The Emergence of a ‘New Orthodoxy’: public debates on women's capacities and education in Portugal, 1880‐1910

The paper examines the emergence of the new definitions of women's position which constituted a ‘new orthodoxy’ at the turn of the nineteenth century in Portugal. ‘Women's nature’ and the ‘aims of women's education’ were the most debated issues. Different ideological positions were identified. The examination of these debates and of the emerging ‘new orthodoxy’ illustrates women's transition from ‘private’ forms of patriarchy to ‘public’ forms of patriarchy. It also demonstrates that this transition became an arena of contestation and negotiation, in the specific conditions of Portuguese society.     

Education for women: whose values count?

This article looks at how far educational approaches to gender equity can be packaged and exported to developing countries. I analyze current discourses on women's education at international, national and local levels. Drawing on detailed ethnographic data from Nepal, I argue that issues around gender and education need to be addressed as ideological in nature, rather than a technical matter of tackling ‘drop out’ from women's literacy classes or getting more girls into school. From talking about ‘change’, ‘transformation’ and ‘access’, we need to think more about what is being changed to what and whose values underlie specific educational approaches.     

Complexities of Vietnamese femininities: a resource for rethinking women's university leadership practices

This paper develops a dialogical encounter between northern-inspired theorisations of gender and Vietnam's historical and cultural differentiation identified through the presence of matriarchy in ancient societies and its popularity in folklore and contemporary politics. The article draws on interviews with 12 senior women from 8 universities in Northern and Southern Vietnam. Three main themes are explored: (1) the Vietnamese woman as ‘general of the interior’; (2) the ‘woman behind the throne’; and (3) ‘behind a woman is another woman’. These themes illustrate the distinctiveness of a historically produced Vietnamese gender order as reflected in current university women's experience. By providing insights into the complex dynamics of Vietnamese women's ‘informal power’, as evident in both spheres of home and university, the paper presents a discussion of forms of Vietnamese femininity that contributes to re-theorising Connell's concepts of ‘hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity’.     

Two decades of feminist thought - and beyond

This paper reflects on feminist achievements in adult education during the last twenty years. The 1980s was a crucial period, putting gender on the agenda. Research on women and post-school education was initiated, women's studies were established and the prevalence of structural discrimination was recognised. Some comparisons with the development of anti-racist education are made. In the 1990s feminists increasingly recognised women's ‘ways of knowing’ (as process and product) and the curricular implications of this. Again a comparison is made with anti-racist curriculum development. Finally, it is argued that both minority ethnic groups and women have developed ‘cultures of resistance’ which influence their construction of knowledge and seven characteristics associated with such ways of knowing are identified.     

School exclusion and educational inclusion of pregnant young women

This article analyses the school exclusion and subsequent educational inclusion of pregnant young women participating in a course of antenatal and key skills education at an alternative educational setting. It examines the young women's transitions from ‘failure’ in school to ‘success’ in motherhood and re-engagement with education. This article draws on participant observation- and interview-based research carried out with pregnant young women and staff at an alternative educational setting in London in 2007–2008. The young women's participation in the course represented a severing of past negative experiences in mainstream education, allowing a renewed focus on education alongside a positive maternal identity. The setting represented a form of inclusion, and the young women appreciated the focus on their social and emotional well-being, yet the limited academic provision in some cases continued to reinforce an educational exclusion.     

Straight Roads and Winding Tracks: Swedish educational policy from a gender equality perspective

A review of Swedish educational policy and educational research indicates that labour market considerations have had a high visibility. Straight routes through the educational system have been laid out in order to equalise and make the system more efficient. Empirical studies show that women's strategies to combine education, work and family often resulted in ‘winding tracks’ through education. Predominant research models tend to adjust to the ‘straight roads’ of educational policy while women's winding routes have been set aside. The current Swedish goal of equality between men and women gives work and parenthood the same weight for both sexes. This article discusses whether this goal could set a challenging framework for a research agenda where more gender‐sensitive methodologies are developed as well as gender‐sensitive concepts, upgrading women's knowledge, experiences and values.     

