A reversal of educational fortune? Educational gender gaps in Bangladesh

Shafiq, M. Najeeb

doi:10.1002/jid.1479

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…The much discussed Bangladesh Female Secondary School Stipend Project, receipt of which, for a young woman, is conditional on remaining unmarried, is seen to have increased the age at marriage of girls, with consequent delays in first births. While the programme has indeed led to a rise in enrolment of girls in secondary schools, exceeding in fact that of boys in both rural and urban areas (Shafiq, 2009), its impact on delayed marriage, enhancing employment opportunities or indeed voice in marriage is hard to establish (Rao, 2012). Further, the school system has not kept pace with the rising enrolment of female students; teachers are poorly qualified, materials are scarce and infrastructure strained.…”

Section: The Educational Environment In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender equality and girls’ education: Investigating frameworks, disjunctures and meanings of quality education

Aikman

Rao

2012

Theory and Research in Education

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The article draws on qualitative educational research across a diversity of low-income countries to examine the gendered inequalities in education as complex, multi-faceted and situated rather than a series of barriers to be overcome through linear input-output processes focused on isolated dimensions of quality. It argues that frameworks for thinking about educational quality often result in analyses of gender inequalities that are fragmented and incomplete. However, by considering education quality more broadly as a terrain of quality it investigates questions of educational transitions, teacher supply and community participation, and develops understandings of how education is experienced by learners and teachers in their gendered lives and their teaching practices. By taking an approach based on theories of human development the article identifies dynamics of power underpinning gender inequalities in the literature and played out in diverse contexts and influenced by social, cultural and historical contexts. The review and discussion indicate that attaining gender equitable quality education requires recognition and understanding of the ways in which inequalities intersect and interrelate in order to seek out multi-faceted strategies that address not only different dimensions of girls' and women's lives, but understand gendered relationships and structurally entrenched inequalities between women and men, girls and boys.

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Section: The Educational Environment In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender equality and girls’ education: Investigating frameworks, disjunctures and meanings of quality education

Aikman

Rao

2012

Theory and Research in Education

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“…Female literacy rates continue to be relatively much lower in Sylhet division when compared with other regions in the country, although Chittagong has shown some progress in recent years. However, many girls in Sylhet and Chittagong drop out of school, partly influenced by the purdah culture which not only involves covering oneself in a veil, but also refraining from education after puberty (Shafiq, 2009). Also, contraceptive use is lowest in Sylhet (32%) followed by Chittagong division (43.9%) compared with the national average of 55.8%, and has actually declined over time (NIPORT et al, 2005(NIPORT et al, , 2009.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Fertility Regions in Bangladesh: A Marriage Cohort Analysis

Islam

Padmadas

2010

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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Bangladesh represents one of the few countries in south Asia where the pace of fertility decline has been unprecedented over the last three decades. Although there has been significant reduction in fertility levels at the national level, regional variations continue to persist, especially in Sylhet and Chittagong where the total fertility rates are well above the country average. Using data from three consecutive Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHSs) this paper assesses how fertility patterns in Sylhet and Chittagong differ from the rest of Bangladesh through a marriage cohort analysis of the parity progression ratios, and examines the factors determining the transition rates to higher parity in these two regions. Three cohorts of women are identified: those married during 1965-1974, 1975-84 and 1985-94. The results show that the probability that a woman from the recent cohort in Sylhet or Chittagong who had a third birth will have a fourth birth is nearly twice that of her counterpart in other regions. Social characteristics such as education, occupation, religion and residence have no effect on fertility in Sylhet and Chittagong. Additional period-specific analyses using the 2007 BDHS data show that women in Sylhet are considerably more likely to have a third or fourth birth sooner than those in other divisions, especially Khulna. The findings call for specific family planning policy interventions in Sylhet and Chittagong ensuring gender equity, promoting female education and delaying entry into marriage and childbearing. HIGH FERTILITY REGIONS IN BANGLADESH:A Summary. Bangladesh represents one of the few countries in south Asia where the pace of fertility decline has been unprecedented over the last three decades. Although there has been significant reduction in fertility levels at the national level, regional variations continue to persist, especially in Sylhet and Chittagong where the total fertility rates are well above the country average. Using data from three consecutive Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHSs) this paper assesses how fertility patterns in Sylhet and Chittagong differ from the rest of Bangladesh through a marriage cohort analysis of the parity progression ratios, and examines the factors determining the transition rates to higher parity in these two regions. Three cohorts of women are identified: those married during 1965-1974, 1975-84 and 1985-94. The results show that the probability that a woman from the recent cohort in Sylhet or Chittagong who had a third birth will have a fourth birth is nearly twice that of her counterpart in other regions. Social characteristics such as education, occupation, religion and residence have no effect on fertility in Sylhet and Chittagong. Additional period-specific analyses using the 2007 BDHS data show that women in Sylhet are considerably more likely to have a third or fourth birth sooner than those in other divisions, especially Khulna. The findings call for specific family planning policy interventions in Sylhet and...

