Social Exclusion and the Gender Gap in Education

Paulina ArmacińskaMarisha Tardif

Social exclusion and the gender gap in education

• Over the past few decades, the world has experienced a positive increase in the number of girls who enrol, attend and complete schooling at various levels.

• This may seem positive, however...

• The authors argue that the main reason for such a significant gender gap is the degree of social exclusion within the countries surveyed, as measured by ethno-linguistic fractionalization.

AN EDUCATIONAL GENDER GAPREMAINS IN SOME COUNTRIES

 What is ELF?

• ELF stands more Ethno-Linguistic Heterogeneity, or ethno-linguistic fractionalization.

• Across the literature on the subject matter, ELF has proven to be an driver of economic growth, amongst other factors.

• The authors of this text use ELF to explain gender gaps in education.

• Critique: “ELF allows cross country comparisons of fractionalization of ethnicity and language, but does not provide

specific evidence of exclusion. A country could be highly heterogeneous and there would be no social exclusion”

Outline

1. Girls’ Education and Development

2. Gender and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

3. Perspectives on Social Exclusion

4. Cross-Country Analysis

5. Policy Implications and Discussion

Outline

1. Girls’ Education and Development

2. Gender and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

3. Perspectives on Social Exclusion

4. Cross-Country Analysis

5. Policy Implications and Discussion

 Girl’s education and development

• It is not new to see female education at all levels as an important factor contributing to social development at both the micro and macro level; a variety of quantitative and qualitative research act as proof for this. Female educational attainment even has a positive association to GDP levels and economic growth.

• Development economists place a special emphasis on how crucial it is to educate girls in order to reach development goals.

 

“Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest return investment available in the developing world.”

-Summers (1994)

The effect of schooling on growth• Each year of schooling boots long-run growth

by 0.58 percentage points.• Countries in which test scores go one standard

deviation unit higher than the average have a 2% higher growth rate in GDP per capita.

The Power of education for women

• Educated women are more likely to enter the formal labour market.

• In cultures where dowries or bride prices are still observed, educated potential brides have a much higher value.

• Education raises productivity even in the agricultural sector.• Improvements in women’s farming methods have the potential

to reduce infant malnutrition.• Education of mothers lowers fertility, reduces infant and child

mortality, and promotes children’s education.• Education may also help to improve a woman’s status within her

family by giving her greater control over finances. • Education empowers women to protect themselves from

infection and domestic violence.

A mother’s education and her children’s schooling

• A woman obtaining an education starts a circle of positive returns- it has a very encouraging effect on children’s schooling. The level of maternal education is a significantly related to whether or not a child attended school. This was proved true for 63 of the 68 countries surveyed by the Unesco Institute of Statistics. 

• We may find that a mother’s education has a strong effect on girls, especially in settings where female enrolment rates are lagging behind that of males.

Positive changes

• Through the advocacy and eventual expansion of mass education, a near-universal enrolment at the primary and lower secondary levels may be seen, accompanied by 88% primary school completion rates.

• Investment in girls’ education has gained attention, and through this girls have been catching up with boys at a steady pace.

• Female primary school completion rates in developing countries has risen since 1990, even reaching close to the 100% mark in certain regions. The gender gap in developing countries even managed to drop by a significant amount of percentage points.

• According to UNESCO, 40% of developing countries have not achieved gender parity in primary school enrolment, in an estimate dating from 2002.

This is all good news, however the gap between the genders

remains.

Outline

1. Girls’ Education and Development

2. Gender and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

3. Perspectives on Social Exclusion

4. Cross-Country Analysis

5. Policy Implications and Discussion

Gender and ethnic differences in schooling

• According to an UNESCO estimate, nearly 78 million primary school-age children remain out of school, and a gap in school enrolment as well as completion and learning continued to exist between boys and girls, but especially among various ethnic groups within countries.

• History plays an important role here- countries in which women have been traditionally marginalised and secluded, for example in South Asia show higher gender gaps in education.

• We witness a separation by ethnic group- these groups suffer a disproportionate amount compared to ‘mainstream’ groups in education.

• For ethnic groups, gender gaps may be found in school enrolment rates and years of completed schooling.

Marginalized groups and the “double disadvantage”

• In general, “marginalized” ethnic-linguistic groups are disadvantaged with respect to schooling, often on account of geographical isolation.

• Because of this, marginalized girls are not only behind the children from the mainstream group, but also the boys. This means that these girls are less likely to attend school, and if they do, they do so with limited participation, and remain in school only briefly.

Disadvantages

• Geographical isolation

• Social status

• Restrictions on mobility

• Impoverished families

•Historical inequities

Why do certain social groups become marginalized?

a few socio-economic perspectives• Definition of social exclusion:

GROUPS THAT APPEAR LOWER STATUS AND MARGINALIZED

• There exist certain historical preconditions in order for social exclusion to occur, however.

