Women’s Education

Posted by Molly Miles on February 26th, 2020

Women’s Education

The importance of educating a girl within a society is hard to overestimate. Indeed, it offers a competitive environment, where a girl can express her opinion and feelings. The universal approach to education has evolved since the times of the ancient Romans and Greeks, who valued skills like maths, literacy and philosophy sufficient to teach younger generations. In these early civilised societies, such factors as class, ethnicity and gender determined who could access education. Thus, women did not receive education, since it was believed that learning would affect their reproductive abilities: for instance, it was believed that women should not learn to read or write (let alone more complicated) because such knowledge distracted women from their reproductive capacities. However, today it can be stated that educating a girl will improve the society and the world at large. This topic of study entails females in the society, whose role has been undermined. This paper seeks to explain how females can take active position in the society to improve their independence.

Women and Girls in the US Educational System

The fight for educating women in the US turned out to be very prolific. This was when the colleges were to admit women by law in the 1800s. The law discouraged discrimination and mainly supported the education for the females, increasing the social awareness of the issue: the gender bias in school doesn’t exist solely in the classroom either, because school also imparts other lessons through friends, peers, and informal learning system. This law was mainly put into practice since it improved the women’s position, thereby making them more independent. In the process of improving the women’s access to education, there was much to be done. For example, it is stated that ‘in the world two –thirds of the people who are not educated are women.

In the US, girls and women are treated differently from men. This may be due to the learning institutions being crucial for socialisation and gender role determination, leading to inequities, self-esteem issues and body image problems. Boys and girls are treated differently in terms of grading even by the teaching fraternity, which makes an effort in balancing gender equality. In classrooms, teachers tend to show boys how to cut a shape using scissors and do not do the same with girls of the nursery level, putting the girls into a danger of not knowing what is in progress. Despite the fact that the teachers also have once attended school and must understand the importance of a girl in the society, but they still turn to be unaware of their own biases. As a result, the predetermined difference between boys and girls has led to boys doing better than girls, this research found that boys are became substantially smarter in school than did girls, even when girls started off knowing more. Even when girls and boys enroll in the college or universities, the number of girls graduating is lower as compared to the number of boys graduating. This tendency, however, has decreased considerably in the last decade.

Statistics of Girls in Education

The gendered research of the past decade has shown girls getting advantages in some aspects of education. For instance, due to the research carried out in 2008, the number of women graduating is exceeding the number of men graduating from the same university or colleges in industrialised countries. Moreover, the number of girls graduating from secondary level is higher than that of boys, resulting in more girls graduating from colleges: a 2008 review of the gender inequities in education found that women now are now graduating more than men. However, men tend to earn more professional degrees in law, mathematics and science, which leads to gender inequity. This is due to girls being discouraged from involving in those fields of mathematics, science and law. What serves as an impediment for gender equality? The Harvard president stated that girls are less qualified for the maths, law and science courses. He said that institution gender discrimination plays only a minor part in the gendered division of these degrees or careers. Even today, girls have a small percentage of engineering, computing and mathematics jobs; thus, there is still a certain gender bias in education. Girls in the society are assumed to take inferior courses, which are less helpful in making them superior and independent.

In school or any other learning institution, once a girl has been educated, she is in a position to express herself effectively. This is because educated women are less likely to be sexually abused, they are healthier, and have fewer children. Thus, they are able to care for their families and are better citizens in their communities. Once a girl has been educated, she is able to compete for a leadership position in the society, hence enlightening the society.

Gender Balance and How Women’s Education is Related to Feminism

To consider gender inequality in education, one has to analyze the academic performance of both sexes, which reflects the situation. The scores on the tests and grades in school indicate that today girls perform better than in the previous decades; thus, girls are receiving a more advanced placement in a bigger number of fields. Thus, gender gaps are diminishing in the entire country. In order to continue increasing their performance and grades, girls need the society to appreciate them so as to mentor and encourage them, since they are the determinants of this very society. The ways in which students relate to each other also tell about the gender balance in learning institutions, especially colleges. Namely, in colleges, boys tend to have reading difficulties and are unable to listen and express themselves properly, while girls show a greater potential in socialising skills.

The question is, ‘has gender imbalance disappeared in learning?’ Yes, because it has been found that girls are improving their performance in learning institutions. This is due to family support and encouragement of a girl’s better learning. Due to a research carried out, it has been found that various institution factors have led to change in the behaviour of boys and how they operate within the colleges, hence quitting learning and joining the military.

In understanding the girls’ and boys’ performance, it is important to consider their ethnicity, the level of family income and social status. With this instance being assumed, African-Americans perform poorly compared to their fellow students of Hispanic American. Regarding the income level, students with a lower level of income tend to work harder and hence getting better grades. However, education for boys and girls needs not to be different. To reach a good gender balance in education, we need to be aware of the importance of the girl in the society. This will increase the competition, which shall gear a positive move towards a stable society, which understands the needs of each person at large.

In the world today, for instance, the US is making a great progress in educating the girls. It is done by involving the girls in the major roles in society and appreciating their presence. Girls are given priorities in education to improve their lives and be independent from men. For decades, women had been discouraged from such fields as engineering, law, and mathematics, which did not appreciate and encourage them, but discouraged and undermined. This, for instance, is done by the president of Harvard University, referring to certain subjects being ‘hard’ for women. Such attitude must be totally changed, since educating girls in all spheres will improve the society and the world at large. Girls should be given the same opportunities in the society as boys are. Giving a girl an chance to learn is like lightening the society in general; hence a girl needs to be educated.

The essay was written by the professional writer from spy handler empire service - Molly Miles.

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Molly Miles

About the Author

Molly Miles
Joined: February 26th, 2020
Articles Posted: 1