This week, we were asked to explore
nine or so national and international organizations that are related to
teaching for information on a topic of interest to each of us. I originally
considered looking into the Common Core Standards because I know relatively
little about them, but I ultimately decided that gender differences in
education was a more important topic for me to cover. I have learned a lot
about this topic in the past from the psychology perspective, but I know
relatively little about what is being done to correct the problem. Despite
having learned quite a lot about the individual, I also have a gap in my
knowledge when it comes to exactly how the system itself is failing when it
comes to gender. I set out with all of this in mind, and I found an abundance
of information. Almost all of the organizations highlighted gender in one way
or another, whether they were talking about the difference in access to
education or the pay gap that women face heading into the workforce, even as
teachers.
To start off with, I want to take a look at the organizations that did NOT answer my questions about gender and education. Of the ten organizations I researched, only three did not discuss gender on their websites. The Association for Advancement of International Education focuses largely on professional and scholarly development among international educators, publishing journals and hosting conferences, the next of which is going to be about ESL/Special Needs and Technology (“The Association,” 2016, p. 1). In contrast, the Council of Chief State School Officers works to “bring together the top education leaders from every state in the nation” by “creating a public education system that prepares every child for lifelong learning, work, and citizenship” (“Our Promise,” 2015, p. 1). Finally, the Common Core State Standards Initiative largely worked to explain the standards and dispel myths that many people believe about them. The most interesting thing that I learned from this particular site was that, despite what I had heard, states do not have to lower their standards to fit the Common Core Standards, but rather standards are moved “to the next level” (“Myth,” 2016, p. 1). This was a bit odd to me because I have always heard teachers and parents complain about the standards being lower. I guess the standards are just different rather than lower.
Now let’s dive into gender issues. The most commonly addressed issue was basic access to education. Girls are still enrolled in school at a lower rate than boys in more than half the countries in the world (“Gender and EFA,” 2015, p. 10). The gap is largest in secondary education, with 97 girls attending school for every 100 boys (p. 10). Although that number does not seem like a huge difference, I thought about the implications of 3% lower enrollment for girls. 51% of the world’s population is female, so one would actually expect more girls to be enrolled in education than boys purely because there are more of them. The lower enrollment by girls does, however, make sense because women are still fighting for equality with men throughout the world. Perhaps the most startling thing I learned was that women account for 2/3 of the functionally illiterate population in the world (p. 10). This is incredibly sad. Ideally, no one would lack literacy skills, but I would hope that, at the very least, ones gender would not place one at risk.
Even when students get to school, there are disparities in scores, usually aligning themselves with certain subjects. Girls generally received higher scores on English and lower scores in math and science, while boys generally see the opposite trend in their scores (“Diversity,” 2015, p. 1). This gender gap has been seen over and over, and there has been speculation about whether these gender differences are innate or socialized. I personally tend to lean towards socialization playing a larger role.
One thing I did not think about was that there are also a few gender gaps that negatively affect boys. Boys drop out of high school at a higher rate than girls (“Gender and EFA,” 2015, p. 10). This may be because of higher male enrollment, but I imagine they ran their numbers proportionally rather than just as sheer volume.
To start off with, I want to take a look at the organizations that did NOT answer my questions about gender and education. Of the ten organizations I researched, only three did not discuss gender on their websites. The Association for Advancement of International Education focuses largely on professional and scholarly development among international educators, publishing journals and hosting conferences, the next of which is going to be about ESL/Special Needs and Technology (“The Association,” 2016, p. 1). In contrast, the Council of Chief State School Officers works to “bring together the top education leaders from every state in the nation” by “creating a public education system that prepares every child for lifelong learning, work, and citizenship” (“Our Promise,” 2015, p. 1). Finally, the Common Core State Standards Initiative largely worked to explain the standards and dispel myths that many people believe about them. The most interesting thing that I learned from this particular site was that, despite what I had heard, states do not have to lower their standards to fit the Common Core Standards, but rather standards are moved “to the next level” (“Myth,” 2016, p. 1). This was a bit odd to me because I have always heard teachers and parents complain about the standards being lower. I guess the standards are just different rather than lower.
Now let’s dive into gender issues. The most commonly addressed issue was basic access to education. Girls are still enrolled in school at a lower rate than boys in more than half the countries in the world (“Gender and EFA,” 2015, p. 10). The gap is largest in secondary education, with 97 girls attending school for every 100 boys (p. 10). Although that number does not seem like a huge difference, I thought about the implications of 3% lower enrollment for girls. 51% of the world’s population is female, so one would actually expect more girls to be enrolled in education than boys purely because there are more of them. The lower enrollment by girls does, however, make sense because women are still fighting for equality with men throughout the world. Perhaps the most startling thing I learned was that women account for 2/3 of the functionally illiterate population in the world (p. 10). This is incredibly sad. Ideally, no one would lack literacy skills, but I would hope that, at the very least, ones gender would not place one at risk.
Even when students get to school, there are disparities in scores, usually aligning themselves with certain subjects. Girls generally received higher scores on English and lower scores in math and science, while boys generally see the opposite trend in their scores (“Diversity,” 2015, p. 1). This gender gap has been seen over and over, and there has been speculation about whether these gender differences are innate or socialized. I personally tend to lean towards socialization playing a larger role.
One thing I did not think about was that there are also a few gender gaps that negatively affect boys. Boys drop out of high school at a higher rate than girls (“Gender and EFA,” 2015, p. 10). This may be because of higher male enrollment, but I imagine they ran their numbers proportionally rather than just as sheer volume.
Gender disparities impact more than
just the students in a school. Even teachers are burdened by these gaps. Women
currently make just $0.73 for every $1.00 that a man makes in the United States
(Kaminski & Rose, 2015, p. 1). The issue of gender in education does not
just affect teachers because they need to keep it in mind for their students,
but it also affects them directly. This pay gap is awful, and it is not
something we should stand for.
Many of the organizations offered up
solutions for these gender disparities. Education for All suggested a two-prong
approach focusing on parity and equality in schools. The Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development on the other hand, suggested approaching
the issue in three separate arenas: education, employment, and entrepreneurship
(“Gender Equality,” 2015, p. 1),. Their approach posits that we cannot fix one
without also fixing the others. UNESCO agrees with this idea, suggesting that
the problems that we see manifested in education are actually problems with
society as a whole (“Gender Equality in Education,” 2015, p. 1). UNICEF focused
largely on empowering girls “by supporting life skills-based education and
female role models in education” (“Girls’ Education,” 2015, p. 1). While all of these approaches have both
positives and negatives, I think I most agree with the idea that we have to
change the way society thinks about gender before we can make a real, permanent
change in the education system.
Throughout my research, I ended up stumbling upon an organization called The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. This is a fantastic resource for women in education. It offers information on Title X and how it affects us, discusses issues like athletics and STEM, and gives women the help they need when dealing with gender discrimination. My favorite section talks about single sex education. It explains that “separating students by sex has not been proven to improve educational outcomes” (“Single Sex,” 2013, p. 1). This site offers real answers to women seeking ways to create a system that allows for gender equality. I think this would be a great one to add to the list of organizations for this assignment for the next cohort.
Throughout my research, I ended up stumbling upon an organization called The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. This is a fantastic resource for women in education. It offers information on Title X and how it affects us, discusses issues like athletics and STEM, and gives women the help they need when dealing with gender discrimination. My favorite section talks about single sex education. It explains that “separating students by sex has not been proven to improve educational outcomes” (“Single Sex,” 2013, p. 1). This site offers real answers to women seeking ways to create a system that allows for gender equality. I think this would be a great one to add to the list of organizations for this assignment for the next cohort.
References:
Diversity toolkit: Gender. (n.d.). National Education Association.
Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/tools/30408.htm
Gender and EFA 2000-2015: Achievements and challenges. (2015). Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Retrieved from http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/gender_data2015/recommendations/
Gender equality in education. (2016).
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved
from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/gender-and-education/
Gender equality. (n.d.). Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/gender/
Girls’ education and gender equality.
(2015, June 23). United Nations Childrens
Fund. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html
Kaminski, S. & Rose, M. (2015,
December 11). Global education report highlights U.S. challenges. American Federation of Teachers. Retrieved
from http://www.aft.org/news/global-education-report-highlights-us-challenges
Myth vs. facts. (2016). Common Core Standards Initiative. Retrieved
from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/myths-vs-facts/
Our promise. (2015). Council of Chief State School Officials.
Retrieved from http://www.ccsso.org/Who_We_Are/Our_Promise.html
Single sex education. (2012). National Coalition for Women and Girls in
Education. Retrieved from http://ncwge.org/singlesex.html
The association for the advancement of
international education strategic plan update. (2013, June). Associate for the Advancement of
International Education. Retrieved from
http://www.aaie.org/page.cfm?p=372
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