Gender Studies in Malaysia: HNS3073

Lecture : THREE
Understanding Gender Based Equality
and Inequality
Gender gap in education in the
developing countries
Factors influence on gender gap in
education
M Sultana Alam

Sem2, 2014/2015

Understanding of Gender based

Equality
Gender equality can be defined numerous ways.
Generally, gender equality means equality
between men and women.
Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by
women and men of socially-valued goods,
opportunities, resources and rewards.

Understanding of Gender based

Equality (Cont.)
Gender equality defines that the different

behavior, aspirations and needs of women and

men should be considered and valued equally.
It does not mean that women and men have to
become the same, but that their rights,
responsibilities and opportunities will not
depend on whether they are born male or
female.

Understanding of Gender Based

Equality (Cont..)
Another way, gender equality is the fairness of

treatment for women and men, according to their

respective needs.
This may include equal treatment or treatment
that is different but which is considered equivalent
in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and
opportunities.

Concept of Gender Equality

The concept of equality is that all human beings,

both men and women, are free to develop their

personal abilities and make choices without the
limitations set by stereotypes, rigid gender roles
and injustice.
According gender based equality men and
women should receive equal treatment, and
should not be discriminated against based on
gender.

Understanding of Gender Based

Inequality
Gender

based inequality is that it is not an

individual matter, but is deep rooted in the structure
of societies.
Gender inequality is built into the organization of
marriage and families, work and the economy,
politics, religions, the arts and other cultural
productions

Concept of Gender Based

Inequality
Gender inequality is built into the organization of

marriage and families, work and the economy,

politics, religions, the arts and other cultural
productions.
Making women and men equal, therefore,
necessitates social and not individual solutions.

The view of International Organization

on Gender based Equality
Gender based equality is the one of the goals of

many international organizations. Every signal

goal is directed related to womens right.
Gender equality is a key element of the human
rights system established by the international
organizations.
Promoting gender equality is seen as an
encouragement to greater economic and social
prosperity.

The view of International Organization

(cont..)
According to UNICEF

Gender equality is leveling the field for girls and

women by ensuring that all children have equal
opportunity to develop their talents
The United Nations Population Fund declared
Gender equality first and foremost, a human
right.

The view of International

Organization (cont)
According United Nation,
Rights and freedoms shall not be limited by
person's sex. All human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights. It is also
determined that without womens equal right
as men, no nation can achieve development in
a sustainable manner

Effect of Gender Based Inequality on

globalization
Despite many international agreements for

womens equal rights, girls and women are still

much more likely than men to be poor, illiterate,
and have limited access than men to medical
care, property ownership, education, credit,
training and employment.

Effect of Gender Based Inequality on

globalization
These inequalities are a constraint to

development because they limit the ability

of women to develop and exercise their full
capabilities, for their own benefit and for
that of society as a whole.

Effect of Gender Based Inequality

on globalization (Cont..)
Gender based inequality between men

and women globally effect on

- Gender gap in education

Effect of Gender Based Inequality

(Cont..)
Gender gap in education: Equal access to

educational opportunity is a basic human right

essential to well being. Globally, women have
less opportunity than men in education.
Especially, in developing countries, women are
far behind than men in education. Girls' and
womens educational opportunities in many
countries continue to be limited to the cultural
settings.

Gender gap in education in the developing

countries: An overview
The

gender discrimination and inequality are

huge in the developing countries. In most
developing countries, girls lag markedly behind
boys in education. Governments in these
countries should favour girls when investing in
education because social returns, in terms of
child health and fertility, are higher from girls than
from boys education. (MOHAMMAD. N, A., & NAZMUL,
C., 2009; Journal of Development Studies)

Gender gap in education in the

developing countries: An
overview
According to World Bank (2010) there are

significant gender disparities in education that

remain in several regions of the developing world
The Millennium Development Goals emphasize
reducing
schooling
gender
gaps
that
disadvantage girls gender gaps in schooling
discriminating against females in developing
countries generally are large.

Gender gap in education in the

developing countries

India
Pakistan
Malaysia
Bangladesh

Women Education in India

India has one of the lowest female literacy rates in

Asia, although
the Indian government has
expressed a strong commitment towards education
for all.
Therefore, in India the overall literacy level is
increasing. Despite the improvements in literacy,
there continues to be a large gap between the
literacy levels of men and of women.

