GENDER AND

SOCIETY
CHAPTER 13
 CONTENTS
1. GENDER AND EDUCATION
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION: AN INTERNATIONAL
PERSPECTIVE
3. PHILIPPINE LAWS IN GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND GENDER-FAIR
EDUCATION
4. GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT MARKERS IN EDUCATION
5. GENDER ISSUES IN EDUCATION
6. FUTURE STEPS, LOOKING FORWARD
PART 1: GENDER AND EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Is a basic human right, one that is essential for the society.
Education has been a priority agenda for most government and
development agencies as reflected in Philippine laws and policies.
The right of both genders to educate was a right fought for by
various peoples across the globe.

GENDER
Can influence an individual’s experience with education. It can affect a
person’s access to quality education. In some countries, women are still
fighting for their right to educations.
Part 2: THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION: AN
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stresses that education is
everyone’s fundamental right; it is something necessary to fulfil one’s human potential.
Primary education is a non-negotiable right that must be free for all, while technical
and professional education, along with higher education, should be accessible and
based on one’s merit and skills.
The 1989 Convention on the Right of the Child echoes this right. The value if education is
emphasized in its contribution to the full development of the human person.
Access to primary education is one of the eight MDGs as it is a powerful tool for social
transformation. Education’s power lies in the fact that it “is the only formal institution
that all individuals in societies are required to pass through.
Hence, education is also a powerful tool for socialization. A school teaches what is
important, such as an individual’s responsibilities in a society and one’s potential. Education
policies must then reflect the values of the society one wishes to see. In this respect, education
helps create a just and fair society.
 Education is a priority sector mentioned in gender
literature in the Philippines. Currently, gender issues in
education include non-sexist curriculum, non-sexist
language, freedom in career options, and the removal of
all forms of discrimination.International.
 Education is about the mobility of students and
scholars who go to another part of the world to
study, research, or teach.
 The primary goals of international education are
furthering knowledge and cultural capital, learning
about places and cultures, and gaining intercultural
skills in the process.
 Education and the Beijing Platform Action 1995

 Education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving the

goals of equality, development, and peace. What a person knows
can help him or her improve his or her situational and enhance his
or her general state, family situation, and overall life.
 The idea of education is a key strategic tool for gender equality was
solidified in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).
 The BPfA prioritizes women’s and men’s equal access to
quality education as education is viewed as key to helping
people achieve their full potential.
 The BPfA also highlights the importance of investing in formal and
non-formal education.
PART 3: PHILIPPINE LAWS ON GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND
GENDER-FAIR EDUCATION
The Filipino’s high regard for education comes from the view that education is a
“pillar of national development and a primary avenue for social and economic
mobility.” the importance of education is ingrained in the Philippine
Constitution: “The State shall protect and promote the right of citizens to
quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make
education accessible to all.” education in the Philippines is a constitutional
right, regardless of one’s status in life.
Numerous laws enforce and protect one’s right to education, with specific
consideration for the issues that arise from one’s strategic and practical gender
needs.
Two primary plans that highlight the value of education as an important social sector
are the Philippine Development Plan for Women 1989-1992 (PDPW) and the
Philippine Plan for Gender-responsive Development 1995-2025 (PPGD).
 PART 4: GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT MAKERS IN EDUCATION

