedric sees things differently from Jackson. He does not take any AP classes. He takes the subway and a bus to school and because there are many students who do the same, he believes it should be free.

Cedric says that a lot of students have lost the will to learn, and continues, “they don’t find school interesting because they don’t have the power to do anything. They say so in the classroom”. Cedric’s school has metal detectors and the graffiti on the walls is frequently painted over. He goes on to describe how the teachers buy their own school supplies which he thinks is unfair as the school system should have the money to supply these things. Cedric says “it is not fair, we are all trying to learn. Why shouldn’t we receive the same advantages they (McLean HS) have. I don’t understand that. We all want to be something” (Youtube, 2009).

Educational inequality is one of the most immediate societal and economic issues in this country and our education system should be compensating for these inequalities by providing opportunities and assisting students to progress above their socio-economic circumstances. The close association between economic and education inequalities cast suspicion on the contention that the United States imparts ‘opportunities of equality’ which encourages social mobility (Mishel, 2015).

The idea of ‘no child left behind’ is a result of the societal failure represented by the relationship between economic and education inequalities (Garcia and Weiss, 2017). Achievement gaps are indicative of the untapped talents and unmet needs of lower socioeconomic students. Strong cognitive and noncognitive skills are crucial for success within school and for the future. A lack of social mobility is perpetuated across generations when low educational performance leads to lowered employment prospects later in life. Comprehensive academic and emotional support throughout scholastic years can serve to alleviate the impact of economic inequality on the student’s educational performance and better their prospective life and employment (Garcia and Weiss. 2017).

Not only are educational inequalities present in the student body, but also in the teaching body. This is evident in tertiary education where a deficit of females in roles of academic leadership can be seen when observing the abundance of men in such roles. The Arizona Board of Regents, Arizona’s public universities governing body, currently has twelve members, of which two are female. In addition, at Arizona State University, there are eight women out of a total of 38 positions, including University provosts, vice presidents and deans (Sutherland, 2017). These statistics are just one example of how gender roles contribute to the consistency of such inequality. Inadequate representation in educational systems indicates an acceptance that these gender roles are the norm. These inequalities should not be perpetuated, they should be challenged by institutions, leaning toward leadership positions promoting gender equality (Sutherland, 2017).

Administrations and education analysts have been aware of issues related to equality by concentrating on gender, socio-economic status, race, and ethnicity. Policymakers and researchers have accepted the importance of segregation, poverty, and race when it comes to the attainment of education, as seen in the publication of the Coleman Report (Coleman et al.1966). These educational inequalities continue to be a sizable issue today. Research makes evident that unevenness in opportunity and favorable circumstances within race and social class are established early and usually remain through the course of the student’s elementary and secondary school life, if not beyond these years (Bradbury et al. 2015).

Eradicating educational inequalities will result in the amplification of the affirmative effects of schooling on the success of other development outcomes, as a more equal administering of average education has a supplementary impact on economic growth. An education that is delivered equally is necessary for an inclusive system. (UNESCO, 2014). Inequality fails to provide the foundation necessary for the general public to be knowledgeable in our democratic system. Without comprehension of the system and the part that the individual is expected to perform in modifying the organization, it cannot operate as intended (Bradbury et al. 2015). Perhaps the answer is spreading the wealth of the nation in a more equitable manner so that the long-term benefits of education eliminate the thought of reducing education budgets. There is nothing more paramount to the sustained success of the individual or community than education. Participation in the development of knowledge instruction must be made more interesting and equal for all concerned. Learning should be more personalized, encouraging all students to engage, ultimately providing more innovative, educated workers to continue economic growth (UNESCO, 2014).

The promotion of educational equality fosters identity, social inclusion, balanced opportunities, social cohesion, economic growth and employment (Garcia and Weiss. 2017). There are varying factors which illuminate the issue surrounding inequality in education including gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, opportunity, and social exclusion, all of which mirror widespread social and economic inequalities. The prominence of inequality in education is a social problem that needs to be challenged and further explored in an effort to address concerns and provide better opportunities to all.