Factors behind low level of female literacy

in India
Poverty :

Poverty one of the reason that limit

womens education opportunity in developing
countries. Although school attendance is free, the
costs of books, uniforms, and transportation to
school can be too much for poor families. Poor
families are also more likely to keep girls at home
to care for younger siblings or to work in family
enterprises. If a family has to choose between
educating a son or a daughter because of financial
restrictions, typically the son will be chosen. This is
one kind of socio-cultural practice.

Factors behind low level of female

literacy in India (Cont..)
Lack of female teachers: Lack of female teachers

is another potential barrier to girls education. Girls

are more likely to attend school and have higher
academic achievement if they have female
teachers. This is particularly true in highly gendersegregated societies such as India .

Gender gap in education in

Pakistan
Pakistan is an international outlier in terms of gender

gaps in education.
Women have a low percentage of participation in
society outside of the family.
The social -cultural context of Pakistani society is
predominantly patriarchal.In Pakistan, the role of
culture in educating females is of vital importance.
The socio cultural norms of the rural society of
Pakistan keep the girls away from school.

Gender gap in Education in Pakistan

(Cont..)
The gender gap in various educational indicators has

remained at very high levels in Pakistan in more recent

times. This raises the question of why girls educational
outcomes are so inferior to boys.
One possible explanation would seem to be that girls
receive less attention and educational expenditure than
boys in the within-household allocation of resources
The literacy rate for urban women is more than five
times the rate for rural women. The school dropout rate
among girls is very high almost 50 percent.

Gender gap in Education in

Pakistan (Cont..)
In rural Punjab, the low level of girls enrolment

in school can be viewed due to the cultural and

religious norms of the society .
The traditional societies expecting females
simply to perform household chores and to look
after the younger children increase the chance
of low parental investment in the education of
their daughters.

Gender gap in education

in Malaysia
In the area of education, there are written laws

which categorically forbid discrimination against

women and men with regard to education.
All Malaysian have equal right to education under
the Constitution of Malaysia. This implies that
there is no discrimination against women and men
in education.
Women in Malaysia have made significant
progress in education.

Gender gap in Education in Bangladesh

The World Economic Forum Report on Global

Gender Gap (2012) ranked Bangladesh 86th

according to its gender gap index.
Gender gap in Bangladesh is lower than in both

neighboring India and Pakistan although GDP per

capita

in

Bangladesh.

these

countries

are

higher

than

Gender gap in Education in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, at national level women lag behind

men in terms of literacy.

Although

noteworthy achievements have been

made in female enrollment at the primary/secondary

level, progress has been very slow in tertiary level
education.

Factors Influence Gender Gap in

Education in the developing countries
There are several factors influence on gender gap in

education in the developing countries.

One of the factors such s socio-cultural norms that

strongly influence gender gap in education in the

developing countries.

Relationship between Gender and

Socio-cultural norms
There is a positive relation between socio-cultural belief

and gender role .

Gender is set of male and female behavioral and mental

potentials that are shaped and developed by particular

societies.

Relationship between Gender and Sociocultural norms in terms of definition

Socio-culture

is the anthropological sense of broad

patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. More broadly

culture can be understood as a peoples way of life or
tradition.
Gender differs the different ways that men and women

are culturally defined and evaluated. Gender is a cultural

construction.

Relationship between Gender and Sociocultural norms from theoretical point of

view
Many other theorists such as Kabeer, (2001), Bisnath

and Elson (1999) Sen and Grown( 1987) and Batliwala

(1994) argued

that gender

is socially and culturally

determined.
They suggested that

for achieving gender based

equality, fundamental changes are necessary in the

patriarchal social structure.

Relationship between gender

and socio-cultural norms (Cont.)
Patriarchal behavior is one kind of socio-cultural belief

that limit equality in society.

The root structure of gender inequality is often visible at

household levels which are considered within a particular

socio-cultural context.

Gender gap in education in the

developing countries: From Sociocultural perspective
The socio-cultural values and norms has a strong

influence on the issue of women education.

Due to traditional socio-cultural practice, women
and girls are discriminated within their household.
Womens

discriminations are reinforced by

various institutions-religious and socio-cultural
which emphasize womens discrimination in the
household.

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in India
Poverty :

Poverty one of the reason that limit

womens education opportunity in developing
countries. Although school attendance is free, the
costs of books, uniforms, and transportation to school
can be too much for poor families. Poor families are
also more likely to keep girls at home to care for
younger siblings or to work in family enterprises. If a
family has to choose between educating a son or a
daughter because of financial restrictions, typically
the son will be chosen. This is one kind of sociocultural practice.

