Education and the Status of Women:

Comparative Perspectives

COURSE READINGS

Below are required and recommended readings for the course.  You may find it helpful to seek out the recommended readings for additional perspectives on the topics covered.

 

I.  Overview of Feminist Theories (April 2 & 4)

 

Andersen, Margaret L.  2000.  Chapters 11-13 in Thinking about Women: Sociological and Feminist Perspectives.  5th ed.  New York: Macmillan.

 

Maynard, Mary.  1995.  “Beyond the ‘Big Three’: The Development of Feminist Theory into the 1990s.”  Women’s History Review 4, 3: 259-81.

 

Recommended reading

Jaggar, Alison.  1981.  “Feminism and Philosophy.”  Pp. 6-21 in Feminism and Philosophy, edited by Mary Vetterling-Braggin, Frederick A. Elliston, and Jane English.  Totowa, NJ: Roman and Littlefield.

 

 

II.  Comparative Views (April 9 & 11)

 

Ramirez, Francisco O.  “Progress, Justice, and Gender Equity: World Models and Cross-National Trends.”  Prepared for publication in Bending the Bars of the Iron Cage: Institutional Dynamics and Processes, edited by Walter W. Powell and Daniel L. Jones.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, forthcoming.

 

Stromquist, Nelly P.  2000.  “Voice, Harmony, and Fugue in Global Feminism.”  Gender and Education 12, 4: 419-433.

 

Arnot, Madeleine.  2000.  “Gender Relations and Schooling in the New Century: Conflicts and Challenges.”  Compare 30, 3: 293-302.

 

 

III.  Access (April 16 & 18)               **  Annotated Bibliographies due 4/16**

(Video screening on 4/18; details TBA)

 

Stash, Sharon and Emily Hannum.  2001.  “Who Goes to School?  Educational Stratification by Gender, Caste, and Ethnicity in Nepal.”  Comparative Education Review 45, 3: 354-378.

 

Zhou, Xueguang, Phyllis Moen and Nancy Brandon Tuma.  1998.  “Education Stratification in Urban China: 1949-94.”  Sociology of Education 71, 3: 199-222.

 

Assie-Lumumba, N’Dri Therese.  “Educational and Economic Reforms, Gender Equity, and Access to Schooling in Africa.”  2000.  International Journal of Comparative Sociology 41, 1: 89-120.

 

Pourzand, Niloufar.  1999.  “The Problematic of Female Education, Ethnicity and National Identity in Afghanistan (1920-1999).”  Social Analysis 43, 1: 73-82.

 

Recommended reading

Sutton, Margaret.  1998.  “Girls’ Educational Access and Attainment.”  Pp. 381-396 in Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues, edited by Nelly P. Stromquist.  New York: Garland.

 

 


IV.  Economic Considerations (April 23 & 25)    ** First Reflection Paper due 4/23**

 

Hadden, Kenneth and Bruce London.  1996.  “Educating Girls in the Third World: The Demographic, Basic Needs, and Economic Benefits.”  International Journal of Comparative Sociology 37, 1-2: 31-46.

 

Colclough, Christopher, Pauline Rose and Mercy Tembon.  2000.  “Gender Inequalities in Primary Schooling:  The Roles of Poverty and Adverse Cultural Practice.”  International Journal of Educational Development 20, 1: 5-27.

 

Ilon, Lynn.  1998.  “The Effects of International Economic Trends on Gender Equity in Schooling.”  International Review of Education 44, 4: 335-356.

 

Recommended readings

Buchman, Claudia.  1996.  “The Debt Crisis, Structural Adjustment and Women’s Education: Implications for Status and Social Development.”  International Journal of Comparative Sociology 37, 1-2: 5-30.

 

 

V.  Higher Education (April 30 & May 2)             

 

Jacobs, Jerry A.  1996.  “Gender Inequality and Higher Education.”  Annual Review of Sociology 22: 153-185.

 

Bradley, Karen.  2000.  “The Incorporation of Women into Higher Education: Paradoxical Outcomes?”  Sociology of Education 73, 1: 1-18.

 

Jayaweera, Swarna.  1997.  “Higher Education and the Economic and Social Empowerment of Women-The Asian Experience.”  Compare 27, 3: 245-261.

