Contested gender frameworks: economic models and provider perspectives on education
Abstract
This chapter begins with an examination of the key role of human capital theory in economic models of the provision of education, emphasising the investment dimension of the provision of education with its large returns in relation to individual achievement. Feminist economists have called for a move away from regarding women as merely contributors to the economic process, whilst ignoring the gender constraints within households and labour markets. They argue for a much broader societal framework. The second section explores the relationship between gender, work and education using the lens of development. National provision of education arguably has to recognise the gender dynamics of agricultural economies, which are shaped by both traditional gender cultures and the uneven gender impacts of globalisation on national economies. The economic transformations of developing economies not only challenge the assumptions within mainstream economic theory but also pose a complex gender politics for educationalists. In the third section, a new research agenda is suggested for educational research within the new contours of a national market for education drawn by a global neo-liberal agenda.
Individual chapters in this book, including this one, can be accessed in full here.
Citation
Fennell, S. Contested gender frameworks: economic models and provider perspectives on education. In: Gender Education and Equality in a Global Context: Conceptual Frameworks and Policy Perspectives. Fennell, S.; Arnot, M. (Eds). Routledge, London, UK (2008) 35-50. ISBN 978-0-415-55205-9 (paperback), 978-0-415-41944-4 (hardback), 978-0-203-93959-8 (electronic)
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Contested gender frameworks: economic models and provider perspectives on education