This report is one in a series of case studies RAND researchers are conducting as part of an independent evaluation of the BHP Foundation's Education Equity program. This case study traces the development of two efforts by UN Women's Second Chance Education Programme (SCE) in India to support policy changes that improve women's access to education…

It is proposed to examine the argument that females cannot perform better in engineering and science fields because of their poor mathematical or logical reasoning. The major reason for the reduced number of females in the above fields in India is the socio-cultural aversion towards females choosing the field and restriction in providing higher…

In the late 1980s, I embarked on a "small" project in India to obtain a "bit" of comparative data on Indian women in science and engineering. At that time, there was little cross-cultural research on the scientific gender gap outside of the United States or Europe. As a cultural anthropologist, I initially envisaged a…

Disaster risk management (DRM) education to visually impaired (VI) students has posed a great challenge to worldwide educators. International aid agencies report that people with disabilities have often been excluded from several educational interventions to manage disaster risks. It is, therefore, imperative to ensure that people with…

Purpose: Quality education can be provided to underprivileged section in developing economies by the collaborative effort of private-paid schools. The purpose of this paper is to explore and highlight the model which can be adopted by a private school in imparting education to girls coming from lower income strata. It also highlights how synergies…

This article examines the issue of the ethical status of education, particularly as related to individual dignity and freedom. We select cases that have been described in fine detail by social science--the education of girls and the education of all children within counter-hegemonic movements. These cases involve issues of access to equitable and…

This article examines how non-governmental organizations create resources and spaces for girls and women's education and empowerment in China, India and Pakistan--in the context of global expectations and local state relations as well as cultural norms. We examine the dynamics that foster female empowerment associated with educational attainment.…

This working paper will share the experience of Ashta No Kai (ANK), a grassroots nonprofit the author founded in 1998 in 10 villages in Shirur County, Maharashtra state, India, to promote the empowerment and education of women and girls in rural areas. The paper will, at first, examine the state of education in India including the Indian…

The 12th Plan highlighted Equity, Access & Excellence as the tripod of India's education policy. The RTE Act 2009 has ensured a high level of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). However, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) present a dismal picture of the outcome dimensions of our schooling system. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)…

Delving into the "black box" of schooling can help us better understand the paradoxical reality that schooling for girls can be simultaneously empowering and disempowering. Despite recent interest in developing innovative research methodologies within the field of comparative education, there has been less attention to and reflexivity…

This article deepens the understanding of the impact empowerment programs have for women on their social environment, and more specifically on the men in the community, who may or may not be supportive of such endeavors. Gathering evidence from one case in rural India, it addresses how powerholders and gatekeepers reacted to the increased use of…

Girls with disabilities from lower economic homes are disadvantaged (in terms of gender, disability and poverty) in India, and are often regarded as useless by their communities. There is a need to improve and provide a chance for self-sufficiency among women with disabilities in India. The purpose of this study was to examine the life-chances…

This article is based on a case study conducted at a government (state-run), girls' secondary school in a low-income neighbourhood in New Delhi that was conducted in March, 2012, two years after the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) came into force. The study examined how RTE and its related reforms were being…

This article is concerned with the relationship between education, aspiration, and social mobility in Chhattisgarh, central India. I am interested in how the ideology of education as an intrinsic "social good" squares with the everyday experiences of marginalized "adivasi" (tribal) girls. My aim is to understand why education…

UIL has published a second edition of a collection of case studies of promising literacy programmes that seek to empower women. "Narrowing the Gender Gap: Empowering Women through Literacy Programmes" (originally published in 2013 as "Literacy Programmes with a Focus on Women to Reduce Gender Disparities") responds to the…