» Stigmatization by recent historical trauma at the hands of the majority population.

» Ethnic differences. This may stem from ethnic group, language, or religion.

» Low socio-economic status» Involuntary minority status.» Traditional status hierarchies

Marginalization• One of the things marginalization leads to are substandard

public supply of schools as well as lower demands for education. This is caused by its costs, and the perceived lack of benefits.

• Public programs intended for marginalized groups are generally inferior in quality compared to those aimed at mainstream groups. Schools servicing rural communities will often be of poor quality. Though this has an effect on both boys and girls, it affects girls most.

• Not only are the schools of poor quality, but marginalized children are discriminated against within their walls- this is one of the main reasons parents of children in marginalized groups keep their children out of school.

Outline

1. Girls’ Education and Development

2. Gender and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

3. Perspectives on Social Exclusion

4. Cross-Country Analysis

5. Policy Implications and Discussion

Perspectives on social exclusion

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES • The high costs of schooling: opportunity costs, social costs,

direct costs. • Low returns: weak employment opportunities, perceptions of

low returns in the labour market. Boys may be given preference to be sent to school due to higher possible returns.

• Labour market returns often lower for minority groups and women

• Need for child labour• Due to these costs of schooling as well as low returns, the

demand for schools becomes reduced. • Significant income gap between mainstream groups and

marginalized groups.• Girls suffer more from economic shocks to the household.• Insurmountable costs?

SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

• A testing situation in school may “activate” gender or ethnic stereotypes; those who suffer are those who feel threatened by the stereotype. This creates anxiety and thus lower scores. Performance in general declines when stereotypes are activatesd.

• This is a surmountable barrier, however. Stereotype-based discrimination may be reduced by counter-stereotypical information.

• The lower expectations which exist for marginalized groups are difficult to eliminate and also have significant effects on performance. Marginalized girls suffer particularly from such negative expectations.

OTHER CORRELATES OF EXCLUSION

• Marginalized groups also suffer from weak home support for schooling.

 • The issue of geographical isolation is very important; is

there a school available in the community? Of what standard is it?

 • Low educational attainment of parents enrolment in

most cases. Studies have proven that higher levels of parental education have a significant impact on their children’s enrolment.

 • Cultural factors; in certain countries there may be

cultural issues arising from mixing girls with boys. Parental beliefs about social roles are also an important cultural barrier.

Outline

1. Girls’ Education and Development

2. Gender and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

3. Perspectives on Social Exclusion

4. Cross-Country Analysis

5. Policy Implications and Discussion

What is this section about?

• Test of the relationship between degree of ethnic and linguistic heterogeneity within a country and within-country gender gaps in primary school completion

• Examine these effects on overall learning

Data and approaches

• Ethnolinguistic fractionalization (ELF)– Developed by Alesina et al. (2003)– Captures the degree of racial and linguistic

heterogeneity

Data and approaches

ELF and schooling indicators

• ELF highly correlated with schooling outcomes

Once again:

Countries with multiple ethnic and language groups tend to have:

• lower primary completion rates for girls• wider gap between male and female

completion rates• lower overall achievement

Second part of analyse

• Variation in level of developement across countries

Ethnic heterogeneity slows down progress in education for girls

Important factors:

• National income• Within-country heterogeneity*• Share of population living in rural locations• Women’s labour force participation• History of educating women

*not in explaining learning

Outline

1. Girls’ Education and Development

2. Gender and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

3. Perspectives on Social Exclusion

4. Cross-Country Analysis

5. Policy Implications and Discussion

Investment on two fronts:

• Improving the supply of school opportunities

• Boosting the demand for education

Improving and diversifying the supply of education

• Policies that appear to be fair are biased against girls from excluded groups– Teaching in majority language– Single-sex

or coeducational schools– Discrimination promoted

in textbooks

Improving and diversifying the supply of education

• Programs that can help:– Those that respond to paternal concerns– Preschools that help to transit to formal schools– Compensatory in-school or after-school

programs– Radio, TV, computers

Improving and diversifying the supply of education

School quality matters more for excluded girls than for boys and children from mainstream families!

Creating incentives for households to send girls to school

• Conditional cash transfers• Scholarships and stipends• School feeding programs

Changing expectations

• Expectations are powerful determinants of success

• Programs tended to focus on changing parent and community expectations to include schooling for all children

• No special programs for girls

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHRAheOxk98

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugP_Q4pD3RE

2002 OECD Education Policy Analysis

• A systematic approach to policy development and integration• A strong and equal partnership with the education system• A universal approach to access, with particular attention to children in need of

special support• Substantial public investment in services and infrastructure• A participatory approach to quality improvement and assurance• Appropriate training and working conditions for staff in all forms of provision• Attention to evaluation, monitoring and data collection• A framework and long-term agenda for research and evaluation.

Strengthening early childhood programmes- a policy framework

OECD- 8 key strategies