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Full-Text Articles in Gender Equity in Education
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh: Endline Assessment, Sigma Ainul, Forhana Rahman Noor, Md. Irfan Hossain, Iqbal Ehsan, Mehnaz Manzur, Ubaidur Rob, Sajeda Amin
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh: Endline Assessment, Sigma Ainul, Forhana Rahman Noor, Md. Irfan Hossain, Iqbal Ehsan, Mehnaz Manzur, Ubaidur Rob, Sajeda Amin
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This report describes findings of changes over time attributable to the “Keeping Girls in Schools” study in Bangladesh that implemented skill-building activities for a two-year period in the districts of Chapainawabganj, Kushtia, and Sherpur. The project sought to bring about change in child marriage norms prevalent in the area by offering young girls a safe place to meet after school hours with mentors and teachers and to offer girls tutoring support and life-skills. The project was implemented by the Population Council with the cooperation of secondary schools in the community and was supported by UNICEF under the aegis of the …
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Research Brief And Baseline Highlights, Sigma Ainul, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Md. Irfan Hossain, Forhana Rahman Noor, Iqbal Ehsan, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Research Brief And Baseline Highlights, Sigma Ainul, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Md. Irfan Hossain, Forhana Rahman Noor, Iqbal Ehsan, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Bangladesh has made considerable progress in improving access to education at all levels for the last two decades. Despite these impressive gains, Bangladesh continues to face challenges of student dropout at the secondary level. Girls drop out of school earlier than boys because of child marriage. Targeted policies and interventions designed to improve mainstream educational attainment and decrease child marriage may be the effective and sustainable way to address both issues. The Population Council implemented the project “Keeping Girls in Schools to Reduce Child Marriage in Rural Bangladesh.” An intervention research study, the project tests a life-skills and tutoring support …
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Program Brief, Population Council
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Program Brief, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
For the last two decades, Bangladesh has made considerable progress in improving access to education at all levels. Despite these gains, the country continues to face challenges from student dropout at the secondary level. Girls drop out of school earlier than boys because of child marriage. Targeted policies and interventions designed to improve educational attainment and decrease child marriage may be an effective and sustainable way to address both issues. The Population Council implemented an intervention research study to test a life-skills and tutoring support model to reduce school dropout among secondary-school girls and enhance livelihood skills for unmarried girls …
Does Education Improve Health In Low- And Middle Income Countries? Results From A Systematic Review, Stephanie Psaki, Barbara Mensch, Erica Chuang, Andrea J. Melnikas
Does Education Improve Health In Low- And Middle Income Countries? Results From A Systematic Review, Stephanie Psaki, Barbara Mensch, Erica Chuang, Andrea J. Melnikas
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Despite enormous progress in expanding school enrollment globally, improvements in health have not always followed, raising important questions: Does education, in fact, enable women, men and their families to be healthier? And if so, how? To fill this gap in knowledge, the GIRL Center conducted a systematic review of the evidence for the effects of education on health in low- and middle-income countries.
Measuring Gender Equality In Education: Lessons From 43 Countries, Stephanie Psaki, Katharine Mccarthy, Barbara Mensch
Measuring Gender Equality In Education: Lessons From 43 Countries, Stephanie Psaki, Katharine Mccarthy, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Through the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), governments committed to achieving universal secondary school completion, including eliminating gender disparities, by 2030. The period from 1997 to 2014 saw considerable progress in closing gender gaps in school enrollment and attainment in many, but not all, low- and middle-income countries. However, as this research brief explains, claims that gender parity in primary education now exists are premature, especially in the poorest countries and new gender gaps, or gender-related challenges, may emerge as attainment increases. Moreover, the extremely low levels of secondary school enrollment—and even moreso completion—demonstrate that the SDG target of universal …
School Related Violence, Sanitation Facilities At School, And Menstrual Hygiene Management: What Is The Evidence For Their Effect On School Attendance And Learning, And How Might Population Scientists Advance This Research Agenda?, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
No abstract provided.