 The GAD markers of the NEDA’s 2010 Revised Harmonized GAD Guidelines is designed to help monitor the
gender-responsiveness of academic programs and projects. The NEDA 2010 guidelines for gender
mainstreaming have general GAD monitoring indicators for basic and higher education.
Primary and Secondary Education used participation, enrolment, and positive performance in
standardized test as indicators.
 In higher education, the performance of male and female students in licensing and board exams is assessed, as
well as women enrolees, graduates, and distribution of gender per academic degree or program. As for
employment in the education sector, the number of teachers or administrator per gender is evaluated for public,
private, and vocational institutions.
The guidelines look at the proportion of women who enrol and graduate; the courses or
academic tracks each gender enrols in; how gender-sensitive the school curricula, programs, and
services are; the presence of non-sexist career counselling: and mechanism for addressing sexual
harassment on campus.
 Lastly, the NEDA report states that women must participate actively in the decision-making bodies
of a school. It is assessed through the number of women in educational boards, parent-teacher associations, and
teacher’s organizations.
 The Women’s EDGE Plan addresses previous gaps in the PDPW and PPGD, and calls attention to
emerging issues on gender-responsiveness.
 The Women’s EDGE Plan by the PCW states that institutions can add and consider gender in
all aspects of education, making the curriculum gender-fair.
 Through training, teachers are sensitized to the different needs of all genders, with special
consideration to women. Thus, the school can become a safer and more gender-inclusive place.
 Teen wellness and sexual and reproductive health and rights are part of the gender mainstreaming
agenda. These factors are included to raise awareness about gender-based violence.
 The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) is a revolutionary law that seeks to eliminate other
issues women and girls face within education. The MCW promotes the addition of women in
non-traditional disciplines or vocational courses within higher education as prescribed by
international treaties.
 The MCW states specific provisions of three educational institutions to ensure the protection
of women’s education. These institutions include the Department of education (DepEd), the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA). The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is also
cited to provide women moral marginalized sectors (indigenous persons (Ips), women in rural
areas, women migrant workers access to training as deemed necessary.
PART 5: GENDER ISSUES IN EDUCATION
Equal access does not mean that discrimination has been eliminated from education
The Beijing+20 non-governmental organization (NGO) report shows that issues with
education are due to discrimination caused by:
• Cultural beliefs
• Gender biases
Other barriers to education:
• Early pregnancy
• Sexual harassment
• Lack of accessible facilities
• Access to quality education
These barriers affect women throughout their lives.
Gender and Discrimination impact one’s access to quality higher education.
Gender Concerns on Campus- An information Kit for College Administrators and Educators by
Thelma Kintanar 2013
Highlight the gender gaps in higher education.
Explains why it is necessary to analyse the quality of education given to women.
Identifies insufficiency in policies and issues to be considered by institutions of higher education
(IHEs).
Gender concerns in education should include the following issues.
o Gender balance in the curriculum
o Sexual harassment on campus
o Sexism and sexist language
o Violence against women (VAW) on campus
o Concerns on sexuality and sexual orientation. –acknowledges that gender and education
literature in the Philippines does not address LGBT issues, creating a gap.
Stereotyping as a Violation of Human Rights
Stereotypes are enforced by institutions such as: family, community, religious body or church, school, and mass media.
Knowledge is created and reproduced in these institutions. Standards are normalized, transplanted to one’s work,
organization, and home culture. They reinforce a biased perception of a certain gender’s role.
Ex: Women- stereotyped as caring, meek, homemakers, and mothers.
Stereotypes include what roles and attitudes women and must posses, and assumptions on how certain
groups such as LGBT act.
Education is a key factor that may either strengthen or break gender stereotypes.
Primary and secondary education have a high impact on women in terms of life choices, economic security, employment,
and life goals.
A 2013 report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights declares gender stereotyping as a violation
of one’s human rights.
The Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - requires the
elimination of stereotypes in educational material along with the promotion of materials that show women in all aspects
of life.
Gender stereotypes add to how people perceive themselves, how they act and reveal their abilities,
and what job they may have in the future.
The lack of positive representation about gender roles in media can be
dangerous, due to discrimination and damage to one’s internalized self-image.
Ex: if a little girls textbook display only men as doctors, she may believe that she cannot
be a doctor.
The 2013 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
report shows that, gender stereotypes have a negative effect on women’s access
to education, the quality of education they receive, and field they engage in.
Stereotypes that enforce the de-sexualisation of young girls make education on sexual
and reproductive health and right a low priority for women. It has a lasting impact on
women’s reproductive health.
The Women’s EDGE Plan shows that gender stereotypes are found in textbooks, and
classroom through teaching strategies, teachers’ use of sexiest stereotypes in language
and the design of classroom activities.
 Issues in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