Cite this page

Gender Inequality in Education. (2021, Aug 04). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-inequality-in-education/

"Gender Inequality in Education." PapersOwl.com , 4 Aug 2021, https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-inequality-in-education/

PapersOwl.com. (2021). Gender Inequality in Education . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-inequality-in-education/ [Accessed: 5 Sep. 2024]

"Gender Inequality in Education." PapersOwl.com, Aug 04, 2021. Accessed September 5, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-inequality-in-education/

"Gender Inequality in Education," PapersOwl.com , 04-Aug-2021. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-inequality-in-education/. [Accessed: 5-Sep-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2021). Gender Inequality in Education . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-inequality-in-education/ [Accessed: 5-Sep-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

What does gender equality look like today?

Date: Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Progress towards gender equality is looking bleak. But it doesn’t need to.

A new global analysis of progress on gender equality and women’s rights shows women and girls remain disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling with disproportionately high job and livelihood losses, education disruptions and increased burdens of unpaid care work. Women’s health services, poorly funded even before the pandemic, faced major disruptions, undermining women’s sexual and reproductive health. And despite women’s central role in responding to COVID-19, including as front-line health workers, they are still largely bypassed for leadership positions they deserve.

UN Women’s latest report, together with UN DESA, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2021 presents the latest data on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights the progress made since 2015 but also the continued alarm over the COVID-19 pandemic, its immediate effect on women’s well-being and the threat it poses to future generations.

We’re breaking down some of the findings from the report, and calling for the action needed to accelerate progress.

The pandemic is making matters worse

One and a half years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the toll on the poorest and most vulnerable people remains devastating and disproportionate. The combined impact of conflict, extreme weather events and COVID-19 has deprived women and girls of even basic needs such as food security. Without urgent action to stem rising poverty, hunger and inequality, especially in countries affected by conflict and other acute forms of crisis, millions will continue to suffer.

A global goal by global goal reality check:

Goal 1. Poverty

Globally, 1 in 5 girls under 15 are growing up in extreme poverty.

In 2021, extreme poverty is on the rise and progress towards its elimination has reversed. An estimated 435 million women and girls globally are living in extreme poverty.

And yet we can change this .

Over 150 million women and girls could emerge from poverty by 2030 if governments implement a comprehensive strategy to improve access to education and family planning, achieve equal wages and extend social transfers.

Goal 2. Zero hunger

Small-scale farmer households headed by women earn on average 30% less than those headed by men.

The global gender gap in food security has risen dramatically during the pandemic, with more women and girls going hungry. Women’s food insecurity levels were 10 per cent higher than men’s in 2020, compared with 6 per cent higher in 2019.

This trend can be reversed , including by supporting women small-scale producers, who typically earn far less than men, through increased funding, training and land rights reforms.

Goal 3. Good health and well-being

In the first year of the pandemic, there were an estimated additional 1.4 million additional unintended pregnancies in lower- and middle-income countries.

Disruptions in essential health services due to COVID-19 are taking a tragic toll on women and girls. In the first year of the pandemic, there were an estimated 1.4 million additional unintended pregnancies in lower and middle-income countries.

We need to do better .

Response to the pandemic must include prioritizing sexual and reproductive health services, ensuring they continue to operate safely now and after the pandemic is long over. In addition, more support is needed to ensure life-saving personal protection equipment, tests, oxygen and especially vaccines are available in rich and poor countries alike as well as to vulnerable population within countries.

Goal 4. Quality education

Half of all refugee girls enrolled in secondary school before the pandemic will not return to school.

A year and a half into the pandemic, schools remain partially or fully closed in 42 per cent of the world’s countries and territories. School closures spell lost opportunities for girls and an increased risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage .

Governments can do more to protect girls education .

Measures focused specifically on supporting girls returning to school are urgently needed, including measures focused on girls from marginalized communities who are most at risk.

Goal 5. Gender equality

Women are restricted from working in certain jobs or industries in almost 50% of countries.

The pandemic has tested and even reversed progress in expanding women’s rights and opportunities. Reports of violence against women and girls, a “shadow” pandemic to COVID-19, are increasing in many parts of the world. COVID-19 is also intensifying women’s workload at home, forcing many to leave the labour force altogether.

Building forward differently and better will hinge on placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

Goal 6. Clean water and sanitation

Only 26% of countries are actively working on gender mainstreaming in water management.

