Understanding South Asia Gender Inequality in School

In 2007, a female MIT economist went to a country in South Asia, to see what aspirations parents and girls had for their education. Of the 495 villages she and her colleagues visited, they reported that “parents were 45 percent less likely to state that they wanted their girls to graduate from school or study beyond the secondary-school level, in comparison to the parents’ aspirations for boys.”1 The study highlighted one of the many issues that gives rise to gender inequality in school for girls in South Asia.

A centuries-old mindset that boys are preferred to girls still pervades many countries in the world, even those that have seen large economic growth and expansion.2 With this increased economic opportunity, why is gender inequality a problem in South Asia? At the root of this prejudice is the idea that boys will become men who can work, fight or farm. The expectation for girls is that they will learn and do domestic chores like cooking, cleaning and raising children, which means they will not be a source of income. In addition, the sons are the ones expected to take care of the parents in old age. Without a son, they cannot expect this.3

Another long-held and practiced belief in some countries is that of providing dowries, where a bride’s family gives cash or in-kind payment to the groom’s family when the couple marry. All of these factors create an environment for girls and women that devalues them as contributors to society and holds them as unworthy as far as investing in their education and their future. Society as a whole sees no reason to make sure that a girl is educated and has options available beyond secondary education should she want it.

In a culture already partial to boys, girls find themselves at every disadvantage in school for investment and resources. Girls will be the first ones pulled from school to care for younger siblings or work in factories. And the cycle for women in poverty begins all over again. This highlights reasons why girl education is important.


Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs in Gospel for Asia.Org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to ...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

Where Can I Learn How to Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Image
There are many methods for how to break the cycle of poverty which one can learn about. From education assistance to income-generating gifts like sewing machines or farm animals, there is hope for families who have been poor for generations. GFA World works in communities in all these ways through sponsorships and gift distributions, and one by one, we see lives changed as families escape poverty. Raina’s life had been dominated by poverty. She was part of a highly underprivileged people group that faced discrimination and deprivation from others in the region. Despite that, Raina had been able to attend school up until tenth grade, but she discontinued her education when it became too much for her parents to afford. Rather than receiving her certificates of completion, she had to join her parents in the field to earn money to put food on the table. After she married Ander, Raina continued to work in the fields to supplement his income with her own. In search of better job opportunitie...
Read more