From gender-not-an-issue to gender is the issue: the educational and migrational pathways of middle-class women moving from urban Bangladesh to Britain

This paper explores the educational and migrational pathways which a number of middle-class women from Bangladesh took as they grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. It draws on qualitative research, conducted between July and November 2011, with highly educated Bangladeshi women who migrated to Britain in the early 2000s. French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's critique of education, as a means of middle-class social reproduction [Bourdieu, P., and Jean-C. Passeron. ([1977] 1990). Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. 2nd ed. Translated from the French by Richard Nice. London: Sage], and his notion of ‘academic capital’ [Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Translated from the French by Richard Nice. London: Routledge; Bourdieu, P. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research For the Sociology of Education, edited by J. G. Richardson, 241–258. New York: Greenwood] are applied to this empirical data. While the participants’ experiences of early education confirms Bourdieu's arguments, in terms of the centrality of the family's educational and cultural capital in making a qualitative difference to their children's academic achievements, the analysis of the participants’ higher education complicates this picture. Here, the paper calls Bourdieu's umbrella term ‘academic capital’ into question. The author suggests that three categories of academic capital were needed to explain the different and unequal ‘value’ of the participants’ academic qualifications before and after migration. These are – elite, standard and general. Through this exploration of these women's educational and migrational pathways, and the classed and gendered nature which many of them took, this paper seeks to further the feminist project of making Bourdieu's theories ‘useful’ in understanding contemporary issues which affect women's lives (Adkins, L. 2004. “Introduction.” In Feminism After Bourdieu, edited by L. Adkins and B. Skeggs, 110–128. Oxford: Blackwell, 3).     

Hong Kong Higher Education, 1981–2001: public policy and re-emergent social stratification

In this paper I first place the development of Hong Kong's higher education in the larger context of education and governance histories. Next I describe one of the deepest policy quandaries for Hong Kong's government in charting the futures of its higher education system: whether to view the ultimate benefits of higher education for individuals in terms of ‘sponsored’ versus ‘contest’ mobility. I then turn to evidence from HK census data about the changing distribution of opportunity for higher education. I discuss trends in educational stratification since 1981, focusing most attention on changes in the opportunity for post-secondary and, especially, for university education to the Bachelors' degree level. I discuss methods for the use of Hong Kong's 1981, 1991 and 2001 census, and I present bivariate and multivariate analysis of the changing impact of family cultural and material resources on the odds of continuing and attending education at the university level. From 1991 to 2001, census data suggest there was a reversal of a trend towards greater equality of opportunity that was observed between the 1981 and 1991 census. I conclude by relating the findings from these analyses to future higher education planning in Hong Kong.     

‘Science Is Truly a Male World.’ The Interconnectedness of Knowledge,Gender and Power within University Education

In the 1970s the vicissitudes of university education were an important impetus for female students and members of staff to formulate feminist criticism on science subjects. Women's studies came into being, aiming at transforming academic scholarship and women's experience in education. Now that women's studies themselves are becoming institutionalised, new problems have developed and we need to question if science is now less of a male dominated bastion. In this article a case study is presented on the ‘trials’ and ‘tribulations’ of female university students at Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands. A theoretical framework is introduced and an analysis of empirical material offered. It is apparent that female students are rather critical of their studies, although generally they do not leave the university before graduating. The university teacher emerges as a gatekeeper, holding the key of the door to the academic community, and using knowledge as a key resource.     

Working-class girls in a foreign land. Social class and settling into university in a cross-current between two cultures

In Finland, the financial status of a family does not in general place any restrictions on a person's studies. However, in spite of equality of opportunity, class as a cultural and social issue is a significant factor guiding the education of young people. In the article, I analyse women with a working-class background studying at university, starting with experiences of class as it is lived. The data for the study have been generated using the memory work method. The analysis shows how class is manifested in the women's experiences as a sense of themselves as outsiders, being alone or ‘on their own’ and as feelings of inadequacy. The women are forced to find ways of doing things that suit them and to construct a space in which they can feel safe.     