In 2018, nearly 2.3 billion people lived in water-stressed countries. Without safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities, women and girls find it harder to lead safe, productive and healthy lives.

Change is possible .

Involve those most impacted in water management processes, including women. Women’s voices are often missing in water management processes.

Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy

Only about 1 in 10 senior managers in the rapidly growing renewable energy industry is a woman.

Increased demand for clean energy and low-carbon solutions is driving an unprecedented transformation of the energy sector. But women are being left out. Women hold only 32 per cent of renewable energy jobs.

We can do better .

Expose girls early on to STEM education, provide training and support to women entering the energy field, close the pay gap and increase women’s leadership in the energy sector.

Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth

In 2020 employed women fell by 54 million. Women out of the labour force rose by 45 million.

The number of employed women declined by 54 million in 2020 and 45 million women left the labour market altogether. Women have suffered steeper job losses than men, along with increased unpaid care burdens at home.

We must do more to support women in the workforce .

Guarantee decent work for all, introduce labour laws/reforms, removing legal barriers for married women entering the workforce, support access to affordable/quality childcare.

Goal 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Just 4% of clinical studies on COVID-19 treatments considered sex and/or gender in their research

The COVID-19 crisis has spurred striking achievements in medical research and innovation. Women’s contribution has been profound. But still only a little over a third of graduates in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field are female.

We can take action today.

Quotas mandating that a proportion of research grants are awarded to women-led teams or teams that include women is one concrete way to support women researchers.

Goal 10. Reduced inequalities

While in transit to their new destination, 53% of migrant women report experiencing or witnessing violence, compared to 19% of men.

Limited progress for women is being eroded by the pandemic. Women facing multiple forms of discrimination, including women and girls with disabilities, migrant women, women discriminated against because of their race/ethnicity are especially affected.

Commit to end racism and discrimination in all its forms, invest in inclusive, universal, gender responsive social protection systems that support all women.

Goal 11. Sustainable cities and communities

Slum residents are at an elevated risk of COVID-19 infection and fatality rates. In many countries, women are overrepresented in urban slums.

Globally, more than 1 billion people live in informal settlements and slums. Women and girls, often overrepresented in these densely populated areas, suffer from lack of access to basic water and sanitation, health care and transportation.

The needs of urban poor women must be prioritized .

Increase the provision of durable and adequate housing and equitable access to land; included women in urban planning and development processes.

Goal 12. Sustainable consumption and production; Goal 13. Climate action; Goal 14. Life below water; and Goal 15. Life on land

Women are finding solutions for our ailing planet, but are not given the platforms they deserve. Only 29% of featured speakers at international ocean science conferences are women.

Women activists, scientists and researchers are working hard to solve the climate crisis but often without the same platforms as men to share their knowledge and skills. Only 29 per cent of featured speakers at international ocean science conferences are women.

And yet we can change this .

Ensure women activists, scientists and researchers have equal voice, representation and access to forums where these issues are being discussed and debated.

Goal 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

Women's unequal decision-making power undermines development at every level. Women only chair 18% of government committees on foreign affairs, defence and human rights.

The lack of women in decision-making limits the reach and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergency recovery efforts. In conflict-affected countries, 18.9 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women, much lower than the global average of 25.6 per cent.

This is unacceptable .

It's time for women to have an equal share of power and decision-making at all levels.

Goal 17. Global partnerships for the goals

Women are not being sufficiently prioritized in country commitments to achieving the SDGs, including on Climate Action. Only 64 out of 190 of nationally determined contributions to climate goals referred to women.

There are just 9 years left to achieve the Global Goals by 2030, and gender equality cuts across all 17 of them. With COVID-19 slowing progress on women's rights, the time to act is now.

