Gender, Social Change, and Educational Attainment

Islanders’ educational choice: Determinants of the students’ performance in the Cambridge International Certificate Exams in the Republic of Maldives

“…Conversely, the effect of school and teacher quality on academic achievement is greater in low-income countries. Other researchers highlight the influence of students' individual attributes such as gender (Chapman, 1981;Beutel and Axinn, 2002) or birth order (Blake, 1989;Steelman et al, 2002). In countries that have lower enrolment rates, selectivity bias towards wealthier urban households and male children tends to be observed more often than in other cases.…”

Wives’ and Husbands’ Nonfamily Experiences and First-Birth Timing

“…Chitwan historically had very low or no educational attainment and almost no media exposure. However, with the recent expansion of schools and media outlets throughout Chitwan, young women and men are increasingly exposed to educational systems and media sources that promulgate Western ideals (Beutel and Axinn 2002). Western ideals concerning romantic love, marriage, sex and modern family life may encourage a desire for sex and sexual activities among the women who would otherwise depend solely on their husband's desire for sex.…”

“…Because the daily activities of recent Nepalese cohorts are increasingly organized outside the domestic sphere, relationships among family members—especially between children and parents—have changed significantly. Adolescents who once would have learned from and worked for their parents in domestic chores have become sources of new ideas to the parents (Barber and Axinn 2004; Beutel and Axinn 2002; Caldwell 1982; Caldwell et al 1988; DeRose et al 2002). Empirical studies linking non-family experiences to fertility behavior suggest that in arranged marriage societies exposure to non-family experiences lead to increased participation of young people in spouse choice (Ghimire et al 2006), which leads to shorter first birth intervals through mechanisms such as increased coital frequency (Feng and Quanche 1996; Hong 2006; Rindfuss and Morgan 1983; Zhenzhen 2000).…”

“…However, after the overthrow of the Rana Family regime in the 1950s, Nepal made outstanding progress on several fronts including the extensive expansion of schools, health services, markets, transportation, communication technology and mass media (Axinn and Yabiku 2001). This has greatly increased the exposure to sources of new ideas, particularly related to achievement oriented ideals and youth independence including older age at marriage and choice marriages (Ghimire and Axinn 2006, Thornton, Ghimire and Mitchell 2012; Beutel and Axinn 2002; Barber and Axinn 2004; Yabiku and Schlabach 2009).…”

“…Several studies have documented important gender differences in various aspects of social life (Achrya and Bennett 1981; Beutel and Axinn 2002; Jamison and Lockheed 1987; Marini 1978, 1980; Smock 1981; Sorenson 1989; Thomson et al.1990). The patriarchal nature of Nepali society has aggravated the gender difference even more, resulting in greater inequalities for women (Suwal 2001).…”