Gender Discrimination in

Education: The violation of

rights of women and girls.
Global Campaign for Education (GCE)

Communication
Skills
Article review

Mujtaba Ahmed
SP20-BSE-079
In educational institutions, gender inequality has been experienced. Girls have been
discriminated against in terms of various aspects as compared to their male counterparts. The
primary aspect in terms of gender inequality has been experienced is in participation. The
students are required to participate in number of areas in educational institutions. Girls were
provided with less participation opportunities as compared to their male counterparts and
hence, it led to prevalence of gender inequality. Gender inequality in education has
decreased as women have gained greater access to the public sphere. In those parts of the
world where women are now relatively well represented in the public sphere, gender barriers
to educational access have been significantly reduced if not eliminated and gender bias in the
formal and informal curriculum has been greatly reduced. As pointed out by the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the right to education “has been
variously classified as an economic right, a social right and a cultural right. It is also a civil
right and a political right since it is central to the full and effective realization of those rights
as well. In this respect, the right to education epitomizes the indivisibility and
interdependence of all human rights”. Even in those societies in which formal and informal
gender barriers to educational access and advancement have largely given way, however, one
can observe gender differences in important educational outcomes such as chosen courses of
study and, in higher education, in degree programs. And in those societies in which women
remain largely restricted to the private sphere, substantial gender barriers to access and
gender bias in educational content remain an issue. Gender differences in earnings persist
despite the parity in education attained by women. The median annual income of female
college graduates is approximately 70 percent of that earned by their male counterparts
(Jacobs 1996). Both the gender division of labor and gender inequality in a society depend
on its cultural beliefs about the nature and social value of gender differences in competencies
and traits. Such taken for granted beliefs allow actors to be reliably categorized as men and
women in all contexts and understood as more or less appropriate candidates for different
roles and positions in society. The report also includes brief national case studies, from
different regions, which present examples of some of the different forms of gender
discrimination in education. The premise of this report is that human rights law should be
more explicitly recognized as the primary foundation for efforts to achieve Education For
All, and more specifically gender equality in education, and that this recognition will entail
an appropriate focus on State responsibility and capacity.