1. Gender Equality in Education:
the Role of Schools
Jyotsna Jha
Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat, London
Nottingham, 17 October, 2008
2. MDGs and EFA: The Reference Points
• Millennium Development Goals:
MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
• Education for All Goals:
(ii) ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in
difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities,
have access to and complete free and compulsory primary
education of good quality;
(iv) achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by
2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and
continuing education for all adults;
(v) eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education
by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a
focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in
basic education of good quality;
3. Gender Parity Index (f/m) in GER and
NER at Primary Level
GER
1990
GER
2000
NER
1990
NER
2000
World 0.89 0.93 0.88 0.94
Developed / Transition
Countries
0.99 1.00 1.01 1.01
Developing Countries 0.87 0.92 0.86 0.93
Sub Saharan Africa 0.83 0.88 0.86 0.92
Arab States 0.80 0.89 0.82 0.90
East Asia and the Pacific 0.94 0.99 0.96 1.00
South and West Asia 0.76 0.84 0.67 0.85
4. Gender inequality exists even when
there is parity
• Gender parity is a limited concept. It is a numerical
construct. It tells us nothing about equality in terms of the
educational environment, infrastructure, attitudes or
attainment. Nor does it necessarily mean high
enrolment, either for boys or girls. Nevertheless, it is a
step along the long road to gender equality.
• Gender Equality in education refers to equality of (and
ensuring the desired level of) Entitlements,
Opportunities, Experiences and Outcomes in education
for both boys and girls.
• Gender equality in education is also one of the MDG and
EFA commitments; difficult to measure though.
• Gender equality in education critical for elimination of
other forms gender inequalities.
5. Gender equality in education: The role of
educational institutions
• What is the role of educational institutions imparting
education in the process of transformation?
• Are educational processes geared towards change?
• Are educational institutions conscious of the
responsibility and do they have the necessary
wherewithal to make the processes gender responsive
and the learning experiences empowering?
These questions are especially relevant at secondary
stage. Secondary education caters to an age group
which is critical for identity formation and for developing
critical skill of decision making. This is the stage that
provides a link between childhood and adulthood.
6. Gender Analysis of Classroom and
other Processes in Secondary Schools:
Background and Rationale
• Annotated Bibliography of works on gender and
education with special emphasis to Secondary
Education commissioned in five countries
indicated a dearth of studies looking at
classroom and schooling processes
• A study on boys’ underachievement suggested
classroom and schooling processes play an
important role in shaping gender identity and self
image which in turn are important for learning
and achievement
7. Research Objectives
Using in-depth case studies of four to five schools each, the
research provides deeper insights into
• how far schools question or maintain status-quo
regarding existing gender-unequal practices, stereotypes
and expectations
• how gender manifests itself in schools and classrooms in
different contexts, and what are the significant
similarities and differences across different countries,
regions and cultures
• what needs to be done to make schools more gender-
equal institutions that encourage both boys and girls to
realise their full learning potentials and in turn make
societies more equal
8. Countries covered
• India: very high Population, high gender disparity in
favour of boys except in examinations results; high sub-
national differences
• Nigeria: high population, high gender disparity in favour
of boys
• Pakistan: high Population, very high gender disparity in
favour of boys
• Malaysia: middle population, gender disparity in favour
of girls
• Trinidad & Tobago: low population, gender disparity in
favour of girls, especially at secondary level
• Samoa: low population, gender disparity in favour of girls
especially at secondary level
• Seychelles: low population, gender disparity in favour of
girls, especially at secondary level
9. Methodology
• Case Studies (single sex as well as co-ed schools)
• Essentially qualitative in nature
• Tools for the study were developed and finalised in a
participatory manner
• Observation (classrooms, sports, teachers meetings,
etc.)
• Focus group discussion (FGD) (teachers, boys, girls –
separate as well as joint groups)
• In-depth interviews (teachers, principles, boys, girls,
administrators)
• Document Analysis
10. What emerged…in nutshell
Schools in most cases reinforce the existing
gender ideology, stereotypes, norms and
expectations everywhere (these themselves are
similar in certain aspects and different to some
extent in different contexts)
schools have the potential of playing a
transformative role in changing the prevalent
notions and unequal relations, it does not
necessarily happen on its own, and requires
specific and targeted interventions in most
cases.
