Growing Up Global:
Can Education
Reduce
Gender Inequality
and Poverty?
Cynthia B. Lloyd
Iowa State University
October 30, 2007
Outline
• Global Context
• Criteria for successful transitions to adulthood
• Past trends in education
• Current realities
• Challenges for the future: freeing constraints/
surmounting traps
Global context
• Changing demography of youth
• Globalization and democratization
• The impact of global change on youth and
transitions to adulthood
• Criteria for successful transitions to adulthood
Africa
Asia
Latin America/Caribbean
1.1 billion
1.6 billion
1.7 billion
Source: UN World Population Prospects, 2006 Revision Population Database
Demographic profile of young people (10-24)
in developing countries
Source: UN World Population Prospects, 2006 Revision Population Database
• Pervasiveness of market-led economic change
• Technological change
• Democratization and the rise of civil society
• Changes in population size and distribution
• Rapid spread of formal schooling
• Changes in the health environment
• Cultural diffusion and ideational change
• Emergence of systems of international governance
Rapid global change
Source: NRC/IOM (2005)
Rapid
Global
Change
Changing
National
Context
Changing Local
CommunityContext
Changes in
Education/
Human
Capital/
Learning
Outcomes
Changes
in the
Transition to
Adulthood
Conceptual framework
Source: NRC/IOM (2005)
Rapid
Global
Change
What do young people need to achieve
successful transitions?
• Good health, including knowledge and means to sustain
health
• An appropriate stock of human and social capital to become
a productive adult
• Prosocial values and the ability to contribute to the collective
well-being
• Adequate preparation for the assumption of adult social roles
and obligations
• The capability to make choices
Source: NRC/IOM (2005)
Primary completion ratios of boys and girls combined by region,
1990–2000, population weighted
0
20
40
60
80
100
1990 Most Recent Year
Source: Bruns et al. 2003
Percent completing primary school, 30 African countries
late 1960s early 1970s late 1970s early 1980s late 1980s early 1990s late 1990s
Source: Hewett and Lloyd (2005)
Individual country trends, percentage completing 6+ grades
Africa
Asia
Latin America/
Caribbean
Middle East
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys data
Age Age
Tanzania (2004)
Age
Ethiopia (2005)
Age
Bangladesh (2004)India (1998-00)
Ghana (2003)
Age
Pakistan (2001-02)
Age
Percent completed 6+ years, 6 countries
Boys Girls
Source: DHS and AYP data
Highlights – Past Trends
• Unprecedented progress in educational
attainment, particularly for girls
• Gender gaps closing
• Universal primary completion still elusive in
much of Africa, parts of Asia
• Diversity persists
Percentage of 10-14 year olds currently attending, by region & country
Africa
Asia
Latin
America
Middle East
Overall population “Poor” population
Girls BoysSource: Demographic and Health Surveys data
Guatemala: Differences in going to and staying in school among
cohorts 7-12, 15-19, and 20-24 years old, by ethnicity and genderP
erc
en
tage
Source: Hallman and Peracca (2007)
Pakistan: 15–19 year olds who ever attended school,
based on residence and socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status
Rural Urban
Pe
rcen
tage
*
Urban low not included; too few casesSource: Lloyd, Mete, Grant 2007
*
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys data
Percent of 15 year olds who did NOT reach level 1 competence level in Pisa Assessment Test s
Reading
Math
Source: Filmer, Hasan, and Pritchett (2006)
Low & Middle Income countries High Income countries
Reaching
advanced
benchmark
Reaching
high
benchmark
Reaching
intermediate
benchmark
Reaching
low
benchmark
Not reaching
low benchmark
Results of TIMSS 2003: Mathematics achievement of Grade 8 students
Note: Countries sorted in increasing order of proportion not reaching low benchmark
Source: Mullis et al. (2004), p. 64
100
80
60
40
20
0
20
40
60
80
100
% o
f stu
de
nts
at e
ach
in
tern
atio
nal b
en
ch
ma
rk
Esto
nia
Hu
ng
ary
Latv
ia
Mala
ysia
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
.
Slo
vakia
Lit
hu
an
ia
Arm
en
ia
Bu
lgari
a
Serb
ia/M
on
t
Ro
man
ia
Mo
ldo
va
Leb
an
on
Maced
on
ia
Jo
rdan
Ind
on
esia
Iran
Tu
nis
ia
Eg
yp
t
Mo
rocco
Ch
ile
Ph
ilip
pin
es
Bo
tsw
an
a
Sau
di A
rab
ia
So
uth
Afr
ica
Gh
an
a
Sin
gap
ore
Can
ad
a
Ho
ng
Ko
ng
Rep
Ko
rea
Jap
an
Neth
erl
an
ds
Can
ad
a
Belg
ium
Sw
ed
en
Au
str
alia
US
A
UK
Sco
tlan
d
UK
En
gla
nd
Slo
ven
ia
New
Zeala
nd
Isra
el
Italy
No
rway
Cyp
rus
Bah
rain
Pakistan
Malawi
Current Realities
• Cross-country and within country inequalities in
school attendance
• Need to expand access for “excluded” groups:
poor, minorities, child of conflict
• Crisis in school quality; abysmal test scores on
reading and math
Source: Psacharopoulos and Patrinos (2004)
Percent NOT attending secondary school (15-19)
Africa
Asia
Latin
America
Middle East
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys data
FEMALE
Source: Buvinic, Guzman, Lloyd 2007
Labor force participation rates , regional averages
MALE
Paradox
• High and rising returns for girls attending
secondary school
• Low levels of participation in secondary school
in many countries
• Barriers to girls’ participation in secondary
school and to girls’ employment
Challenges for the futureFreeing constraints and surmounting traps
• Reaching the marginalized
• Improving school quality
• Increasing access to secondary school
• Creating variety and choice in learning
opportunities
• Surmounting the digital/language divide
• Combating employment discrimination
Reach the marginalized
• Eliminate tuition fees
• Bring schooling to the geographically
isolated/children of conflict
• Combat discrimination against minority groups
• Provide conditional cash transfers for the poor
• Invest in infrastructure to reduce domestic
drudgery
Improve primary school quality
• Provide incentives for performance
• Create systems of accountability/transparency
to parents/ community
• Provide gender training for teachers
• Recruit and train para-teachers
• Create safe spaces for girls
Increase access to secondary school
• Provide girls’ only scholarships/stipends
• Enlist alternative schools for girls (.e.g.,
madrassas in Bangladesh)
• Prohibit discrimination in admission criteria for
girls
Create variety and choice for learning
during adolescence
• Non-formal alternatives for girls left behind
• Accelerated learning programs to support
school re-entry
• Livelihoods programs to enhance employability
both within and outside schools
• Part-time learning programs combining school
and work
Surmount the digital/language divide
• Invest in connectivity outside major urban areas
• Train teachers in use of technologies for
learning (e.g., radios, videos, computers)
• Create public/private partnerships for
technology investments
• Teach international language
Combat employment discrimination
• Enforce equal pay for equal work
• Reduce labor market regulations
• Change gender norms through media
messages, political leadership
• Promote policies that ensure property/
inheritance rights, legal identity, eligibility for
loans/savings
Reduce gender inequality and poverty
• Education for all is a necessary but not sufficient
condition
• Quality of education matters
• Culture/legal context matters
• Employment/entrepreneurship opportunities to
match skills are critical