Engaging Parents To Promote Girls' Transition To Secondary Education: Evidence From A Cluster Randomised Trial In Rural Gujarat, India, K.G. Santhya, A.J. Francis Zavier, Pallavi Patel, Neeta Shah
Engaging Parents To Promote Girls' Transition To Secondary Education: Evidence From A Cluster Randomised Trial In Rural Gujarat, India, K.G. Santhya, A.J. Francis Zavier, Pallavi Patel, Neeta Shah
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Population Council and partners, with the support of the Human Dignity Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, implemented a pilot intervention in India─Project Sankalp─to assess the acceptability and feasibility of engaging parents and communities to promote girls’ secondary education. The project's aim was to measure its effectiveness in improving adolescent girls’ transition to secondary education, their attendance at school, and learning outcomes. Findings show that the effect of Project Sankalp on creating an enabling environment for girls to pursue secondary education was mixed. On the positive side, the project showed success in raising girls’ educational …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Therefore, the solutions must be interconnected as well. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners are implementing a social, health, and economic asset-building program …
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This policy brief describes the findings of a pilot study on girls’ experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The brief also discusses efforts in the region to delay marriage and promote girls’ schooling. The Amhara Bureau of Women, Children and Youth Affairs and the Population Council pilot-tested a program to delay marriage and support schooling in rural Amhara Region. The program, entitled Berhane Hewan (Amharic for “Light for Eve”), included community conversations, support for remaining in school, and conditional cash transfers if girls remained unmarried and in school for the duration of the …
Priorités Pour L'Éducation Des Adolescentes, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Priorités Pour L'Éducation Des Adolescentes, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
L’adolescence marque une période de croissance et de développement rapides sur le plan physique, affectif, et cognitif. Côté féminin, il s’agit d’une étape de la vie durant laquelle l’éducation, si elle est efficace, peut être transformatrice. Un problème majeur, dans la plupart des pays en développement, est que les systèmes d’éducation en place ne cernent et ne réalisent pas leur potentiel d’autonomisation des adolescentes en les dotant de compétences économiquement productives. L’éducation des filles durant l’adolescence peut les tenir à l’abri des risques d’une initiation sexuelle précoce, différer le mariage et la maternité et leur permettre de vivre une enfance …
Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling: Results From A Baseline Survey In Rural Tanzania, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar
Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling: Results From A Baseline Survey In Rural Tanzania, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This research brief describes girls' experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in the Tabora region of Tanzania. Research shows that a considerable proportion of girls married early, have only limited discussions on health issues with their spouses, experience intimate partner violence, and have high unmet need for family planning. Tabora Development Foundation Trust, in partnership with the Population Council, is implementing strategies—including community awareness, support to get girls back into school and keep them there, and conditional transfers—to increase marriage age in the rural Tabora region. The goal is to identify effective, sustainable, and cost-effective approaches to increase …
Priorities For Adolescent Girls' Education, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Priorities For Adolescent Girls' Education, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Adolescence is a time of rapid growth and development physically, emotionally, and cognitively. For girls it is a stage of life during which education, when effectively provided, can be transformative. One of the most significant problems in most developing countries is the failure of education systems to realize their potential for empowering adolescent girls by providing economically productive skills. Education during adolescence can protect girls from the risks of premature sexual initiation and allow them to postpone marriage and childbearing and experience a childhood without the burden of excessive domestic work. Schools have the potential to fully empower girls to …
Schooling And Conflict In Darfur: A Snapshot Of Basic Education Services For Displaced Children, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Safaa El-Kogali, Jenny Perlman Robinson, Johanna Rankin, Ali Rashed
Schooling And Conflict In Darfur: A Snapshot Of Basic Education Services For Displaced Children, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Safaa El-Kogali, Jenny Perlman Robinson, Johanna Rankin, Ali Rashed
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Schooling and Conflict in Darfur, a joint project of the Population Council and the Women's Refugee Commission, is a report based on a 2008 survey designed to provide a more accurate picture of the state of formal and non-formal education for displaced children of primary school age (6-14) in North and West Darfur. The findings are based on a scientifically selected sample of internally displaced persons (IDP) communities in North and West Darfur. The goal of the report is to provide donors, policymakers, and practitioners information to help plan and implement effective, targeted education programs for internally displaced children in …
Marriage Considerations In Sending Girls To School In Bangladesh: Some Qualitative Evidence, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq
Marriage Considerations In Sending Girls To School In Bangladesh: Some Qualitative Evidence, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This working paper analyzes parents’ decisions about girls’ schooling in the context of marriage through in-depth exploration of case studies in two rural areas of northern Bangladesh. The villages are sites of a long-term community study from 1991 and 2002, a time when significant changes were underway, partly as a result of new school incentive programs introduced in 1994. The data show that the rise of dowry demands, a relatively recent practice that is barely a generation old among Muslims in these areas, asserts an important and independent influence on marriage decisions and indirectly influences decisions about schooling. The influence …
