Cooray, A., Potrafke, N. (2011) ‘Gender Inequality in Education: Political Institutions or Culture & Religion?’ European Journal of Political Economy Vol. 27(2), 268-280.
Darling, J., Glendinning, A. (1996) Gender Matters in Schools. London: Cassell.
Quicke, J. (1998) ‘Gender and Underachievement: Democratic educational Reform through Discourse Evaluation’. in Gender in the Secondary Curriculum. ed. by Clark, A., Millard, E. London: Routledge.
What is the gender question in education? Is there a gap between gender and equal opportunities in education? Who or what is to blame for gender inequality in education? A review of the three sources given above, without being specific to one geographical area, will attempt to shed some light on these questions and many more concerning education and the gender gap. Education of girls is important for economic development - (part of the third of the eight Millennium Development Goals - Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women) (United Nations 2006) “The gender gap in educational performance is a major subject of public policy debate internationally” (Arnot, David & Weiner 1999). All three sources being reviewed address issues relating to gender inequality in education – Cooray & Potrafke focusing on the political, cultural and religious effects while Darling & Glendinning & John Quicke utilize more of a classroom setting. Despite these different approaches & the slightly different parts of the world that the studies are based on, they all attempt to address the various reasons for inequality in education and its impacts on the female gender and the society at large.
Cooray and Potrafke empirically investigate the roles that political institutions, religion and culture play in gender inequality in education discussing the degree and level of contribution of each aspect. The authors criticise prior studies such as that of Brown (2004) whose