The quality of equity? Reframing gender,development and education in the post-2020 landscape

The year 2015 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, with a goal to contribute to gender equality globally. As scholars continue in their quest to ‘take stock’ of the ways in which gender and education work in tandem to achieve greater gender equality, we observe a revival in interest regarding conversations on gender and education. These conversations cover a gamut of related issues, including teaching and achievement as well as a number of intersecting issues such as gender-based violence. Within the conversation has been a continued focus on the role of equity primarily defined as access and opportunity. This paper explores the context of quality as it relates to equity in education and addresses the problems that are still left on the margins. Our goal is to take stock and assess the strength of evidence and to provide directions for future research.     

Teaching in transition: Examining school-based gender inequities in central/southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

In the last decade, gender equity has become one of the most prominent issues in education reform efforts worldwide. Yet, questions of gender equity have received very little attention in the education reform efforts in the post-socialist countries during the transition period. Focusing on the political, economic, and social changes of the 1990s, this article examines school-based gender equity as it is treated in textbooks, curriculum, teacher attitudes, school environment, leadership and tracking. The article presents gender-sensitive strategies for reform and explores how existing ‘gender-neutral’ education practices detrimentally affect gender equity in schools, providing country-specific examples. The article concludes with recommendations for teaching in transition, given the education sphere's strong potential to redress gender inequities.     

性别公平教育及其相关概念辨析

性别公平教育是指在教育领域中倡导并争取性别公平,这是一项长期而艰巨的任务。本文主要辨析性别公平教育以及与之相关的另外三个主要概念:性别教育、性别公平和性别教育公平,梳理它们之间的关系。     

Gender discourses in an NGO education project: Openings for transformation toward gender equality in Bangladesh

This article seeks to illustrate how various actors participating in a non-governmental organization (NGO) education project in two Bangladeshi communities represent different framings of gender. Teachers, as critical actors in this education project, utilize multiple discourses of gender equality and when viewed in relation to community members’, parents’ and students’ ideas of gender equality, we argue their discursive practices can create spaces for transformation. The use of multiple discourses suggests that specific local adaptations of women in development (WID), gender and development (GAD), post-structural and rights and capabilities approaches may all be useful in the work toward gender justice as these approaches inform the different meanings of gender equality in the communities. We conclude that NGOs play a critical role in making micro-level changes in schools as well as have a broader impact on communities and national agendas by engaging different actors’ uses of gender equality discourses.     

Changing concepts of equity in transforming UK higher education: implications for future pedagogies and practices in global higher education

This paper is about changing concepts of equity in UK higher education. In particular, it charts the moves from concepts about gender equality as about women’s education as a key issue in twentieth century higher education to questions of men’s education in the twenty-first century. These changing concepts of equity are linked to wider social and economic transformations, the expansion of higher education and the growth in the knowledge economy, or what has been called ‘academic capitalism’. Feminist theorists and activists, often called second wave feminists, developed concepts of gender equality in education, including higher education in the twentieth century, and these have been incorporated into higher education and policies with the expansions of higher education, especially around notions of widening participation. Notions of widening participation in policy and practice arenas focus on equity as about social class, socio-economic disadvantage, ethnicity and race, rather than specifically on gender questions. Equity is now twinned with diversity and where gender is now invoked it is largely about young and working class men’s disadvantage in relation to higher education. In this paper, I will also provide research evidence from the UK’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) which has been the UK’s biggest ever initiative in education research about equity and diversity as currently conceived in UK higher education. I will show how gender has been incorporated with diversity questions and has lost its critical and feminist edge. I conclude with addressing questions about the future of higher education policies and practices to address questions of equity and diversity, attempting to counter the systemic inequalities in current forms of UK higher education. There are opportunities for developing new, critical and feminist pedagogies. More inclusive or ‘connectionist’ approaches, rather than ‘teaching to the test’, would engage socially diverse men and women students in a range of higher education subjects and settings.     

Mainstreaming Gender into Schools in the Taiwan Context

Gender mainstreaming and gender equity education are specific practices for creating a gender-equitable society. Gender mainstreaming tools can be used to help educational institutions engage in more thorough consideration when implementing gender equity education. This article addresses gender mainstreaming, gender equity education, and the concept of gender mainstreaming in the education system, followed by a discussion of mainstreaming methods using two actual cases. The author argues that providing professional assistance and setting up a school gender equity education committee are ways to improve the quality of gender mainstreaming in schools. To promote gender mainstreaming in schools, education authorities can begin by proposing small-scale experimental programs and scale them up gradually. This will achieve superior results, and schools can also use the experiences of other schools as reference points.     

