The unintended consequences of terminology

• In Event: Problematising ‘Girls' Education' and what is needed to progress the debate

Proposal

Those working in gender, development and education have given much attention and devoted time to rigorously debating terminology. For example, the term girls' education was used (sometimes reluctantly) as shorthand for accessible communication to ministers when the term gender was not widespread. But the theoretical framework used to understand and explain the existence of inequality in educational opportunities and outcomes was a gender and inequality framework. Critical to this is understanding how and why gender matters in explaining social, political and economic inequality and how gender intersects with other drivers of inequality. We believed this was the route to address solutions successfully and, consequently, the need for shorthand. But shorthand, if not fully understood, risks unsustainable interventions.

For a start, globally, most girls attend mixed schools, particularly in their early years; so how can we focus on educating girls? Quality improvements are needed for all children, but we need to address specific gender-related barriers to learning for girls (and boys). For example, richer girls have more educational opportunities in many countries than the most marginalised boys; however, consistently poor, marginalised rural girls are still the most educationally disadvantaged groups in low-income countries. This is much more understandable using the theoretical framework and not the shorthand. Equally, barriers to providing more girls good educational opportunities lie partly in the education sector and education specialists (quality improvements; inclusive teaching; safe spaces within schools), but they also rely on the expertise and interventions within other sectors, e.g. WASH, tax systems which enable financial investments in education, so basic education at least is genuinely free (cost one of the main barriers to girls access) work to address unequal labour market opportunities, broader cultural and social norms on violence and early marriage as starters for ten.

This presentation will broadly chart the development of terminology, who uses it, and the unintended consequences of this use for girls' education. Moreover, the presentation will discuss the priorities and pathways currently being followed to identify directions to improve educational opportunities for girls.

Author

• Sally Joanne Elizabeth Gear, Global Partnership for Education