Published Paper Details:

This paper draws on qualitative educational research conducted in a variety of low-income countries to investigate the gendered inequalities in education as being complex, multi-faceted, and situated rather than a series of barriers that need to be conquered through linear input-output processes that are focused on isolated dimensions of quality. It argues that the frameworks that are commonly used for thinking about educational quality frequently result in analyses of gender inequality that are fragmented and incomplete. However, by considering education quality in a broader sense as a terrain of quality, it investigates questions of educational transitions, teacher supply, and community participation. Additionally, it develops the understanding of how education is experienced by learners and teachers in the context of their gendered lives and the teaching practices they employ. The article identifies dynamics of power underpinning gender inequalities in the literature by taking an approach that is based on theories of human development. These dynamics of power are played out in a variety of contexts and are influenced by the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which they occur. The review and discussion indicate that achieving gender equity in quality education requires recognition and understanding of how inequalities intersect and interrelate to seek out multi-faceted strategies that address not only different dimensions of girls' and women's lives but also understand gendered relationships and structurally entrenched inequalities between women and men, girls, and boys. To achieve gender equity in quality education, it is necessary to recognize and understand how inequalities intersect and interrelate.