Implications of financing higher education for access and equity: The case of Syria

This article examines the implications for access and equity of the Syrian government’s efforts to reform higher education in the country over the past decade. In the context of social and economic reforms that are moving the county from a state-controlled to a social market economy, it focuses on adequacy in financing higher education, as well as efficiency and equity. Significant progress has been made in access to higher education. The government has introduced a rich variety of options for accessing higher education, resulting in a doubling of enrolled students over the past 10 years. In terms of equity, the gender gaps in higher education enrollment and completion have all but disappeared nationally, although regional variations persist. The study raises concerns about the system’s internal and external efficiency: despite some improvements, the quality of the curricula and their relevance for the labour market remain serious issues.     

Gender and the Problem of Diversity: Action Research in Physical Education

This purpose of this paper is to explore the intersecrion of gender, equity and the discourse of diversity. The authors argue that while the goal of diversity in a democratic society is an admirable one, its advocacy could limit any real educational change. To explore the differences between the discourse of diversity and language of equity, they draw upon two action research studies conducted by two elementary school reachers who were not elementary physical education specialists. Through their action research projects, which included direct instruction as a way to confront the gender discrimination that was occurring in the physical education component of their classrooms, these teachers found that they had to abandon the discourse of diversity and embrace the language of equity for meaningful educational change to occur.     

中国基础教育性别公平存在的问题和对策

性别公平是当今国际世界基础教育研究中的一项重要任务，本文首先介绍了20世纪90年代中国基础教育在实现性别公平方面取得的成就，然后指出了中国基础教育中仍然存在性别不公平的一些问题，最后探讨了21世纪前15年中国基础教育全面实现性别公平应该采取的政策措施。     

Equitable science education in urban middle schools: Do reform efforts make a difference?*

A central commitment of current reforms in science education is that all students, regardless of culture, gender, race, and/ or socioeconomic status, are capable of understanding and doing science. The study “Bridging the Gap: Equity in Systemic Reform” assessed equity in systemic reform using a nested research design that drew on both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. As part of the study, case studies were conducted in two urban middle schools in large Ohio cities. The purpose of the case studies was to identify factors affecting equity in urban science education reform. Data were analyzed using Kahle's (1998) equity metric. That model allowed us to assess progress toward equity using a range of research‐based indicators grouped into three categories critical for equitable education: access to, retention in, and achievement in quality science education. In addition, a fourth category was defined for systemic indicators of equity. Analyses indicated that the culture and climate of the case study schools differentially affected their progress toward equitable reform in science education. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 1130–1144, 2001     

教育过程公平的性别维度

教育过程性别公平是指从性别的维度审视教育内部的公平问题,使每一个学生不因具有某一生理性别而使其发展受到影响。教育过程的性别公平不只是关注女生的发展,而是同时关注男生与女生的发展。意志自由与选择自由是教育过程性别公平的首要原则;教育过程性别公平的最终目标是同时致力于女生与男生的最优发展,而不是致力于教育结果的性别均衡;价值多元是实现教育过程性别公平的关键;教育过程性别公平的真正实现必须同时促进四种性别认知的转变。     

Teachers’ union activism for gender equity: Social movements and policy processes

This article documents the contribution of teacher union activists in their campaigns to put gender issues on government policy agendas in the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. The collective accounts document the way the activists forged new relationships and alliances, based on common goals and shared feminist values, and worked strategically with femocrats in state bureaucracies. But the effectiveness of the activists depended also on a particular set of political and cultural factors which were present in Australia at the time. Such contextual factors were also significant in the later marginalisation of gender equity issues in education in the 1990s. At a theoretical level, the study illustrates the ways in which social movements challenge dominant discourses to bring about social change, and in particular how they ‘work’ in relation to policy development. It is argued, drawing on Melucci (1989) and Yeatman (1994), that social movement theory can be useful in explaining the waxing and waning of both gender equity activism and gender equity policy development. Within social movement theory, policies need to be viewed as negotiated settlements which are constantly redefined as contexts change, new forms of domination emerge, and new social networks form and coalesce to become new social movements.     

When numbers count: The erasure of females’ equity status in higher education?