11. Teachers’ perceptions and
expectations
• Girls considered more responsible and hard-
working, boys considered indifferent and
aggressive; But boys still seen as ‘leaders’ in
most countries and girls though girls taking
leadership roles in T&T and Seychelles
• Teachers expectations in terms of academic
performance higher from girls in Samoa, T&T,
Seychelles and Malaysia; not so clearly
differentiated in the rest
• Girls’ role in contributing to ‘care’ work in school
and home viewed as ‘just’ and ‘unavoidable’
almost everywhere
12. Subject choices and Classroom
Processes (1)
• Gendered Subject choices in most countries
though some changes visible
• Teachers giving greater attention to boys in
terms of providing them more opportunities to
respond and participate in India, Pakistan and
Nigeria; not much difference observed in
remaining countries
• Girls shy and timid in India and Pakistan, no
effort from teachers’ side to change that
• Classrooms passive and teacher controlled in
India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Samoa; teacher
controlled in remaining countries as well but
greater opportunities for students’ participation
13. Subject choices and Classroom
Processes (2)
• Girls and boys sit separately almost everywhere
• Boys and girls rarely interact even in co-ed
schools in Pakistan, level of interaction varies
elsewhere
• Language reinforcing gender stereotypes in
most places; not so in Seychelles
• Choice of sports gendered everywhere; sports
generally seen as a male preserve everywhere
(except Seychelles)
• Boys receive more harsh reprimands for minor
offences everywhere
14. Textbooks
• Visibility of women is very low as compared to men’s
appearance in the textbooks. Women and men are
identified with stereotypical attributes: brave, heroic,
honest, strong are portrayed as male and caring, self
scarifying, love and kindness as female attributes (Pak)
• Members of textbook review and author are almost all
men. In one instance, a team of female authors and
reviewers were able to produce comparatively more
gender inclusive textbook (Pak)
• under representation of women is clearly evident in all
the textbooks across subjects. little effort to depict
women in non-traditional roles and portray them as
capable of making choices (India, Malaysia); Token
‘shifts’ such as a chapter on women’s status added
(India)
• Most of the textbooks in use are recently published
books and gender friendly in Seychelles.
15. Students’ aspirations and
perceptions
• Males believe they will be the main breadwinner
everywhere and see girls as “weaker” and in need of
protection
• Girls less stereotypical in aspirations about career
choices: at times inconsistent with their subject choices
• Even when girls speak of being ‘independent’ they
believe in being protected
• Parents reinforce gender stereotypes; Gendered
difference in parental support
• Boys interested in academics seen as ‘feminine’ by peer:
very strong in T&T, to varying extent everywhere
16. from the Pakistan Report…
We boys are like chlorophyll for the family
[meaning family is dependent on us for
survival just like a plant depends on
chlorophyll] (FDG with MCS boys)
We female are like a white handkerchief;
any small mark of ink on it will be very
visible. (FDG with GGHS BVG girls)
17. Action Gender in School: the
Follow up Project
• Working with small number of schools in
selected countries to change them to become
more gender responsive institutions
• Institutionalising these changes in those schools
• Taking the experience beyond in the form of
Action Guide
• Technical Support in replication of the approach
in the initial set of countries
• Technical Support to new countries to adopt and
implement pilots
18. Action Projects: Approach & Methodology
• Different technical models to provide variety and
range of interventions
• Varying management arrangements providing
different management models
• Continuous monitoring and reflection
• Simultaneous documentation
• One mid-project workshop (Norwich) to allow
exchange of experiences and provide ideas from
‘outside’
• Two trial workshops to share the documentation with
a wider audience to feed-in more views and
experiences (Southern Africa: Mozambique and the
Pacific: PNG or Samoa)
19. Action Project: India
• Rajasthan (one of the lowest female literacy
states in India)
• Led by a research Institution (Institute of
Development Studies); Supported by the state
and central governments
• Broad based advisory group to guide
• A group of selected teachers (both men and
women) and head teachers from the schools
plus researchers to be the main implementers;
• Schools have developed their own action plans
and have started implementing; whole school
approach
20. Action Project: Malaysia
• Mix of rural and urban schools
• Led by a the Educational Planning and
Research Division, Ministry of Education
• Interventions to be jointly decided by
teachers, researchers from the ministry
and outside consultants
• Subject teaching approach
21. Action Project: Seychelles
• One school in Mahe and one in another
island; one additional school attached to
each school for influence
• Led by a the Ministry of Education with
support of external consultant
• Large schools: multi-level gender advisory
group to be developed (school and the
ministry)
• Ministry contributing for renovations /
physical facilities
• Schools implementing their plans
22. Action Project: Trinidad and
Tobago
• Three schools in Trinidad and one in
Tobago
• UWI taking the lead; UWI research
students to play a lead role in
implementation
• Each school to develop separate plan;
one researcher each to be attached to a
separate school
23. Ultimate goal
• Education processes to be transformative
in terms of preparing students to question
existing gender relations and notions of
masculinities and being feminine
• School as space where students have
opportunities for questioning, debating,
seeing new perspectives, forming new
identities and relations without feeling
threatened or weak
