Show me the money! The Evidence Hub on Gender and Learning’s evidence “Big Picture” visualization and implications for upcoming grant-making

• In Event: Catalyzing evidence-based action in gender and learning: funding, building and acting on evidence

Proposal

The Evidence Hub on Gender and Learning combines learning to do with doing to learn. This means bringing together evidence mapping and synthesis with real-world testing through targeted grantmaking. The design of The Hub rests on a deliberate interplay between insight and action, with each
element strengthening the other. In The Hub’s first phase, we deepen our understanding of the linkages between foundational learning, gender, and later outcomes. This paper will share our findings in a visual format - our initial Big Picture - that we’ll update as we invest in the evidence-based pathways suggested by our review.

The resulting Big Picture is a structured, visual map that synthesizes existing evidence on how gender and gender norms shape learning and dropout and how foundational learning, in turn, influences outcomes for girls and boys as they move through adolescence and into adulthood. These outcomes include school completion, adolescent health, early pregnancy, child marriage, and long-term income. The Big Picture will map these dynamics through evidence chains and causal pathways, offering an integrated view of what is known, where uncertainties remain, and where significant evidence gaps lie.

Because the reason for developing the Big Picture is to inform an investment hypothesis that ignites a cycle of grantmaking, the paper will also present implications of the Big Picture for investment, offering ideas about how funders, policymakers, and practitioners can design more effective, gender-responsive education systems. As the Hub moves to use these findings to inform investment over the coming four years, this paper sets the stage for continued learning and action.

Authors

• Amy Jo Dowd, Brink Foundation

• Hetal Thukral, sustainED, LLC

• Lea Simpson, Brink

• Laura Hinson, Consultant