Gender Inequality In Education Essay

Introduction to Global Gender Inequality

This world faces many economical worldwide (global) issues. Gender inequality is among thousands of problems. Gender inequality has been an issue for a long time and it still continues to happen in other countries in the world. These countries are a partiacharial and they do not believe women can do the same things men can do. Some of the countries that have gender inequality are Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Bangladesh, Namibia, Australia and Pakistan. Women in these countries do not have the same rights as men. The women are taking away from getting an education, the right for them to choose their own path in life. Some of these women/girls are not given the choice when they want to get married and they are forced to marry someone much older than them. Gender inequality is a worldwide issue that is impacting women's rights to get an education, their personal choice and their health.

The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education

The problem of gender inequality in education. Many countries do not want women to get an education because they believe they should stay at home. “The Namibian assessment shows that while more girls than boys are enrolled in primary school, more boys remain in secondary school. This happens because many girls drop out either before they reach, or while they are in secondary school”(Sasman). The girls are forced to drop out because they face more challenges than boys based on their culture and how they believe that girls should be doing instead of going to school. “Other reason why more girls than boys drop out of school early, include the fact that girls generally have more domestic duties”(Sasman). The girls stay home and help with household chores. “ The effect of opportunity cost has a powerful impact on girls education. Opportunity cost refers to the ‘services’ that girls render in a family. The implication of opportunity costs means that girls if girls remain in school the ‘service’ of that child is lost in the household and the family”.The effect of opportunity causes problems to both parents and the children that want to go to get an education because it cost them the money that could [be earned if their child was at home completing household chores instead of attending school. They see it as a waste of time for the girl to go to school to get an education when she can be at home helping her mother with the household chores, they also think that the girl should be getting prepared for when she gets married so she can satisfy her husband. “ Reasons for the high drop-out of girls include a high number of teenage pregnancies (sometimes even by their teachers), harmful cultural attitudes and practices which include early marriages, as well as gender stereotypes in the very teaching materials and school curriculums”( Sasman). The girls are forced to drop out of school because they are either pregnant or their family is getting them ready for marriage. Once the parents think the daughter is ready for marriage they make them drop out of school so they could prepare them and show them how a wife should be. “Sexual violence and abuse also have an effect on girls’ ability to remain and complete school”( Sasman). Another reason why girls drop out of school is because of the sexual violence some go through they are affected physically and mentally and it is hard to help them forget about all the physical and mental abuse they went through. They are affected so badly that they can not concentrate on what is going on around them because they are going through a rough time. Based on the research that was conducted they determined why there were less girls attending school and the reasons why they dropped out of school.

Parental Attitudes and Gender Inequality in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh there was an investigation conducted to see if there was gender inequality and to ask the parents their opinion on gender inequality and what they believed their children should be doing based on this report they got the answer. In this investigation they examined “ (i) parental traditional gender role attitude, (ii) parental attitude toward girls’ capability and (iii) parental gender-biased investment attitude as three types of parental based on responses of 435 rural parents in which 52.05% were parents of boys and 56.25% were of girls’’(Shahidual Islam Saker, A.H.M. Zehadul Karim and Samrat Mohammad Abu Suffiun’’). In order to get the result of what parents thought about their children's education in order to get an idea of how their culture is and their beliefs. In the investigation the concluded they were based on a hypothesis on what the investigators thought the parents were going to choose. The hypotheses are one the parents that hold a more traditional gender role attitudes are less likely to have aspirations for a more higher education for their children, hypotheses two parents with more traditional attitudes are more likely to have an aspiration for a higher education for their male children, but they would have a less likely to have an aspiration for their female children to get a higher educcation, hypotheses three the parents that hold a more gender biased capability attuitudes are less likely to have an aspiration of letting their children get a higher education, hypotheses four the parents with more gender biased capaility attitudes are less likely to have a higher aspiration for their male children to get a higher education then their female children, hypotheses 5 the parents that have a more gender biased investment attitude are less likely to have an aspiration for their children to get a higher education, hypotheses six the parents with more gender biased investment attitudes are more likely to have a higher aspiration for their male children, but thry are less likely to have a high aspiratioln for their female children to continue school in order to get a higher education(Shahidul Islam Sarker, A.H.M. Zehadul Karim and Samrat Mahammad Abu Suffiun). After the questions were concluded and answered by the parents the investigators took the results and got an answer based on the six hypotheses they made at the beginning of the investigation. The parents that supported hypothesis one were holding a more gender traditional role and were less likely for them to have an aspiration for their children. Hypothesis three is supported by the parents holding more gender-biased attitudes on the aspiration of their children having a higher education. Overall it was concluded that not all parents have the same aspiration as other parents on the topic of their children getting a higher education. Some of the parents grew up with a more traditional role than other parents and they had a higher aspiration for their male children to get a higher education and they did not believe their female children should seek a more higher education.

