Conceptualising Gender Differences in Educational Research: the case of the Netherlands

This article analyses educational research on gender inequality carried out in the Netherlands between 1982 and 1991. It can be regarded as a case study on the conceptualisation of the problem of gender inequality in education. In the Netherlands two types of research can be identified: policy‐orientated research, which was largely concerned with primary and secondary education, and action research which developed from within and focused on adult education. In the beginning most researchers in both types of research were aware of the problems related to the concept of ‘disadvantage’. Later on, policy‐orientated research on gender and education has increasingly approached education primarily as a means of preparing for a promising position on the labour market. The concept of disadvantage, which at first appeared to have been superceded, has been frequently applied in the analysis of gender in education. Action research, however, focused on the learning processes of women considering feminine qualities to be positive and valuable. We discuss the criticism from women's studies of the research carried out. Finally, the central concepts of the Dutch research are related to the classifications used in England.