Internationalising practices and representations of the ‘other’ in second-level elite schools in Ireland

While Irish elite schools have adopted some internationalising practices, international students are often erased from their ‘public faces’. Based on interviews and analysis of schools' websites, this paper argues that Brooks and Waters' [2014. “The Hidden Internationalism of Elite English Schools.” Sociology, advance online publication April 2] argument that elite schools hide their internationalism to preserve an explicit national identity for strategic purposes largely applies to the Irish case. In addition, it explores how features characteristic of Irish elite educational settings can help understand ambiguous attitudes to the international ‘other’, who is not only hidden but also at times ‘Irish-ised’ as these schools cultivate cultural identities defined primarily along ethno-national lines.     

Gender,reputation and regret: the ontological politics of Australian drug education

This study explores the role of gender in the constitution youth alcohol and other drug consumption in Australian drug education curriculum. Drawn from an analysis of contemporary classroom drug education documents, it is argued that current drug education reproduces unethical and harmful accounts of femininity and masculinity. These enactments of gender primarily arise in three ways. First, drug education currently positions young women's consumption practices as intrinsically more problematic than those of young men. Second, drug education works to position young women's consumption practices as a problem of spoiled reputation and regret. Third, drug education works to responsibilise young women for potential danger and harm they experience while intoxicated without any consideration of the illegal actions of young men. Working with Annemarie Mol's notion of ontological politics, this article argues that Australian drug education enacts gendered realities of youth consumption that work to reproduce, rather than reduce, a range of social harms, ‘drug-related’ or otherwise.     

Being a ‘wog’ in Melbourne – young people's self-fashioning through discourses of racism

The Greek community in Melbourne, Australia, is large and has a long history in the city. It is diverse and associated with a range of cultural, social and political structures. It has strong transnational links and in many ways exemplifies ‘diasporic’ in contradistinction to ‘migrant’. This paper focuses on young people from this community, particularly those who attend schools established to promote Greek language and cultural maintenance. In this paper, we examine such students’ explorations of their cultural identifications, most specifically how they adopt the term ‘wog’. This term is complex and its place in Australian discourse has shifted over time. Tracking these shifts and considering them as a context for these young people's use of the term allows us to consider the processes involved in their self-fashioning. We argue that their uptake of ‘wog’ involves the deployment of irony, given their awareness of its strong association with racism. We are also interested in the potential for women's experience to be silenced through the common association between ‘wog’ and protest masculinities. We argue that these students’ use of the term illustrates self-fashioning that provides insights into the complexities that surround cultural identification at the micro level, including schooling, but also in the broader context of globalisation.     

Mapping the terrain of female education in Ireland, 1830–1910

Education for Irish women and girls developed significantly in the period 1830–1910. During this time, formal state‐funded education systems were established in Ireland by the British government. Some of these systems included females from their inception and some attempted to exclude girls and women. This article charts the opening up of formal schooling and university to Irish girls and women, examining the points at which they were excluded, the alternative educational provision developed by Protestant women and Catholic religious, and the means whereby the case for female education was successfully made. Moving from the public/private paradigm which has dominated much of the discussion around women's education for the period in question, the article focuses on what was occurring in some political and social institutions of the period and identifies women's agency and autonomy within such institutions. Through ‘mapping’ this ground, the article notes women's success in gaining access to institutions previously dominated by men, and highlights areas that require sustained scrutiny by scholars.     

Differently Academic? Constructions of ‘academic’ in higher education

This article draws on my research, in which I have interviewed a group of students over the course of their degrees. The women are all taking women's studies combined with a range of other subjects in a ‘new’ university with campuses in inner London and on its outskirts. This article considers the women's perceptions of both women's studies and their second subjects as "academic", as well as how they think both the university and the wider world value the academic nature of their various subjects. It asks whether subjects are only valued as "academic" if they focus on the writings of men, and are considered "objective", abstract and theoretical. Do students need to be seen to be "thinking like a man" in order to value their subjects and have them valued by others, or are there ways to be "differently academic"? It concludes by suggesting some alternative ways for institutions of higher education to consider the meaning of "academic" in higher education.     

