Gender Equality in Education
Doorways Training Manuals on School-Related Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response > Read More
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Education is universally acknowledged to benefit individuals and promote national development. Education expands the opportunities and life choices for both boys and girls. Worldwide, however, 42 million girls remain out of school, representing 55 percent of all children out of school.
USAID has been working to close the gap between boys and girls by assessing the degree of educational disadvantage that girls face, identifying gender-related obstacles and implementing remedies to remove and overcome them.
Effective Strategies for Educating Girls
An effective strategy for educating girls needs to include attention to access and enrollment, as well as to quality and achievement. Girls in developing countries often come up against teaching practices, textbooks and other learning materials in schools that promote gender stereotypes that are detrimental to their academic achievement.
Unsafe school environments also pose challenges to girls to complete their education.
Keeping girls in school requires that parents, community members, educators, policymakers, and donors look beyond enrollment and address larger, contextual issues, such as the impact that inequities between girls and boys has on educational quality.
GenDev Office Approach to Gender Equality
The Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment's approach to gender equality in education includes:
- Investing in girls ages 10-14 to keep them in primary school and make that crucial transition to secondary school;
- Reducing school-related gender-based violence to make classrooms safer and more welcoming learning environments for girls and boys; and
- Developing practical tools for USAID staff and implementing partners to design, implement and evaluate education programs that address equitable access, quality, and achievement with a gender perspective.
Current Activities
Power to Lead Alliance
Safe Schools Program (Pilot Phase 2003-2008)
Safe Schools Program (Replication Phase 2009-present)
EQUATE: Achieving Equality in Education
Please see the Activity Archives for a list of completed Education activities.
Key Publications
The publications below are listed by region and country, and then in alphabetical order by title.
Global
General
 Are Schools Safe Havens for Children? Examining School-Related Gender-Based Violence 10/14/2008 (806KB)
This report reviews the literature on school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) in an effort to improve understanding of its causes, consequences, and prevalence. The report examines how gender norms, poverty, and a culture of violence contribute to SRGBV. It also explores barriers to preventing and responding to SRGBV and presents examples of what is being done to address the problem.
Education From a Gender Equality Perspective 05/01/2008 (459KB)
This paper, intended as a tool for education programmers, presents a framework designed to address inequalities in education and help ensure that education projects meet the needs of all learners. Using an approach that takes into account the relations and interaction between males and females (i.e., gender dynamics), the Gender Equality Framework addresses four dimensions of equality in education: equality of access, equality in the learning process, equality of educational outcomes, and equality of external results. Sections on each of the four dimensions include concrete activities that can be implemented as part of an overall strategy to achieve gender equality in education.
Gender Equality Framework 05/01/2008 (156KB)
This document introduces a simple framework within which often misunderstood terms and concepts are reviewed in easily understood terminology. The Gender Equality Framework is based on the results from USAID education program assessments conducted during the past decade that revealed the need for a tool to help USAID move education programming toward achieving gender equality. The framework was developed and introduced by the EQUATE project with support from the USAID Office of Women in Development and in consultation with USAID education staff, implementing partners, and other stakeholders.
Gender Equality in Education: A Dynamic Framework 07/01/2009 (143KB)
A chart designed by the EQUATE project that depicts the framework for gender equality in education.
Glossary of Gender Terms 09/20/2007 (321KB)
This is a one-page glossary of common terms related to gender integration and equity.
Safe Schools Program Final Report 11/01/2008 (3.1MB)
The Safe Schools Program was a five-year initiative (2003-2008) funded by the USAID Office of Women in Development and implemented by DevTech Systems, Inc. The goal of Safe Schools was to reduce school-related gender-based violence in selected schools in Ghana and Malawi to support the longer-term goal of improving educational outcomes and reducing negative health outcomes for schoolchildren. Changes in student and teacher knowledge, attitudes, and practices were used to measure progress toward reducing gender violence. Safe Schools was one of the first programs to systematically use a gender approach to identify the relationship between the traditional definition of gender roles and the types of abuse and violence that both girls and boys suffer from and perpetrate in schools.
Tips for Integrating Gender into USAID Education Sector Solicitations 10/01/2010 (947KB)
This guide is designed to help USAID education officers better incorporate gender issues into solicitations and technical evaluations. It is not, however, an exhaustive presentation of the myriad gender issues that may impact a given project. The guide is divided into three sections:
- USAID programming requirements for integrating gender into solicitations,
- guidelines for developing solicitations, and
- guidelines for reviewing proposals/applications.
Training Guide: Continuum of Approaches for Achieving Gender Integration in Programming: A Decision-Making Tool for Education Officers 01/01/2007 (1.7MB)
Since 2005, the EQUATE project has offered a gender training program for USAID education staff and implementing partners, which includes a session introducing the Continuum of Approaches for Achieving Gender Integration in Programming. Since training program participants consistently rank this session as one of the most useful and innovative components of the training, the EQUATE team has developed a stand-alone detailed trainers guide. This guide can be used by training participants or experienced trainers to replicate the session with their own partners and staff as well as other education practitioners who want to address gender inequalities in their own programs.
Africa
Ghana
Safe Schools Program Final Report 11/01/2008 (3.1MB)
The Safe Schools Program was a five-year initiative (2003-2008) funded by the USAID Office of Women in Development and implemented by DevTech Systems, Inc. The goal of Safe Schools was to reduce school-related gender-based violence in selected schools in Ghana and Malawi to support the longer-term goal of improving educational outcomes and reducing negative health outcomes for schoolchildren. Changes in student and teacher knowledge, attitudes, and practices were used to measure progress toward reducing gender violence. Safe Schools was one of the first programs to systematically use a gender approach to identify the relationship between the traditional definition of gender roles and the types of abuse and violence that both girls and boys suffer from and perpetrate in schools.
Malawi
Safe Schools Program Final Report 11/01/2008 (3.1MB)
The Safe Schools Program was a five-year initiative (2003-2008) funded by the USAID Office of Women in Development and implemented by DevTech Systems, Inc. The goal of Safe Schools was to reduce school-related gender-based violence in selected schools in Ghana and Malawi to support the longer-term goal of improving educational outcomes and reducing negative health outcomes for schoolchildren. Changes in student and teacher knowledge, attitudes, and practices were used to measure progress toward reducing gender violence. Safe Schools was one of the first programs to systematically use a gender approach to identify the relationship between the traditional definition of gender roles and the types of abuse and violence that both girls and boys suffer from and perpetrate in schools.
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