The technologically driven state of society necessitates that women be involved in the creation,
development, and maintenance of technologies.
Philippine Beijing+20 NGO report- the promotion of women’s successes in the fields of science and
technology is lacking.
Older textbooks overlooked female research and achievements in the sciences. Most scientists in various
textbooks are male.
There is a gap between genders represented in the scientist that students learn about.
Science textbooks may not relate to the lived experience of young women and girls, making it harder for
them to see themselves in this field.
The CHED offers scholarships to females who wish to enrol in male-dominated courses, but
access to this limited or its existence is relatively unknown.
Female-specific trainings that take into account both physiological and socialized roles of women seem to
be unavailable, research priorities are inclined towards male interest.
Hence, the scientific world needs people who can use technology to alleviate women’s practical
and strategic gender needs.
 Non-traditional Skills Training

More support for women is needed in the agricultural sector and

informal sector. This entails further career counselling that cover
non-traditional skills for girls. These non-traditional skills are vital
for women to grab economic opportunities.
Given the sex-stereotypes role of women in the economy, their
jobs are often similar to their roles at home. The skills necessary
for these jobs, since learned from their gender socialization, may
not translate to high-paying jobs.
*Any occupation in which women or men make up less than 25% of
the total workforce is considered “non-traditional.”
*Skill training is a career-orientated method of teaching workplace
skills.
 The Multiple Burdens of Women as a Factor

Women often have to judge multiple roles, depending on where they are in society.
Ex: at a very young age, some girls are already mothers. Other girls do chores or take
care of their younger siblings while their parents are looking for economic
opportunities.
Women from different sectors face different challenges to complete their education.
• Young mothers who have yet to finish schooling have to prioritized their child,
making the completion of their studies difficult to fulfill.
• Young pregnant students are stigmatized in school, given the taboo nature of
teenage and pre-marital sex in the Philippines.
The stigma over young mothers must be eradicated so these girls may complete their
education.
The government must build facilities that help young mothers, and children who
provide care for their younger siblings, attend and finish school.
 The Necessity of Material Support
A variety of factors influence girls’ ability to attend school, including the cost of school supplies,
transportation, and other forms of free education available in various parts of the world. More
financial support is required to increase girls’ access to education in under-served areas. When
engaging learning materials are used to keep students focused on the lesson, time spent in school is
more valued.

Inhibited Access to Education

A child’s access to education is impacted by a variety of unique problems, including urban relocating
to areas outside of Metro Manila, natural disasters, and military encampment in indigenous people’s
educational facilities. Some families are forced to move to rural areas where there is no school,
leaving kids to walk for hours to school. Long-distance walkers are more likely to experience VAW
(Violence Against Women- “act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical,
sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”) and street harassment. Natural
disasters and armed conflicts can also affect girls’ access to education by destroying school buildings,
making the area unsafe, and contributing to a teacher shortage. Girls and women in these
circumstances frequently experience harassment and violence.
 Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Access to education in the Philippines may be hampered by the lack of adequate sexual and
reproductive health rights. The high dropout rate among female students is largely due to
the rise in teen pregnancies in the Philippines. Young fathers and mothers may also stop
attending school to support their families or take care of their kids. Age-appropriate sexual
and reproductive health lessons must be taught in public educational institutions, according
to the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. however, this course is
not required to be taught in private schools.

Gender-fair Textbooks and Programs

In accordance with the MWC and the Women’s EDGE Plan, DepEd makes numerous efforts to
alter gender-biased textbooks, teaching materials, and methodologies. One of these
initiatives could be supplying science high schools with gender-sensitive materials from the
Department of Science and Technology. One of DepEd’s plan is to include gender-sensitive
teaching strategies in the teaching manuals for primary and secondary schools. Gender and
socialization, gender and development, or another subject of a similar nature have not been
added as a required course by DepEd.
 Inclussive Education and Alternative Learning Systems
DepEd recognize the need for alternative learning system to help out-of-school youth and
older students who have yet to complete their basic education.
DepEd also pushes for the creation of Madrasah schools for the education of Muslim
students and the indigenous peoples.
This flexibility is necessary for students who were not able to complete their primary
education due to circumstances such as the financial issues, early pregnancy, relocation and
displacement, and natural disasters.
This plan can be achieved through the institutionalization of a Leadership Training Manual
for female PWD’s development by the National Commission on Disability Affairs.