Looking ahead

As it stands today, only one indicator under the global goal for gender equality (SDG5) is ‘close to target’: proportion of seats held by women in local government. In other areas critical to women’s empowerment, equality in time spent on unpaid care and domestic work and decision making regarding sexual and reproductive health the world is far from target. Without a bold commitment to accelerate progress, the global community will fail to achieve gender equality. Building forward differently and better will require placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

‘One Woman’ – The UN Women song
UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous
Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results
Guiding documents
Report wrongdoing
Programme implementation
Career opportunities
Application and recruitment process
Meet our people
Internship programme
Procurement principles
Gender-responsive procurement
Doing business with UN Women
How to become a UN Women vendor
Contract templates and general conditions of contract
Vendor protest procedure
Facts and Figures
Global norms and standards
Women’s movements
Parliaments and local governance
Constitutions and legal reform
Preguntas frecuentes
Global Norms and Standards
Macroeconomic policies and social protection
Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Rural women
Employment and migration
Facts and figures
Creating safe public spaces
Spotlight Initiative
Essential services
Focusing on prevention
Research and data
Other areas of work
UNiTE campaign
Conflict prevention and resolution
Building and sustaining peace
Young women in peace and security
Rule of law: Justice and security
Women, peace, and security in the work of the UN Security Council
Preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism
Planning and monitoring
Humanitarian coordination
Crisis response and recovery
Disaster risk reduction
Inclusive National Planning
Public Sector Reform
Tracking Investments
Strengthening young women's leadership
Economic empowerment and skills development for young women
Action on ending violence against young women and girls
Engaging boys and young men in gender equality
Leadership and Participation
National Planning
Violence against Women
Access to Justice
Regional and country offices
Regional and Country Offices
Liaison offices
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change
Commission on the Status of Women
Economic and Social Council
General Assembly
Security Council
High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
Human Rights Council
Climate change and the environment
Other Intergovernmental Processes
World Conferences on Women
Global Coordination
Regional and country coordination
Promoting UN accountability
Gender Mainstreaming
Coordination resources
UN Coordination Library
System-wide strategy
Focal Point for Women and Gender Focal Points
Entity-specific implementation plans on gender parity
Laws and policies
Strategies and tools
Reports and monitoring
Training Centre services
Publications
Government partners
National mechanisms
Civil Society Advisory Groups
Benefits of partnering with UN Women
Business and philanthropic partners
Goodwill Ambassadors
National Committees
UN Women Media Compact
UN Women Alumni Association
Editorial series
Media contacts
Annual report
Progress of the world’s women
SDG monitoring report
World survey on the role of women in development
Reprint permissions
Secretariat
2023 sessions and other meetings
2022 sessions and other meetings
2021 sessions and other meetings
2020 sessions and other meetings
2019 sessions and other meetings
2018 sessions and other meetings
2017 sessions and other meetings
2016 sessions and other meetings
2015 sessions and other meetings
Compendiums of decisions
Reports of sessions
Key Documents
Brief history
CSW snapshot
Preparations
Official Documents
Official Meetings
Side Events
Session Outcomes
CSW65 (2021)
CSW64 / Beijing+25 (2020)
CSW63 (2019)
CSW62 (2018)
CSW61 (2017)
Member States
Eligibility
Registration
Opportunities for NGOs to address the Commission
Communications procedure
Grant making
Accompaniment and growth
Results and impact
Knowledge and learning
Social innovation
UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women
About Generation Equality
Generation Equality Forum
Action packs

IMAGES

Essay Sample
The Global Problem of Gender Equality Free Essay Example
(PDF) Gender Inequality in Education
Essay on Gender Equality
Gender Equality and Diversity in Education Free Essay Example
(PDF) Gender Equality in Education

VIDEO

Essay on Gender Discrimination in english// Few Sentences about Gender Discrimination
Evaluated essay on Gender inequality
Gender equality OPSC/UPSC -Essay quotation
gender issues in education b.ed 2nd year previous paper#shortsvideo #bed #paper
Women Empowerment Essay Writing in English
Single-Gender Schools: Benefits and Drawbacks