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“…More girls than boys now enrol in secondary school, drawn in substantial part, it is believed, by the availability of cash stipends for all unmarried girls who attend and perform to a minimum level (Al-Samarrai 2009). Yet while Bangladesh has done well compared to other countries in widening girls' access to school, quality and attainment for boys and girls are absolutely low and the closure of the gender gap in basic education may reflect stagnating educational access among the 'boys left behind' (World Bank 2008a;Shafiq 2009;Tariquzzaman and Hossain 2009). After the rapid progress of the 1990s, Bangladesh's more recent MDG performance has been disappointingly average.…”

Section: Social Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women's Empowerment Revisited: From Individual to Collective Power among the Export Sector Workers of Bangladesh

Hossain¹

2012

IDS Working Papers

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Acknowledgements and Disclaimer 1 Introduction: the state of women's empowerment in Bangladesh 1.1 The idea of success 1.2 Social indicators 1.3 Economic participation 1.4 Political participation and security 1.5 Changing society in the post-conflict era 1.6 Empowerment revisited 2 The RMG sector 2.1 The economic significance of the RMG sector 2.2 The political significance of the RMG sector 3 Women as RMG workers 3.1 Hard work 3.2 Workers' experiences of economic and social empowerment through garments work 3.3 Women's wages and male power 4 The wider effects of RMG employment 4.1 The impact on men's attitudes 4.2 RMG employment and the expansion of basic education for girls 4.3 Women's mobility and the feminisation of public space 4.4 Citizenship and political empowerment The author is grateful to Carolina Sanchez-Paramo and Sudhir Shetty of the World Development Report Team for comments on the first draft, Samer Al-Samarrai for insights into the issue of education and skills, and colleagues at BRAC Development Institute, in particular Ferdous Jahan, Sohela Nazneen and Mamunur Rashid for work done jointly on women's empowerment (Nazneen et al. 2010; 2011) and on the effects of the food, fuel and financial crisis (Hossain et al. 2009; Hossain et al. 2010). The work with BDI colleagues has generated many of the insights into the wider context of women's empowerment, and the recent global economic shocks experienced by garments workers discussed in this paper. Useful comments were also received from colleagues at the Dhaka World Bank office. The author is particularly grateful to Sohela Nazneen for her insights and knowledge of relevant recent literature and public perceptions of garments workers. Disclaimer While a version of this paper was originally prepared as a background paper for the World Development Report 2012 on Gender Equality and Development, it does not reflect the views of the World Bank. All errors and omissions are those of the author alone.

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A reversal of educational fortune? Educational gender gaps in Bangladesh

Cited by 25 publications

References 53 publications

Gender equality and girls’ education: Investigating frameworks, disjunctures and meanings of quality education

Gender equality and girls’ education: Investigating frameworks, disjunctures and meanings of quality education

High Fertility Regions in Bangladesh: A Marriage Cohort Analysis

Women's Empowerment Revisited: From Individual to Collective Power among the Export Sector Workers of Bangladesh

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