Male Performance in Schools

Statistics show an increase in female participation and a decrease in male performance in
schools. This disparity calls for a need to find out why there is a larger percentage of male
students who drop out of school or do not enrol in the first place
 Sexual Violence in Education
One marker of a gender-responsive is a clear protocol for sexual harassment, including mechanism for
addressing sexual harassment cases on campus.
Sexual violence is a form of discrimination against mostly women. It is usually women who are victim of
sexual violence and harassment.
Sexual violence inhibits women and girls from participating in the education sector and accessing and
continuing their education. It must be also noted that sexual harassment happens to men and members
of the LGBT as well.
The Philippines’ Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of 1995 defines sexual harassment as the demand of a sexual
act or favour in an institution, wherein the person who demands the act is in moral ascendancy or influence
over the person being solicited.
Sexual harassment in education can be committed if the person soliciting the sexual act is taking care of,
supervising, training, or tutoring the person being solicited.
Sexual harassment and violence in schools are symptomatic of the lack of gender-responsiveness in
education.
The Philippine law lacks precise qualifications for the term “hostile environment” on sexual harassment. No
institutions address gaps on campus interactions-the unspoken culture in the classroom and within the
institutions.
Lastly, there are no provisions for peer-to-peer and subordinate-to-superior harassment.
 A Gendered Education and a Gendered Curriculum
Gender plays an important part in how a person experiences the world, what one learns, and
how one relates to the topics in the classroom. Education as an institution tells students about
who is important, and who is in power, and what values and characteristics are important to
succeed in life. Alternatively, it imparts to students how to participate in the world that had been
set up by certain powers.
A gender-biased curriculum gives a one-sided view of the subjects being taught. Students only
learn the experiences and knowledge of half the population, and may have a skewed
understanding of the world they live in.
An important part of knowing women’s participation in society is knowing their contributions to
history. While one can argue that only a few women were worthy of inclusion in history
textbooks, one must realize that the standard of “ worth” was created by those in power in a
patriarchal society.
Part of the process for making education gender-fair is to document women’s achievements in
various fields.
Women’s studies must be recognized as a legitimate discipline. This acknowledgement will bring
to light the topic of women in society and history.
Knowledge must not be dichotomized between female and male knowledge. The curriculum
must be transformed to incorporate both perspective into all disciplines.
 The Unspoken Curriculum: Campus Culture and Gender
The following section addressed issues that were only briefly mentioned in the
development reports. These concerns influence how people interact and behave in their
communities
Microagression and Education
Microaggression is a subtle form of aggression towards a historically marginalized
social group which may be intentional or unintentional.
Microaggression may also apply to women who have been historically marginalized.
Women have been targets of different forms of discrimination, with the school serving
as a form of external social control that may pressure a female student into pursuing a
certain stereotype because of her gender.
This type of aggression can be put-down, conscious or unconscious, that can cause
psychological harm, self-doubt, and a lack of confidence.
The microaggression theory frames the subtle biases students may experience in their
schools that have a large impact on how they act, see themselves, and even their
career later in life. It must be discussed in the context of education given the highly
vulnerable situation of students due to their lack of experience, subordinate position, sex,
It is also a theory that is related to how boys and girls are supposed to act in the classroom (girls are
quiet and must not strain themselves, boys are loud and should participate in physical activities).
However, institutions of education contribute largely to gender, and hence, to microaggression as well.
This observation reinforces the need for a simultaneous shift to gender-fair education and teacher
training, and the removal of sexist language and stereotypes in textbooks and teaching materials to
reduce the effects of microaggressions on young and impressionable children. Below are examples of
microaggresion concerning the female gender.