The Denial of Personal Choice in Patriarchal Societies

Another of the problems with gender inequality is personal choice. They are not given the right to choose what they want in their life. Society chooses what women and men do. They even have requirements of what is expected from both sexes. “ Boys and girls grew up knowing what society required them. As the boys herded their livestock, the girls would fetch firewood and water. As boys hunted, older girls would perfect their cooking prowess”(Bwaki). As they grew they already knew what society required them to do. They were never asked if they wanted to do that. They just had to fulfill and accomplish what society was expecting of them. They were never given their personal choice. In African culture they assign roles depending on gender. “In African culture they are not fair to women. It is dictated that a woman's place was in the kitchen. But it is also dictated that a man's place was in the hunting and fighting fields. Both sexes were playing their different roles towards successful homes and societies '(Bwakali). Both women and men are not given their personal choice on choosing what they want to do. Instead society chooses what they do and they have to do it in order to fit into society and to have successful homes. Both sexes knew what was expected of them in their African culture because it is something that they grew up with. They didn't know any better because they never had their own personal choice. Women are affected by the cultural beliefs and the traditions of the country. Therefore they have to follow everything society asks of them. They can not share their opinion or what they want to do because the men in the country decide their future.

Gender inequality happens to both genders but girls/women are the ones that are more affected than the boys/men. The boys were taught by society that they were the ones with the upper hand and that they are the ones in control once they got married. “ Boys grew up knowing that they had to be strong, hard-working and wise so they could take good care of their wives, children, and society'. The boys don't know anything better than to follow what society expects of them. On the other hand girls grew up differently based on what society required them. “ Girls grew up knowing that they had to be hard-working and submissive so that they could find a good husband who would take good care of them”. The girls were never given the choice of being who they wanted to be. They just knew they had to be submissive in order to get a good husband because if they were rebels they didn't get a good husband.

Cultural Practices and the Subjugation of Women

Women are also not allowed to own anything, everything they have is for their husbands. Women are not given the right to own any property or anything by any means. A woman from Kenya talked in a ted talk and she said “ Because my mother was a woman she was not allowed to own any property and by default, everything in the family anyway belongs to my father, so he had the right”( Ntaiya). In Kenya women are not given the right to own anything, everything belongs to the father by default no matter what he has the right over it. If the husband dies everything passes down to the son if they have one. If they do not then it is taken away. Women also are not given the right to question or ask why they can own anything and why their husband has a right over everything “And if my mother ever questioned him, he would beat her, abused her” ( Ntaiya). If Ntaiya’s mother questioned her husband he would beat her and abuse her. She did not have the right to stand up to her husband because then she was violated just for questioning her husband. This just shows that women are not given the same rights as men. They have to suffer many things just because society does not see them as an equal.

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Women also do not have a right over their body. In Kenya they have a tradition that women have to go through in order to become into women. “In our tradition, there is a ceremony that girls have to undergo to become women, and it’s a rite of passage to womanhood”(Ntaiya). In Kenya Ntaiya’s country, they have this tradition that women have to go through in order to become women. once they go through this tradition they are good to become a wife. In this traditional ceremony that girls have to go through a genetial mutation where women’s genitals (clitoris) are cut off in order for when they get married and have sexual relationships they will not enjoy sex. “There was a woman sitting in the middle of it, and this woman was waiting to hold us. I was first. There were my sisters and a couple of other girls, and as I approached her, she looked at me, and I sat down. And I sat down, and I opened my legs. As I opened my leg, another woman came, and this woman was carrying a knife. And as she carried the knife, she walked toward me and as she held the clitoris, and she cut it off”(Ntaiya). Ntaiya was not given the choice over her body and she had to go through the genital mutilation. They were preparing Ntaiyas body because she was up to age in order to become a wife. She also was one of the lucky survivors because many girls die from an infection after going through this tradition. Overall women are not given a right over what they should do with their body, they are just being prepared for they could get married.

