Gender Issues In Education Research Articles

’Girlies on the Warpath’: addressing gender in initial teacher education

ABSTRACT Gender issues in education are not simply a woman's problem. They constitute a more general problem of theorising about the nature and processes of education. Where studies advocate the eradication of inequality via education it is most often teachers who are seen as the crucial agents of change. Despite this recognition, surprisingly little attention has been paid to preparing teachers for taking on such a task. This paper considers, firstly, how and why teacher education in England and Wales largely fails to provide a framework or ethos conducive to the inclusion of a gender perspective. Secondly the paper examines some of the ways feminists are responding, arguing that despite institutional and informal resistance, good anti‐sexist work in teacher education is happening and should not be overlooked.

Determinants of Educational Participation and Achievement of Women in the Third World: A Review of the Evidence and a Theoretical Critique

This review discusses several factors that affect women’s participation and achievement in the formal educational system and that contribute to significant gender inequalities in education. Cultural norms and the division of labor within the home function to the detriment of girls, who are defined primarily as future mothers. Women in higher socioeconomic classes experience less restriction in gaining access to university, but cultural norms still lead them to select from a limited number of fields of study. The school experience of most women provides them with messages and practices that reinforce rather than challenge the sexual division of labor. Although the literature treats the various determinants of participation and achievement in a segmented, decontextualized manner, the evidence suggests that the family and school-related factors are not independent but operate in a symbiotic relationship. The review uses feminist theories to provide an interpretation of the empirical findings and discusses the explanatory power of these theories. The review concludes with a number of recommendations to improve and expand research on gender issues in education.

Grounded theory and the snark syndrome: The role of the international organisations in research in gender in education

Abstract Research into sex differences, sex‐role stereotyping and gender issues in education has expanded rapidly with increased funding and greater respectability since International Women's Year, 1975. Concurrently, we have seen a gradual move from quantitative to more qualitative research. This has both helped, and been helped by, the increased role of the international organisations, whose role in ensuring or providing improved data bases, and in helping to develop new grounded theory, is reviewed here.

Gender in Textbooks

Scholarly works of education in Hungary usually fail to do gender- sensitive research. 'Gender studies' as a scientific field, approach or perspective is highly neglected in the field of education in Hungary. There have been several research studies focusing on gender roles in textbooks, too. The absence of research and available scientific data on gender issues in education, combined with a lack of gender awareness, knowledge and openness towards gender theory as a means of social criticism applicable in the fields of social sciences and pedagogy, allows actors in the field of education to claim that there are no gender inequalities and discrimination in schools and that the gender dimension is irrelevant in education. There have been several research studies focusing on gender roles in textbooks in Hungary. Researchers have shown that textbooks mostly represent the experiences of men and boys, which are considered as the norm in them. The experiences, ways of thinking and knowledge of girls mean something 'different' from that. This is problematic, because in this way very little and limited space is ascribed to women and girls, which also mean rendering invisible a large part of people's experience that is usually associated with women, though could be with both genders. My paper addresses the gendered dimension of textbooks as parts of the 'hidden' curriculum in the process of the formation of subject-specific skills and identities, focusing especially on elementary level textbooks, and particularly how the world represented in textbooks render prescribed, divided and unquestionable spheres for both boys and girls in the process of learning and knowledge production. Besides drawing on the relevant Hungarian and mostly English literature I argue that though there are some 'alternative' examples of gender representations in textbooks, which aim to differ from mainstream representations, these cannot be considered as a general and conscious practice yet. Traditional approaches of gender roles, the family and the educational situation dominate the textbooks. Gender as a point of view and analytical category is not integrated in the pedagogical canon in the Hungarian context. My paper focuses on one field of education, namely textbooks in general, and five Hungarian grammar textbooks in particular, and addresses the question of equality/inequality of genders concerning the knowledge produced in them. The paper emphasizes the role of textbooks as parts of the 'hidden curriculum' in the process of the formation of subject-specific skills and identities, focusing especially on how education is highly gendered, and particularly how the world represented in textbooks related to subjects render prescribed, divided and unquestionable spheres for both boys and girls in the process of education.