• The sexual objectification of women

• Assumption of inferiority about a certain gender
• Assumption of traditional gender role
• Use of sexist language
• Genial of one’s individual sexism
• Subtle and discriminatory messages communicated in school
• Exotication of women from a certain race.
The following examples will add to the awareness on microagrression
against other genders.
• Use of heterosexist or transphobic terminology
• Assumption of universal LGBT experience
• Endorsement of heteronormative or gender normative culture and
behaviour
• Exoticization of LGBT’s
• Discomfort with the approval of LGBT’s
• Denial of the reality of heterosexism or transphobia
• Assumption of sexual pathology or abnormality especially in which people
oversexualize LGBT’s
• Denial of one’s individual heterosexism
 Bullying and Relational Aggression
Bullying as defined by R.A. 10627, is a physical, verbal, electronic gesture or act directed toward a student that aims to place
that student in a state of fear or panic, which disrupts the students’ education.
The Republic Act, however, only covers elementary and secondary education. Typical examples of bullying are emotional
bullying, unwanted physical contact, shoving, kicking, and fighting.
Emotional Bullying involves name-calling, tormenting or humiliating a person, or any act that can cause the victim motional
distress. Technology is also a means to perpetuate bullying through cyberbullying. Bullying or pupil-on-pupil violence is often
gender-neutral.
Relational Aggression define as “acts that harm others through damage (or the threat of damage) to relationships or
[feelings] of acceptance, friendship, or group inclusion.
Valerie Besag noted that quarrels occur more often between girls who previously had close relationship than girls who had no
prior connection.
A study by Currie, Kelly, and Pomerantz uncovers adolescent meanness and relational aggression as a way for young girls to
police their peers’ femininity, as well as enact their agency. They found that relational aggression is often non-
confrontational. Effects of relational aggression is come in the form of one’s damaged self-esteem or social status.
The social construction of girls’ identity makes them aggressive to others. If this behaviour against other girls has no real
resolution, it may be carried over on how women’s relationships develop in the long term.
Relational aggression becomes a problem when girls are hindered from confronting their issues and with others, meaning
that the problem is never properly resolved.
Not all sexism are enacted by men, and some considerations for a positive gender culture occur outside the classroom. Thus,
policy is not everything. The beliefs and culture of the students can continue to affect gender relations.
 Campus Culture
Campus culture is the culture formed within a school based on the shared values of the institution.
Educational institutions may have distinct cultures per group or identity in a given setting.
The compound effect of relational aggression, microaggression, and classroom culture creates a
campus culture.
Example of rational aggression between groups of girls.
• Ellen is a girl who likes to talk about her boyfriend. She shares that her friends do not like hearing
about this, and walk away when she starts talking about her boyfriend. It got to the point where they
would also walk away when she had something else to say, and looked away when she tried to speak
with them. This is a form of physical isolation.
Campus culture is determined by those inside the school, from faculty, staff, teachers, and students. It
is affected by hidden curriculum in the classroom, implicit rules, and everyday school practices which
reinforce gender differentiation. These components of campus culture privilege men and overlook
women and other marginalized groups.
Peer culture contributes to campus culture as it plays an important role in gender socialization, from
acceptable behaviour and interaction between the same and opposite sex.
The school may attempt to be gender-fair and gender-responsive, while balancing the values of students
and surrounding communities. To facilitate the student’s growth and values of community can change for
the better.
PART 6: FUTURE STEPS, LOOKING FORWARD

Twenty years after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, gains
have been noted insofar as education and training of women and girls are
concerned.
Women have received gender parity in education in most countries across
the globe. However, school culture and discriminatory practices against
both women and men still greatly hinder gender equality.
What is clear is that there must be a constant push for gender equality in
all aspects of education, from curriculum to programs and services, as well
as campus culture and other interactions.