COMMENTS

Gender Issues in Education
Education in our societies is adversely affected by many issues such as gender, technology, family background, culture, language, social institutions. All these issues are in many settings different hence reflecting diversified influence on education. In this societal setup education institutions represented various relations such as between ...
How our education system undermines gender equity
Subsequent matching and instrumental variables analyses suggested that teachers' underrating of girls from kindergarten through third grade accounts for about half of the gender achievement gap ...
Full article: Gender and Intersecting Inequalities in Education
Introduction. Girls' education and gender inequalities associated with education were areas of major policy attention before the COVID-19 pandemic, and remain central to the agendas of governments, multilateral organisations and international NGOs in thinking about agendas to build back better, more equal or to build forward (Save the Children Citation 2020; UN Women Citation 2021; UNESCO ...
Harvard's education podcast: Jennie Weiner on gender bias in education
The pandemic has exposed many of the challenges facing women working in education. Yet, Jennie Weiner, Ed.M.'03, Ed.D.'12, an expert who studies how to create a more inclusive and equitable education field, acknowledges that many of the gender disparities in the education profession have long existed.Across the sector, women make up a majority of the education workforce but occupy barely a ...
Gender equality through school: providing a safe and inclusive ...
Boys and girls must feel welcome in a safe and secure learning environment. Governments, schools, teachers and students all have a part to play in ensuring that schools are free of violence and discrimination and provide a gender-sensitive, good-quality education (Figure 16). To achieve this, governments can develop nondiscriminatory curricula ...
Gender Issues in Education
Teachers and the education system are part of the (re)production of societal attitudes and can be influential in reinforcing or challenging gender discrimination. Awareness of gender issues is the first step in overcoming gender discrimination; action is the next. This entry overviews gender issues in education, as a starting point for raising ...
Challenges of education for gender equality in the 21st century
Ms Saniye Gülser Corat, UNESCO's Director for Gender Equality, gave a keynote speech on the second day of the Summit on the importance of education and digital skills for women's empowerment. More than 750 million adults, two-thirds of whom are women, are marginalized by illiteracy. "Behind each one of them there is a face, a story, a life.
Gender equality and education
Gender equality is a global priority at UNESCO. Globally, 122 million girls and 128 million boys are out of school. Women still account for almost two-thirds of all adults unable to read. UNESCO calls for attention to gender equality throughout the education system in relation to access, content, teaching and learning context and practices ...
What do we mean by gender equality in education, and how can we measure
By Helen Longlands Gender equality in education is a matter of social justice, concerned with rights, opportunities and freedoms. Gender equality in education is crucial for sustainable development, for peaceful societies and for individual wellbeing. At local, national and global levels, gender equality in education remains a priority area for governments, civil society and multilateral ...
Smashing gender stereotypes and bias in and through education
Smashing gender stereotypes and bias in and through education. 18 March 2022. Last update:20 April 2023. "On this International Women's Day and every day, UNESCO is committed to ensure all persons' right to education free from bias and stereotypes", said Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO.
Editorial: Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Education
From this perspective, the work " REFLECT—A Teacher Training Program to Promote Gender Equality in Schools " emphasizes the hegemonic role of socializing agents in maintaining the status quo of gender stereotypes in education and in the future professional development of men and women. As a response to the permanence of the sex-gender ...
Promoting Gender Equity in and through Education
The booklet explores how teachers can combat gender bias in the classroom, summarizes evidence on gender gaps in educational achievement, and identifies practices to reduce these gaps. It also examines gender segregation and social mechanisms, emphasizing educators' role in addressing stereotypes and promoting inclusion across all fields of study.
Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality
Gender-based discrimination in education is, in effect, both a cause and a consequence of deep-rooted differences in society. Disparities, whether in terms of poverty, ethnic background ...
PDF Achieving Gender Equality in And Through Education
Global public goods for gender and girls education: frameworks, research, data, tools, capacity and ... papers, drafted to support the engagement and consultation of developing country partners and technical ... social norms, relationship dynamics and political economy issues that shape education, and addressing gender-related disadvantages ...
Gender, Race and Class Issues in Education Essay
Among the noted disparities include insufficient support and structure for integration, biased selection process, and little psychological support. This reflective treatise attempts to explicitly relate gender, race and class issues to education performance and prejudice. Get a custom essay on Gender, Race and Class Issues in Education.
(PDF) Gender and Education
In looking at gender differences in educational outcomes, it is important to distinguish. between three sets of outcomes: (i) educational participation and attainment, that is, how far young women ...
Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education Essay
Stereotypes produce a negative effect on human beings leading to failure in understanding the needs and motivations of another sex. In this essay, the relationship between stereotypes and genuine gender roles is discussed broadly about activities and the effectiveness of performance of individuals. Get a custom essay on Gender Roles and ...
PDF Gender Discrimination in Education: The violation of rights of women
rights-based understanding of education is crucial to overcoming gender discrimination and to re-orienting education towards the promotion of greater gender equality in society as a whole. 4. There has been undeniable progress made in improving gender parity in education in the three decades since the entry into force of CEDAW. Parity in
Gender equality in education: Digging beyond the obvious
The recent Education Sector Analysis (ESA) of Sierra Leone shows that only 5% of poor, rural girls complete secondary school, compared to 68% of urban boys from better-off backgrounds. This high vulnerability of rural girls has also been observed in Nigeria. These two recent gender-sensitive ESAs are part of the Priority to Equality Initiative ...
Gender Inequality in Education
Administrations and education analysts have been aware of issues related to equality by concentrating on gender, socio-economic status, race, and ethnicity. Policymakers and researchers have accepted the importance of segregation, poverty, and race when it comes to the attainment of education, as seen in the publication of the Coleman Report ...
Gender and Development: The Challenge of Mainstream
In this essay, I briefly discuss three specific challenges facing gender advocates. First, I discuss the risks gender advocates take and the opportunities they miss when treating women as a homogenous group. Second, I evaluate the difficulty of balancing transformative policy and integrationist policy.
Global Issues: Gender Equity and Women's Empowerment
Yet gender issues are not focused on women alone, but on the relationship between men and women in society. The actions and attitudes of men and boys play an essential role in achieving gender equity. Education is a key area of focus. Although there is global progress in achieving gender parity in education, girls still make up a higher ...
What does gender equality look like today?
A new global analysis of progress on gender equality and women's rights shows women and girls remain disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling with disproportionately high job and livelihood losses, education disruptions and increased burdens of unpaid care work. Women's health services, poorly funded even before the pandemic, faced ...