 

Kolodny, Annette.  2000.  “Women and Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Some Feminist and Global Perspectives.”  NWSA Journal 12, 2: 130-147.

 

Recommended readings

Petrides, Lisa.  1998.  “Higher Education and Professional Preparation.”  Pp. 408-417 in Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues, edited by Nelly P. Stromquist.  New York: Garland.

 

Groth, Alexander J. and Charles R. Dannehl.  1992.  “Women in Higher Education: Economic, Political, and Cultural Influences.”  Women and Politics 12, 1: 53-71.

 


VI.  Science Education (May 7 & 9)         ** Second Reflection Paper due 5/9 **

 

Roger, Angela and Jill Duffield.  2000.  “Factors Underlying Persistent Gendered Option Choices in School Science and Technology in Scotland.”  Gender and Education 12, 3: 367-383.

 

Hanson, Sandra L., Maryelle Schaub and David P. Baker.  1996.  “Gender Stratification in the Science Pipeline: A Comparative Analysis of Seven Countries.”  Gender and Society 10, 3: 271-290.

 

Wotipka, Christine Min and Francisco O. Ramirez.  “Women in Science: For Development, For Human Rights, For Themselves.”  In Science in the Modern World Polity: Institutionalization and Globalization, edited by Gili S. Drori, John W. Meyer, Francisco O. Ramirez and Evan Schofer.  Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.  In press.

 

Recommended reading/resource

Baker, Dale R.  1998.  “Equity Issues in Science Education.”  Pp. 869-895 in International Handbook of Science Education, edited by Barry J. Fraser and Kenneth G. Tobin.  Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

 

http://gstgateway.wigsat.org/

 

 

VII.  Women’s Studies (May 14 & 16)       

 

Florence Howe.  1991.  “Women’s Studies in the United States: Growth and Institutionalization.”  Pp. 103-121 in Women's Studies International: Nairobi and Beyond, edited by Aruna Rao.  New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York. 

 

Miriam K. Chamberlain and Florence Howe.  1995.  “Women's Studies and Developing Countries: Focus on Asia.”  Pp. 51-75 in The Women and International Development Annual, Vol. 4.  Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

 

Gaidzanwa, Rudo B.  1993.  “Women’s Studies in Zimbabwe: Towards the Year 2000.” Australian Feminist Studies 18: 191-203.

 

Jackson, Sue.  2000.  “Networking Women: A History of Ideas, Issues and Developments in Women’s Studies in Britain.”  Women’s Studies International Forum 23, 1: 1-11.

 

http://women-www.uia.ac.be/women/

http://www.wgsact.net/index.html

http://www.fss.uu.nl/wows/start.html

 

Recommended reading

Marilyn Jacoby Boxer.  1998.  When Women Ask the Questions: Creating Women’s Studies in America.  Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

 


VIII.  Life in Academia (May 21 & 23)      **  Petitions for paper option due 5/21 **

 

Bain, Olga and William Cummings.  2000.  “Academic Glass Ceiling: Societal, Professional-Organizational, and Institutional Barriers to the Career Advancement of Academic Women.”  Comparative Education Review 44, 4: 493-514.

 

Bell, Sandra and Jane Gordon.  1999.  “Scholarship - The New Dimension to Equity Issues for Academic Women.”  Women’s Studies International Forum 22, 6: 645-658.

 

Walker, Melanie.  1998.  “Academic Identities: Women on a South African Landscape.”  British Journal of Sociology of Education 19, 3: 335-354.

 

 

IX.  Educational Policy & Organizations (May 28 & 30)           

** Third Reflection Paper Due (5/30)**

 

McNeely, Connie L.  1995.  “Prescribing National Education Policies:  The Role of International Organizations.”  Comparative Education Review 39, 4: 483-507.

 

Schafer, Mark J.  1999.  “International Nongovernmental Organizations and Third World Education in 1990: A Cross-National Study.”  Sociology of Education 72, 2: 69-88.

 

Stromquist, Nelly P.  1998.  “The Institutionalization of Gender and Its Impact on Educational Policy.”  Comparative Education 34, 1: 85-100.

 

 

X.  Debriefing and Review (June 4)

 

Students who are writing research papers in lieu of taking the final exam will provide brief descriptions of their projects to the rest of the class.  Students will complete course evaluations.  The final exam questions will be handed out at the end of class.


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