Gender Inequality in Education
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What is Education?
"The wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying particular subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of something.
Education requires instruction of some sort from an individual or composed literature."
Before & After
Solutions
What is Gender Inequality?
Unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender.
- It comes from differences of how society constructs gender roles due to biological structures; brain structure, and hormonal differences.
- When one gender is treated superior than the other, most common: women are seen as inferior.
The most known solution is dividing Genders Education by:
Only boys & Only girls school.
Hands'-on materials.
Incorporating techology.
Allowing time for movement.
Allowing competition.
Choosing books that appeal to both genders.
Boy/Girls-only reading programs.
*Does not mean excluding or separating subjects*
Why Literacy Is a Human Right?
"Those who cannot read and write are destined to be on the social and economic margins of our world."
Being able to read and write has profound benefits not only on a person’s educational opportunities but also for their health, economic prospects and their children.
Right of Education
Education is a fundamental human right and is essential for the practice of all other human rights.
Rights declared by the UNESCO
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
i. Make primary education free and compulsory.
v. Ensure that the standards of education4 are equivalent in all public educational institutions of the same level, and that the conditions relating to the quality of the education provided are also equivalent.
ii. Make secondary education in its different forms generally available and accessible to all.
vii. Provide training for the teaching profession without discrimination.
iii. Make higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of individual capacity.
iv. Assure compliance by all with the obligation to attend school as prescribed by law.
vi. Encourage and intensify by appropriate methods the education of persons who have not received any primary education or who have not completed the entire primary education course and the continuation of their education on the basis of individual capacity.
Places most Gender Inequality in Education
Places with Gender Equality in Education
Iceland: male 99% / female 99%.
Finland: 82% males / 87% females have successfully finished high-school.
Norway: 75% of both have completed secondary education.
Sweden: 86% men /with 89% women have successfully completed high-school.
Denmark: 78% of both aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education
Poland: 90% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education.
Australia: 78% men / 75% of women have successfully completed high-school.
Estonia: 87% men / 92% women have successfully completed high-school.
Germany: 89% men / 84% of women have successfully completed high-school.
95% men / 90% of women have successfully completed high-school
1. Burkina Faso: 12.7 % female literacy.
2. South Sudan: 27 %
3 Afghanistan: 43.1% men / women 12.6% are able to read.
4. Niger: 42.9 % men / 5.1 women are able to read and write.
5. Mali: 43.1 % men / 24.6 women are able to read.
6. Chad: 12.7% female literacy.
7. Somalia: 49.7 % men / 25.8% adult females are literate.
8. Ethiopia: Literacy rate 39 %.
9. Guinea: 52 % adult men / 30 % women adults can read and write.
10. Sierra Leone: male: 58.7 % men / 37.7% females above 15 literate.
Women represent two-thirds of all illiterate adults globally. (68.8 percent)
Why is there Gender Inequality in Education?
Gender inequality in education is a consequence that can arise from different contexts. Gender inequality in education not only affect girls, it also affect boys, although it is evident how girls and women are still more often disadvantaged.
Some of the main reasons of gender inequality in education come from:
- Poverty.
- Geographical Isolation.
- Minority Status.
- Disability.
- Early Marriage.
- Pregnancy.
- Gender-Based Violence.
- Traditional Attitudes, women role (Religion).
Gender - Based discrimination in education is a cause and a consequence of broader forms of gender inequality in society.
Issues
Some of the issues related to gender inequality in education are:
- Impact on economic growth
- Women are not being prepared or qualified to pursue more prestigious, high paying occupations.
- Women are more quiet and less assertive, due to the effects of the hidden curriculum
- Not being able to read or write could lead to difficulties such as to own land or other property, or to appeal against unfair judgment and unjust treatment.
- Illiteracy and innumeracy are forms of insecurity in themselves. “not to be able to read or write or count or communicate is a tremendous deprivation. The extreme case of insecurity is the certainty of deprivation, and the absence of any chance of avoiding that fate”
References
- Oecdbetterlifeindexorg. (2015). Oecdbetterlifeindexorg. Retrieved 16 October, 2015, from http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/
- Care2com. (2015). Care2com. Retrieved 16 October, 2015, from http://www.care2.com/causes/10-countries-with-the-worst-literacy-rates-in-the-world.html
- Oecdinsightsorg. (2012). OECD Insights Blog. Retrieved 16 October, 2015, from http://oecdinsights.org/2012/03/08/tackling-gender-differences-in-financial-literacy/
- Sex Differences in Education. (2015, September 10). Retrieved October 11, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_education#Consequences_of_sex_discrimination_in_education
- Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality | UN Chronicle. (2013, December 1). Retrieved October 11, 2015, from http://unchronicle.un.org/article/education-pathway-towards-gender-equality/