How our education system undermines gender equity

As soon as girls enter school, they are underestimated

More obstacles await women in higher education and beyond

Societal changes are necessary

Gender equality through school: providing a safe and inclusive learning environment

FIGURE 16: Who is responsible for what in ensuring gender equality through school

NATIONAL AND SCHOOL POLICIES SHOULD TARGET SCHOOL-RELATED VIOLENCE

GENDER-SENSITIVE FACILITIES CAN INCREASE THE TIME GIRLS SPEND IN SCHOOL

GENDER EQUALITY IN EDUCATION REQUIRES UNBIASED CURRICULA AND TEXTBOOKS

Comprehensive sexuality education

FIGURE 17: In Kenya, only one in five students reported learning about contraceptive methods

Textbooks increasingly cover gender issues but progress is insufficient

TEACHER EDUCATION CAN HELP ADDRESS UNDERLYING GENDER BIASES

Gender Issues in Education

Introduction

Access this chapter

Author information

Corresponding author

Editor information

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Copyright information

About this entry

Download citation

What do we mean by gender equality in education, and how can we measure it?

One Response to “What do we mean by gender equality in education, and how can we measure it?”

Leave a Reply

Recent Posts

Subscribe by Email

Smashing gender stereotypes and bias in and through education

Related items

More on this subject

Other recent articles

EDITORIAL article

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

Publisher’s Note

Promoting Gender Equity in and through Education

Related items

More on this subject

Other recent articles

Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality

Voices for Peace: The Crucial Role of Victims of Terrorism as Peace Advocates and Educators

Sailors for Sustainability: Sailing the Globe to Document Proven Solutions for Sustainable Living

What if We Could Put an End to Loss of Precious Lives on the Roads?

Documents and publications

Libraries and Archives

News and media

The UN at Work

Gender Roles and Stereotyping in Education Essay

Introduction

Latest news

Gender equality in education: Digging beyond the obvious

Poverty, rurality and intersecting inequalities

What about boys?

Addressing the weight of social gender norms

Gender-responsive education planning: What conditions, what solutions?

Gender Inequality in Education

Cite this page

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

What does gender equality look like today?

The pandemic is making matters worse

A global goal by global goal reality check:

Looking ahead

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS