A Quick Guide to Gender Mainstreaming in Education

Gender Inequality in the Public Sector in Pakistan

“…A series of reference manuals and quick guides for specific sectors followed such as Development Planning; Finance; Education; Public Service; Trade and Industry; Agriculture and Rural Development; Information and Communications; and Equal Employment Opportunities. These guides for mainstreaming gender were published to educate bureaucrats (Commonwealth Secretariat 1999b;Leo-Rhynie 1999;O'ReganTardu 1999;Sen 1999;Taylor 1999;Frankson 2000); they had a standard format and aimed at the sensitization of policy makers through clarifying the key concepts. For example, these guides attempted to make it clear that women could work in nontraditional sectors, that sex and gender were different, and that gender roles are shaped by a host of sociopolitical and economic factors such as age, class, religion, and politics (Commonwealth Secretariat 1999b;Leo-Rhynie 1999;O'Regan-Tardu 1999;Sen 1999;Taylor 1999;Frankson 2000).…”

“…The problem may not be with GAD but with the way GAD has been implemented, namely through the approach of gender training, which does not take into account the effects of patriarchal structures and policies in the creation of unequal gender relations (Woodford-Berger 2004;Kusakabe 2005;Abou-Habib 2007;Ahikire 2007;Dasgupta 2007). Institutional change requires going beyond the gender awareness of individuals Woroniuk, Thomas, and Schalkwyk 1996;Schalkwyk 1998) involving the extensive emphasis on the education of bureaucrats about gender equality to focus on institutions themselves (Commonwealth Secretariat 1999b;Leo-Rhynie 1999;O'Regan-Tardu 1999;Sen 1999;Taylor 1999;Frankson 2000). As a result of gender training, employees in organizations learn some gender terminology (Moser 2005;Ahikire 2007;Zaleski 2010) but employee practices continue to be shaped by patriarchal institutional policies and mindsets.…”

“…The emphasis on the gender training of officials as a means of institutional transformation argued by Leo-Rhynie (1999), the Commonwealth Secretariat (1999b, Taylor (1999), and Frankson (2000) is misplaced, as it is based on naive notions of how institutional change can be effected (Charlesworth and Smith 2005: 18;AbouHabib 2007;Dasgupta 2007;Mukhopadhyay 2007b;Mukhopadhyay and Wong 2007). A point that is emphasized is that GAD gender mainstreaming in theory supports transformation in patriarchal structures (COE 1998;Beveridge and Nott 2002;Daly 2005;Verloo 2005) but in practice it adopts the soft approach of gender training.…”

Gender Mainstreaming and Employment in the European Union: A Review and Analysis of Theoretical and Policy Literatures*

“…According to gender mainstreaming theoretical and policy literatures, action plans for implementing gender mainstreaming strategies in the EU include, variously: developing a series of treaty frameworks for bridging gender equality projects with employment practices such as the reconciliation of work and family life (Booth and Bennett 2002; Cavazza 2002; Hankivsky 2005; Verloo and Benschop 2002; Walby 2005a); synthesizing national action plans (Rubery et al . 1998); developing common standards around equal pay (Walby 2005a); devolving responsibility for mainstreaming from macro‐policy to micro local and organizational levels (Walby 2005a) and via context‐specific techniques, for example, establishing a gender framework for a specific sector such as information, education or science and technologies (Beck 1999a, 1999b; Frankson 2000; Jämstöd 2007; Johnson 1985; Leo‐Rhynie 1999; McGregor and Bazo 2001; O'Regan‐Tardu 1999; Sen 1999; Stevens and van Lamoen 2001; Taylor 1999).…”

“…Within international public management literatures, gender mainstreaming is articulated as a strategy to 'effectively mainstream gender equality in [an organization's] services and products' (Cavazza 2002, p. 89). According to gender mainstreaming theoretical and policy literatures, action plans for implementing gender mainstreaming strategies in the EU include, variously: developing a series of treaty frameworks for bridging gender equality projects with employment practices such as the reconciliation of work and family life (Booth and Bennett 2002;Cavazza 2002;Hankivsky 2005;Verloo and Benschop 2002;Walby 2005a); synthesizing national action plans (Rubery et al 1998); developing common standards around equal pay (Walby 2005a); devolving responsibility for mainstreaming from macro-policy to micro local and organizational levels (Walby 2005a) and via context-specific techniques, for example, establishing a gender framework for a specific sector such as information, education or science and technologies (Beck 1999a(Beck , 1999bFrankson 2000;Jämstöd 2007;Johnson 1985;Leo-Rhynie 1999;McGregor and Bazo 2001;O'Regan-Tardu 1999;Sen 1999;Stevens and van Lamoen 2001;Taylor 1999). For many scholars of gender mainstreaming (Eveline et al 2009;Rees 1998;Squires 2005;Stratigaki 2004;Verloo 2001Verloo , 2005Walby 2005a), the value of this initiative lies in its strategic potential for transforming social and organizational practices through challenging the 'male-stream and androcentricity of policy' (Hankivsky 2005, p. 980; cf.…”