Gender and Education for All: Progress and problems in achieving gender equity

The paper explores the effects of rapid increases in gender parity in primary schooling in Bangladesh and Malawi on gender inequities in schools and communities. Based on an analysis of comparative case studies of marginalized communities, we argue that educational initiatives focused on achieving gender parity provide limited evidence that girls’ educational experiences modeled significantly different gender norms than in communities, or that by being educated, girls experienced a transformation of the inequitable gender relations they faced in society. The data illustrate persistent gender discrimination related to educational attainment and learning, and gender-based violence in schools. These patterns of gendered discrimination and violence largely mirrored those that girls and boys experienced in their homes and communities, raising important questions about the transformational capacity of current gender parity and schooling models.

► Measures of gender parity are compared with measures of gender equity.
► Malawi and Bangladesh have experienced phenomenal achievements in gender parity in education, although these achievements have not resulted in gender equity throughout society.
► Data illustrate how gender discrimination persists toward girls in their learning and academic attainment.
► Gender-based violence is examined in schooling and in relation to being schooled.