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in India (Cont..)
Lack of female teachers: Lack of female teachers

is another potential barrier to girls education. Girls

are more likely to attend school and have higher
academic achievement if they have female teachers.
This is particularly true in highly gender-segregated
societies such as India .

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in Pakistan (Cont..)
In rural Punjab, the low level of girls enrolment in school can

be viewed due to the cultural and religious norms of the

society .
The traditional societies expecting females simply to perform

household chores and to look after the younger children

increase the chance of low parental investment in the
education of their daughters.

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in Malaysia
While womens enrollment at all levels of education

is comparable to men, their participation in

vocational and technical education is limited.
Labour Department by gender (2006-2010) showed
that the greater amount of the percentage of women
are competitive enough to participate in the labor
workforce.
Women are generally enrolled in areas of traditional
female employment like sewing and cosmetology

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in Bangladesh
Socio cultural Norms: By custom a patriarchal social

system exists in Bangladesh. The traditional

patriarchal society of Bangladesh is based on class
and gender divisions. Education for girls is often
considered irrelevant. Most parents would only let
their daughters learn the teaching and reciting the
Quran.

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in Bangladesh
(Cont..)
In rural areas, when a girl is born the parents usually

do not celebrate as they would do when a boy is

born.
From childhood, a girl is fully aware to the fact that

her brother and she is non-permanent family

member.

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in Bangladesh
(Cont..)
Household Poverty: Household poverty and poor

financing education is another important factor that

hinders the female participation in education in this
country. The parents may withdraw them once the
demands for fees become impossible to meet.

Socio-cultural influence on Gender

gap in education in Bangladesh
(Cont..)
Son preference
Son preference is well-known to India Bangladesh, Pakistan and

Malaysia . Due to socio-cultural practice, the social system has given

high value to sons as potential providers and perpetrators of family
names.
It I is also commonly believed sons will provide all supports to

parents in their old age. On the other hand , daughter will marry and
move another family.

Daughter as the non-permanent family

member
Non-permanent family member:

In many
families, daughters are considered as the nonpermanent family member. Because after
married women will move another family . They
will eventually live with their husbands families,
and the parents will not benefit directly from
their education.

Support in old age

Support in old age: Many parents view

educating sons as an investment because the

sons will be responsible for caring for aging
parents. On the other hand, parents may see
the education of daughters a waste of money.
Because after marriage they will move another
family. This negative parental attitudes toward
educating daughters is a barrier to a girls
education .

Priority on Sons education

Traditional Duties
Traditional duties : An important reason for

gender bias in education is womens traditional

role
in societies. In developing countries,
womens duty are vowed to carry out mainly
domestic work. For these tasks do not need
particular knowledge and families perceive girls
education as a waste of time.

Gender gap in education in

Bangladesh: Early Marriage

Early marriage is a common practice in rural areas of

developing . It is also one of reason for gender gap in
education.

Daughters are often married of at a very young age .

A woman, on an average, is married before reaching the

age of 20 years . Most of the parents do believe in early

marriage due to daughters safety.

Gender gap in education in

Bangladesh: Pregnancy

Pregnancy: Pregnancy was also an issue raised that

prevented schoolgirls from completing their education.
Therefore, most of the schools are not welcoming those
pregnant women to participate in education as they may
interrupt the education process and .the teachers may
need to do extra class for them.

Dowry as the socio-cultural norms

Dowry: In developing countries, parents invest
the same amount of money in sons and
daughters. But girls receive less education
because the money is used to endow them with
a dowry. On the other hand, parents educate
boys in order to assure them of higher incomes
and better wives (with higher dowry).

Dowry (Cont..)
Daughters with higher levels of education will

likely have higher dowry expenses as they will

want a comparably educated husband.
However, education sometimes lowers the dowry

for a girl because it is viewed as an asset by the

husbands family.

Gender gap in education in

Bangladesh: Religion
Religion: Some of the peoples agreed that the religion

could be easily being misinterpreted. Therefore, female

participation in education is hinder as they are supposed
not to be seen in public places or to mix up with their
opposite sex.

Purdah (veil) as the socio-cultural norm

Another socio-cultural and religious practice

Purdah that influence on gender gap in

education in many developing and Muslim
countries.
Many research show that the poor educational

achievement of the girls may be attributed to the

prevailing Purdah system in many countries.

Purdah (veil) as the socio-cultural

norm
In many countries, due to Purdah related norms

women's mobility is limited.

In rural areas due of Purdah practice womens

movement is limited within the confines of the

homestead.
These limit womens education opportunity