In recent years the pendulum has certainly swung towards women in higher education participation, but variations in the way these statistics have been calculated account for some of this swing. More importantly, women still receive less vocational and economic benefit than males from this increased participation. Despite over twenty years of gender equity policies and strategies in education, women still lag behind men on important indicators. Until women gain a greater share of higher degrees, labour force participation and earnings from income, their levels of participation in higher education should be maintained in order to preserve the gains that women have made and to ensure that they continue to improve their position relative to men. Far from removing women’s equity status, their equity status should be reconfirmed and efforts to break down sex-differentiated participation in education and the work force should be renewed.     

Non‐profit education providers vis‐à‐vis the private sector: comparative analysis of non‐governmental organizations and traditional voluntary organizations in Pakistan

Under the New Policy Agenda, international development institutions have promoted non‐profit organizations (NPOs) in developing countries, on a dual logic: firstly, they deliver social services more efficiently than the state; secondly, they mitigate equity concerns around privatization of basic social services by reaching out to the poor. Based on a survey of twenty prominent non‐profit education providers in Pakistan, this paper illustrates that the NPO sector is not monolithic: non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the education sector under the patronage of international donors follow markedly different models of education provision to those of Traditional Voluntary Organizations (TVOs) reliant on domestic donations. While the social service ethos of the TVOs makes them distinct from the private sector, it is not the case with the NGOs: their model of education provision, rather than meeting the education needs of the poor, ends up cultivating markets for the private sector among poor communities.     

Gender divergence in academics’ representation and research productivity: a Nigerian case study

Gender equity is increasingly seen as an indicator of development and global acceptance in networks of higher education. Despite this, gender divergence in research productivity of academics coupled with under-representation of women in science has been reported to beset female’s scholarly activities. Previous studies provide differing results, hence a need for each academic institution to know its status for the purpose of formulating appropriate policy towards achieving gender equity without trading off productivity. Using a scientometric method, the present study investigates the representation and research productivity of male and female lecturers in the Faculty of Science, University of Ibadan. The study shows that while female lecturers are significantly less represented in the faculty and publish in journals having lower impact factors, their research productivity in terms of number of publications and citation impact are significantly not different from those of their male counterparts.     

Girls' secondary education in Uganda: assessing policy within the women's empowerment framework

This paper makes the case that policies, such as the National Strategy for Girls' Education in Uganda (NSGE), intended to achieve gender equity in education for girls in developing countries, have limited relevance to, and impact on girls' actual educational experiences. Recent considerations of girls' education acknowledge that gender equity within education is more than access to schooling; it entails the cultivation of capabilities necessary for girls to participate fully, actively and equally in all aspects of their societies. Drawing on a longitudinal, ethnographic policy research case study with 15 Ugandan schoolgirls in rural Masaka District, Uganda, from August 2004 to September 2006, I explore the girls' educational experiences in relationship to the NSGE. I employ the Women's Empowerment Framework (WEF) to evaluate the NSGE with respect to the extent to which its interventions are ‘empowering’ for girls.     

“We’re not a bank providing support”: Street-level bureaucrats and Syrian refugee youth navigating tensions in higher education scholarship programs in Lebanon

Scholarships are increasingly used to expand higher education access for refugee youth in exile, but less is known about their equity implications. Drawing from scholarship on street-level bureaucrats and Nancy Fraser’s theory of social justice, I identify street-level bureaucrats’ (SLBs) decision-making within refugee higher education. Drawing on 62 interviews with Syrian youth and organizations in NGOs in Lebanon, and 24 organizational, scholarship-related documents, I elaborate the fundamental (mis)alignments that emerge in scholarship-granting organizations’ goals, and the needs of refugee youth they seek to support. Organizations over-emphasize transitions to university, overlooking the most vulnerable youths’ transitions through university. Though youth link their futures to opportunity and not geography, SLBs seek to fund youth willing to return to Syria and engage in post-conflict reconstruction.     

现代西方女性主义的教育理论与实践

现代西方女性主义运动从十九世纪三十年代开始经历了两次高潮。在二十世纪五十年代以来的第二次高潮中,教育成为女性主义者特别关注的领域。她们认为,传统教育无处不表现出性别化的明显特征,因此,在理论研究上必须突破传统性别角色理论、社会分工理论,以及“以男性为标准”的机会均等理论等分析框架,在实践上提倡建设性别公平化学校,进行社会公平化教育。这是现代社会文化多元的表现,也是社会民主化、现代化的重要标志。