Inexcusable Absence: Overcoming Exclusion in Girls Education

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Inexcusable Absence Overcoming Exclusion in
Girls Education

• Marlaine Lockheed
• Center for Global Development
• CIES Gender Symposium, 2007

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Schooling trends are improving in the developing
world

• Girls schooling has traditionally lagged that of
  boys, but girls are catching up
• Socially excluded children still lag
• Socially excluded girls are the least likely to
  go to school
• Countries with many socially excluded groups are
  at risk

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Gender parity in primary enrollments rose between
1960 and 2000
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But 60 million primary school age girls were out
of school in 2000
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Most out-of-school girls come from socially
excluded groups
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Who are the socially excluded groups?

• Stigmatization
• Ethnic differences
• Low status
• Involuntary minority status

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Rural-Male-Other
Rural female- Other
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Rural-Male-Other
Rural female- Other
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Guatemala Indigenous girls in are least likely
to be enrolled in school
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Guatemala Indigenous girls in are least likely
to be enrolled in school
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Gaps in enrollment, attainment or completion for
excluded girls

• Nigeria
• 35 lower probability
• Pakistan
• 30-55 percentage points lower
• Slovak Republic
• 45 percentage points lower

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Heterogeneity and male-female differences in
primary school completion rates
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The Challenge Getting and keeping disadvantaged
children in school

• In all countries disadvantaged children lag
  behind in school, and girls do so
  disproportionately
• Enrollment
• Completion/Graduation
• Performance
• But, excluded girls go to school, stay in school
  and do better than boys when given the
  opportunity

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Quechua girls outperform Quechua boys in 5th
grade, Peru 2000
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Indigenous girls outperform indigenous boys in
Ecuador
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Why does heterogeneity have this effect?

• Discrimination in the labor market
• Reduces motivation
• Discrimination in access to school
• Increases direct, indirect and opportunity costs
  of schooling to families
• Lowers school quality
• Discrimination within schools
• Reduces opportunity to learn
• Expectations and stereotype threat
• Lowers performance

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Success is possible, with targeted interventions

• Examples from developed countries
• New Zealand, Canada
• Examples from developing countries
• Chile, Bangladesh, India