Diverse experiences of women leading in higher education: locating networks and agency for leadership within a university context in Papua New Guinea

The ways in which women deliberately press back against practices of oppression and demonstrate agency in higher education institutions are highly contextual and culturally bound. The formal and informal networks that women develop and maintain are important elements of generating agency and enhancing women's access to and opportunities for leadership. This article presents a case study from research that explored women's leadership experiences in a higher education context in the Pacific Islands – Papua New Guinea. Situated within a feminist poststructural methodology, the research examined women's experiences of leadership and considered aspects that influenced women's access to formal leadership roles. The findings illustrated that the women faced numerous barriers to formal leadership opportunities. A range of culturally and contextually located approaches supported women to demonstrate agency with regard to their own leadership development and practice. This research highlighted the importance of considering the relationship between networks and agency and the impact of associated cultural and contextual practices within organisations, providing insights into the culturally located complexities of women's leadership in higher education contexts.     

Heading for the Top — the career experiences of a group of women deputies in one LEA

This paper focuses upon the career attitudes and experiences of a group of women deputies in one LEA. It sets out to explore their construct of ‘career’ and asks, in particular, whether this matches that of the ‘career ambitious’ teacher sketched out in the research literature. The findings, based on in‐depth interviews, suggest that this is not the case. Few of the women deputies, for instance, claimed to have followed specific career plans or consciously participated in ‘career games’. A number of possible explanations are explored, and some interesting tensions noted. Does it perhaps hinge on the external circumstances that impact on women's careers? Is it an expression of women's allegiance to a value system which defines ‘career success’ in quite different ways? Is it a consequence of the nature of the role itself and the separate career track followed by senior women teachers in this authority? The biographical accounts of these deputies provide no easy answers, but rather serve to illustrate the complexity of women's career experiences.     

‘Before I realised they were all women… I expected it to be more about materials’: Art,Gender and Tacit Subjectivity

This article discusses a critical discourse analysis research activity undertaken with a group of undergraduate primary trainees with an art specialism. The research activity involved the use of two contrasting texts discussing the work of Karla Black, Becky Beasley and Claire Barclay. The article explores how the positioning of the two texts affected the student teachers’ ability to engage effectively with ‘women's art’ on a personal and critical level, revealing some highly subjective views and raising questions around intertextuality; particularly how an individual's understanding of contexts, meanings and histories can inform collective interpretation and highlight existing subjectivity. The article subsequently identifies that although students were keen to talk about careful selection of texts, the benefits of using multiple sources and the risks of intertextual and ‘subliminal’ contamination, they were unable to reflect critically upon their own gendered reading of the texts. It concludes that this may well be a signifier of the problem – that the student teachers did not really see a problem at all.     

‘Learning Careers’ or ‘Assessment Careers’? The Impact of Assessment Systems on Learning

Two increasingly important strands in current educational thinking are reflected in growing interest amongst researchers, policy‐makers and qualification designers in formative assessment strategies that motivate learners and enhance their educational attainment. In addition, a body of research suggests that learners develop ‘learning careers’ from primary education, through the National Curriculum into post‐compulsory education and beyond. This article engages with this work in order to highlight some key factors in ‘learning careers’, particularly in relation to the impact of formative assessment practices. It aims to relate findings from research on formative assessment in primary and further education, carried out by the authors, to studies which use Bourdieu's notions of ‘habitus’, ‘field’, ‘cultural capital’ and ‘social capital’ to explore learning careers and learning identities in different sectors of education. The article evaluates whether the concept of ‘assessment careers’ illuminates a specific strand within young people's ‘learning careers’. In particular, it asks whether the concept might offer more precise insights about how practices produced by different assessment systems, particularly those purporting to promote formative assessment, affect learners' identities and dispositions for learning.