In patriarchal countries the fathers are known for their sons instead of their daughters.

A woman from Kenya talks about gender inequality in Kenya “Everybody who is my dad’s age, male in the community, is my father by default my uncles, all of them -- and they dictate what my future is”(Yousafzai). All the men decided on what Ntaiya’s future is based on what her fathers believe is best for her. They are the ones that pick what she should do for the rest of her life they never ask her what she wants to do. In patriarchal countries they do not celebrate the birth of a daughter and this affects both the mother and the daughter. The mother is uncomfortable for having a girl child as her first child, if she gives birth to a second daughter she is shocked and if she gives birth to a third daughter she feels guilty like she committed a crime because she is expected to give birth to the son (Yousafzai). The mother is expected to give birth to the boy because he is the heir of everything once he grows up. She has to give birth to a son because her daughters can not own anything because the daughters are expected to help with the household and to be prepared to be a good wife based on their beliefs of a woman. Both the mother and the daughter suffer because to them they feel like they did not meet the requirement of society in their country they also feel like they committed a crime for being a woman because men are lookup much more than women. Men are the ones that run their country and they are the ones that deserve more privileges than women, they see women as less than them, that they are just there to satisfy their needs and to do the household chores and look after their kids or heirs.

In Bangladesh there was an investigation that was conducted in order to see where the people thought was a women’s place based on their country. In that investigation they asked the parents this 12 questions which are “ (i) a women’s place should be at home; (ii) some types of work are just appropiate for women; (iii) for more important jobs, it is better to choose a men instead of a women; (iv) a wife;s most important task in life should be taking care of her husband and children; (v) household chores should be allocated by sex; (vi) boys do not have the same obligation to help with household chores as girls; (vii) a wife should not have equal athority with her husband in making decisions; (viii) if she has the same job as a man who has to support a family, she should not expect the same salary; (ix) A women is suited for only certain kinds of jobs because of her emotional and mental nature; (x) A wife should give up her job whenever it inconveniences her husband and children and should not mix freely with males in her social relations; (xi) A women should give more importance to the needs of her family than her personal ambitions and needs; and (xii) Although a woman is highly educated, she should be encouraged to assume a domestic role”. The participants had to rate their responses on a scale from 1-5 on what they think about their traditional attitudes. Once all the participants answered they got the mean from the scores in the mean came to a total of 0.85 (85%)”(Shahidual Islam Saker, A.H.M. Zehadul Karim and Samrat Mohammad Abu Suffiun’’). The parents were asked to rate these 12 questions on a scale of 1 to 5 based on their beliefs. One being strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree and based on the high scores it indicates their traditional beliefs.

Health Disparities and Gender Inequality

Another problem affecting women is their health. They are not given the same rights to get an equal treatment of men. Their cost for maternal help is something that they are making it more expensive. If they make maternal health more expensive this affects women that have a small income causing then not to be able to afford it. In Australia the medical field has been dominated by gender specific policy either to men or to women. Women are not giving the same help with their health choices. Women are given less privileges on their health choices.

Women in Kenya suffer in their health because all the girls/women are required to go through a ceremony where they prepare them to be a wife. Women in Kenya. They have to go through a ceremony where they cut off the womens clitoris in order to get her ready for marriage. They do not apply anesthesia and they use an old rusty knife when they perform the ceremony. They do not have any sanitation, they use the same old rusty knife on all the girls. Some of the girls do not survive this ceremony (tradition) because they either bleed out or they get an infection. They are not allowed to go to the doctor after the process of cutting the clitoris. The reason they remove the clitoris is for when they get married they will not enjoy sex they are just supposed to satisfy the husbands needs.

Conclusion: The Pervasive Effects of Gender Inequality

Overall gender inequality is a global issue that affects many people globally it may not affect you but it affects others personally. They have to live according to what their country expects of them. Many women are not given the privileges as men. They are affected in their education, personal choice, and their health. Many live through what society expects them to be. The women are not given a choice to choose what they want to do with their life they are told what to do, how they should act, what their body is for. They are taking away their right to be who they want to be. Their lives are also chosen by the male population.