Education of girls in my country, India. I was raised in a society where there was always the pressure of quick marriage, children and settle with family. Men were considered the bread earners and women, the home makers. But I had education at my forefront. I believed that educating myself can kick-start a circle of development. More educated girls play more active roles in leading their communities and countries (Winthrop, Dews, & Finan, 2017). Things have improved over the years, but even now there is the issue of girls’ education not being given as much importance as it ought to.


This also leads to women not going for technical courses, as they are expected to study only for running a home.


Gender exacerbates these class differences, particularly in terms of admission to elite STEM institutions—the Indian Institutes of Technology, or IITs. Only 8 percent of students at IITs are women, though a much higher percentage of women study STEM subjects in high school. Fewer women attend coaching classes in preparation for the IIT entrance exam, making them less likely to receive sufficient admission scores. This underrepresentation seems to be due partly to the belief, also common in the United States and elsewhere, that women are less suited to technical jobs, and partly to parents’ greater willingness to invest in a son’s education (Epstein & Yuthas, 2012).

How teachers can help affect this issue.

Gender sensitive curricula: Teachers can watch out for gender biases in the curriculum they teach. They can weed it out, balance it with self developed material or engage with the students in questioning it.


Teacher’s attitude: Singapore is a world leader in education today with pragmatic policy decisions. However, they learnt that that shifting mindsets and attitude on education is as important as policies (Kent, 2015). Teachers need to continuously evaluate their attitude to education, girls and their place in our society.


There is no math gene: One of my ex students who met me after 15 years told me that the reason she took math in senior grades was because she found in my class a gender neutral approach to math as a subject.


Teaching Strategies: Girls, with centuries of low self worth conditioned in their system, need to be mentored to raise their bar for leadership. They need experiential learning opportunities, technology, and support to build their skills and capabilities (Winthrop, Dews, & Finan, 2017).

 

Conclusion

What is female empowerment and is education alone responsible for it? If yes then why do I struggle still with issues of low self worth? Going by literature on women’s leadership, my take away from this assignment is, it is (a) self-worth (b) ability to make choices and (c) become capable to challenge discriminatory structures (Winthrop, Dews, & Finan, 2017).



References

1. Goodman, R., & Kaplan, S. (n.d.). The Mantra of Meritocracy (SSIR). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_mantra_of_meritocrac
2. Kent, D. (2015). A new educational perspective: The case of Singapore. Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education. Retrieved March 10, 2018, from https://eric.ed.gov/?q=EJ1160443&id=EJ1160443.
3. Winthrop, R., Dews, F., & Finan, B. (2017, October 11). Why girls' education is the world's best investment. [podcast-video] https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/why-girls-education-is-the-worlds-best-investment/