Teacher Absence As A Factor In Gender Inequalities In Access To Primary Schooling In Rural Pakistan, Sharon Ghuman, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Teacher Absence As A Factor In Gender Inequalities In Access To Primary Schooling In Rural Pakistan, Sharon Ghuman, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper examines the case of Pakistan, where primary school enrollment among girls in rural areas is substantially lower than among children in urban areas and boys in rural areas, owing to lack of access to government girls’ schools. The focus is on teacher absence as a further barrier to schooling for girls. Using data from a panel study of primary schooling in rural Punjab and NWFP in 1997 and 2004, the report examines trends in teacher absence, examine the factors correlated with teacher absence in the government and private sector, and assesses the implications of these absence levels for …
Premarital Sex And Schooling Transitions In Four Sub-Saharan African Countries, Ann E. Biddlecom, Richard Gregory, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch
Premarital Sex And Schooling Transitions In Four Sub-Saharan African Countries, Ann E. Biddlecom, Richard Gregory, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Using data from the 2004 National Survey of Adolescents conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda, this Population Council working paper investigates the timing of two key transitions in adolescence—school exit and premarital sex—among those who remain enrolled in school at the beginning of adolescence (age 12). Girls appear more vulnerable to dropout once they become sexually mature and once they engage in premarital sex. While girls were found to be less likely than boys, at any given age and controlling for other covariates, to have had premarital sex (except in Ghana), school enrollment and the timing of school …
Multiple Disadvantages Of Mayan Females: The Effects Of Gender, Ethnicity, Poverty, And Residence On Education In Guatemala, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Jennifer Catino, Marta Julia Ruiz
Multiple Disadvantages Of Mayan Females: The Effects Of Gender, Ethnicity, Poverty, And Residence On Education In Guatemala, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Jennifer Catino, Marta Julia Ruiz
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Although access to primary education in Guatemala has increased in recent years, particularly in rural areas, levels of educational attainment and literacy remain among the lowest in Latin America. Inequalities in school access and grade attainment linked to ethnicity, gender, poverty, and residence remain. Age trends show that Mayan females are the least likely to ever enroll, and, if they do enroll, start school the latest and drop out earliest. Innovative programs for girls that combine instruction with social interaction in safe local community spaces may increase their educational attainment and their social networks and means of social support. In …
The Implications Of Changing Educational And Family Circumstances For Children's Grade Progression In Rural Pakistan: 1997-2004, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Monica J. Grant
The Implications Of Changing Educational And Family Circumstances For Children's Grade Progression In Rural Pakistan: 1997-2004, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Monica J. Grant
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This Population Council working paper assesses the effects of primary school characteristics, household characteristics, and recent household economic and demographic shocks on school dropout rates during the first eight grades in rural Punjab and North West Frontier Province, Pakistan. While grade retention has improved over the past six years, dropout rates for girls remain fairly high, particularly at the end of primary school (grade five). The results of this study show clearly the complementary nature of supply and demand factors in determining grade progression in rural Pakistan, particularly for girls. The results suggest that substantial improvement in the schooling environment …
Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant
Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Researchers at the Population Council have been involved in the collection of data on time use from adolescents in India, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa. Three questions are addressed in this working paper: (1) How does time use change during the transition to adulthood? (2) Does gender role differentiation intensify during the transition? (3) Does school attendance attenuate gender differences? The data document differences in time use patterns between students and nonstudents. Although female adolescent students still work longer hours than male adolescent students, the gender division of labor that typically develops during adolescence is greatly attenuated among students when …
Growing Up In Pakistan: The Separate Experiences Of Males And Females, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant
Growing Up In Pakistan: The Separate Experiences Of Males And Females, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This Population Council working paper examines gender differences in transitions to adulthood in Pakistan. The survey covers key aspects of adolescents’ lives, including the timing of several adult transitions and a detailed accounting of time use over the previous 24 hours. The results of the analysis confirm the fundamental importance of schooling to transitions to adulthood. Those without any schooling, which still includes 15 percent of young men and 46 percent of young women, assume the work burdens of adults prematurely and are deprived of the opportunity for learning in an institutional setting outside the family. Those who do attend …
Completing The Fertility Transition In The Developing World: The Role Of Educational Differences And Fertility Preferences, John Bongaarts
Completing The Fertility Transition In The Developing World: The Role Of Educational Differences And Fertility Preferences, John Bongaarts
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This study summarizes patterns of educational differentials in wanted and unwanted fertility at different stages of the fertility transition based on data from DHS surveys in 57 less developed countries. As the transition proceeds, educational differentials in wanted fertility tend to decline and differentials in unwanted fertility tend to rise. An assessment of fertility patterns in more and less developed countries with low fertility concludes that these differentials are likely to remain substantial when less developed countries reach the end of their transitions. This finding implies that the educational composition of the population remains a key predictor of overall fertility …
Primary Schooling In Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends And Current Challenges, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett
Primary Schooling In Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends And Current Challenges, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
At the dawn of the twenty-first century we estimate that more than 37 million young adolescents aged 10-14 in sub-Saharan Africa will not complete primary school. Our estimates are based on data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys from 26 countries, collectively representing 83 percent of the sub-Saharan youth population. This number is nearly twice the entire population of children aged 10-14 in the United States, virtually all of whom will complete primary school. Reducing the number of uneducated African youth is a primary objective of the United Nations as laid out in the Millennium Development Goal for education, …
Completing The Fertility Transition In The Developing World: The Role Of Educational Differences And Fertility Preferences [Arabic], John Bongaarts
Completing The Fertility Transition In The Developing World: The Role Of Educational Differences And Fertility Preferences [Arabic], John Bongaarts
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This study summarizes patterns of educational differentials in wanted and unwanted fertility at different stages of the fertility transition based on data from DHS surveys in 57 less developed countries. As the transition proceeds, educational differentials in wanted fertility tend to decline and differentials in unwanted fertility tend to rise. An assessment of fertility patterns in more and less developed countries with low fertility concludes that these differentials are likely to remain substantial when less developed countries reach the end of their transitions. This finding implies that the educational composition of the population remains a key predictor of overall fertility …
The Effect Of Gender Differences In Primary School Access, Type, And Quality On The Decision To Enroll In Rural Pakistan, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Zeba Sathar
The Effect Of Gender Differences In Primary School Access, Type, And Quality On The Decision To Enroll In Rural Pakistan, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Zeba Sathar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The paper explores the effect of primary school access, type, and quality on the decision to enroll in rural Pakistan using a 1997 survey especially designed for this purpose. A unique contribution of the paper is the construction of gender-specific dimensions of school accessibility and school quality according to school type (i.e., public vs. private). Within the same village, girls and boys often face starkly different options for schooling in terms of distance, type, and quality. Public primary schools are segregated by sex; private schools, whose numbers have grown rapidly in recent years in response to rising demand and the …
Determinants Of Educational Attainment Among Adolescents In Egypt: Does School Quality Make A Difference? [Arabic], Cynthia B. Lloyd, Sahar El Tawila, Wesley H. Clark, Barbara Mensch
Determinants Of Educational Attainment Among Adolescents In Egypt: Does School Quality Make A Difference? [Arabic], Cynthia B. Lloyd, Sahar El Tawila, Wesley H. Clark, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The paper explores empirically the relationship between school quality in Egyptian preparatory (middle) schools and the likelihood of school dropout either during preparatory school or before the completion of secondary school. Despite strong empirical evidence for the many positive social and economic returns associated with more years of schooling, there has been little research exploring how the quality of particular schools might influence grade levels attained. The authors address this research gap using detailed data on Egyptian preparatory schools (grades 6-8, the last three years of the eight years of basic schooling) that are linked with a national survey of …
Schooling Opportunities For Girls As A Stimulus For Fertility Change In Rural Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Minhaj Ul Haque
Schooling Opportunities For Girls As A Stimulus For Fertility Change In Rural Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Minhaj Ul Haque
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper tests Caldwell’s mass schooling hypothesis in the context of rural Pakistan. His hypothesis was that the onset of the fertility transition is closely linked to the achievement of “mass formal schooling” of boys and girls. Punjab and Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) were selected for this study because they appear to be on the leading edge of the demographic transition-a transition that has only recently begun-as suggested by rapid recent increases in contraceptive practice. The study covered a range of rural villages or communities with very different socioeconomic and schooling conditions in order to examine the effects of both …
Greater Investments In Children Through Women's Empowerment: A Key To Demographic Change In Pakistan?, Valerie L. Durrant, Zeba Sathar
Greater Investments In Children Through Women's Empowerment: A Key To Demographic Change In Pakistan?, Valerie L. Durrant, Zeba Sathar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Women’s status has received considerable attention as a significant factor in demographic behavior and outcomes in South Asia however, little research has addressed the links between women’s status and their investments in children. In this paper, we empirically investigate how women’s status on multiple levels is associated with demographic outcomes. Using data from the Pakistan Status of Women and Fertility Survey in rural Punjab, we confirm that empowered women, or those with higher status, are better able to make positive investments in their children, thus increasing their children’s chances of survival during infancy and increasing their likelihood of ever attending …
The Effects Of Primary School Quality On The Educational Participation And Attainment Of Kenyan Girls And Boys, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch, Wesley H. Clark
The Effects Of Primary School Quality On The Educational Participation And Attainment Of Kenyan Girls And Boys, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch, Wesley H. Clark
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
In Kenya, adolescent girls fare poorly relative to boys in an educational system characterized by enormous growth, deteriorating quality, and rising costs. Girls are more likely than boys to drop out of school prematurely and are less likely to do well on the primary school leaving exams that come at the end of grade eight. Using data from nearly 600 adolescents aged 12-19 in combination with data collected from 36 primary schools in which those adolescents reside, this paper investigates the effect of school quality on the likelihood of dropping out from primary school in three districts of Kenya. In …