This last week of the women’s empowerment campaign, is dedicated to education, as a tool to be empowered. In one of our previous post, during the week dedicated to leadership, we put forward, that in Croatia, according to the Gender Equality Index, women have more chance to graduate university than men. A very positive figure, that gives us hope about gender equality, and the positions women can gain in the society. However, this fact does not hide the reality, which is that women and especially young girls around the world are facing more discrimination than boys when education and school are concerned. Plus, even if in Croatia, women have more chance to graduate than men, nothing guarantee that they can access the same jobs as men. This week is dedicated to education, and how much it is important to both empower girls and boys. Furthermore, the necessity is not only to provide education for all girls and boys, what is a stake here, is the necessity to stop conveying gender bias in school education, be it in school textbooks, or the teachers themselves. Education is essential in reducing gender inequalities. To finish this part, we will conclude with some striking figures, provided by UNESCO strategy for gender equality in and through education 2019-2025. Around the world 750 million people are illiterate, and on those 750 million, ⅔ are women, meaning that 500 million women are illiterate in the world compared to the 250 million of men. Plus, girls are often forced in developing countries, to drop out of school to get married, and most often at a really early age (under 18). 650 million, is the number of girls dropping out of school before 18 to get married.
We learned about some barriers girls face in receiving education and societal challenges, such as gender bias, which perpetuate inequality. Now, we will delve further into this topic to see how we can individually and as a community promote keeping girls in school.
Safety
Unfortunately, violence is all too common against young women. Promoting a safe environment from the means of how someone arrives to school to the classroom will promote a space that is more conducive to learning.
Gender-based violence outside of school can also have a negative impact on a student’s academic experience as they may be missing school or traumatized from their victimization.
Deconstructing the norm that promotes violence against women by teaching respect and consent, even from a young age is imperative in ending this. Providing resources for girls who have been victimized is also important.
Empowerment
Young girls are sometimes at a crossroads of if they should choose to study what they are expected to or passionate about. Teachers can start with young students to break down gender stereotypes and normalize all careers, especially those with less women represented in the industry, such as with STEM.
How do we make a difference?
Support the children in your life!
Let them know the importance of school, regardless of their gender.
Spend time with them to better understand what they are liking and disliking about the school experience. Can anything be done about the challenges they face?
Support educators!
This is a stressful, all-consuming position, which often leads to burn out. We rely so much on educators to help teach and support the next generation, the least we can do is provide them with some support.
Having WEC conversations with educators as well is helpful in promoting a new norm in ensuring barriers and negative stereotypes are not reinforced in the classroom.
Education as Empowerment
Elina Guesnon& Jordan Crouch
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Posljednji tjedan kampanje za osnaživanje žena posvećen je obrazovanju kao oruđu za osnaživanje. U jednom od naših prethodnih postova, tijekom tjedna posvećenog liderstvu, iznijeli smo podatke da u Hrvatskoj, prema Indeksu ravnopravnosti spolova, žene imaju više šanse da diplomiraju na sveučilištu nego muškarci. Vrlo pozitivna brojka, koja nam daje nadu u rodnu ravnopravnost i pozicije koje žene mogu zauzeti u društvu. Međutim, ta činjenica ne krije stvarnost, a to je da se žene, a posebno mlade djevojke širom svijeta, suočavaju s više diskriminacije nego dječaci kada su u pitanju obrazovanje i škola. Osim toga, čak i ako u Hrvatskoj žene imaju više šanse da diplomiraju od muškaraca, ništa ne garantira da mogu pristupiti istim poslovima kao i muškarci. Ovaj je tjedan posvećen obrazovanju, tome koliko je važno osnažiti djevojčice kao i dječake. Nadalje, potreba nije samo u pružanju obrazovanja za sve djevojčice i dječake, ono što je ovdje važno je potreba da se prestane prenositi spolna pristranost u školskom obrazovanju, bilo u školskim udžbenicima ili među nastavnicima. Obrazovanje je ključno za smanjenje rodne nejednakosti. Završimo ovaj dio i zaključimo ga s nekim upečatljivim brojkama, predviđenim UNESCO-ovom strategijom za ravnopravnost spolova u i kroz obrazovanje 2019-2025. Širom svijeta 750 milijuna ljudi su nepismeni, a od tih 750 milijuna ⅔ su žene, što znači da je 500 milijuna žena nepismeno u odnosu na 250 milijuna muškaraca. Pored toga, djevojke su često prisiljene (posebno u zemljama u razvoju) napustiti školu kako bi se vjenčale, najčešće u vrlo ranoj dobi (ispod 18). 650 milijuna je broj djevojčica koje napuste školu prije 18 godina da bi se vjenčale.
Saznali smo o nekim preprekama s kojima se djevojke susreću u obrazovanju i društvenim izazovima, kao što su spolne pristranosti, koje produbljuju nejednakost. Sada ćemo se detaljnije pozabaviti ovom temom kako bismo vidjeli kako pojedinačno i kao zajednica promovirati zadržavanje djevojčica u školi.
SIGURNOST
Nažalost, nasilje je previše uobičajeno prema mladim ženama. Promicanje sigurnog okruženja od načina na koji netko dolazi u školu, u učionicu promovirat će prostor koji pogoduje učenju.
Rodno zasnovano nasilje izvan škole može također imati negativan utjecaj na akademsko iskustvo učenika jer može dovesti do propuštanja nastave ili stavljeno u drugi plan radi pretrpljene traume žrtava.
Dekonstrukcija norme koja promiče nasilje nad ženama podučavanjem poštovanja i pristanka, čak i od malih nogu, imperativ je da se ovo zaustavi. Osiguravanje resursa za djevojke koje su bile žrtve također je važno.
OSNAŽIVANJE
Mlade djevojke su ponekad se nalaze na raskršću između odluke da studiraju ono što se od njih očekuje ili onoga što žele. Nastavnici mogu započeti raditi s mladim studentima na razbijanju rodnih stereotipa i normalizaciji svih karijera, posebno onih s manje žena zastupljenih u industriji, poput STEM-a.
Kako ćemo napraviti razliku?
Podržite djecu u svom životu!
Neka znaju važnost škole, bez obzira na spol.
Provedite vrijeme s njima da biste bolje razumjeli što im se sviđa i ne sviđa unutar školskog iskustva. Može li se nešto učiniti s izazovima s kojima su suočeni?
Podržite odgajatelje!
Ovo je stresan, sveobuhvatan položaj koji često dovodi do izgaranja. Toliko se oslanjamo na odgajatelje da će pomoći podučavanju i pružanju podrške sljedećoj generaciji, najmanje što možemo učiniti je pružiti im određenu podršku.
S druge strane, razgovori s nastavnicima o WEC temama korisni su za promicanje nove norme koja osigurava da prepreke i negativni stereotipi nisu učvršćeni u učionici.
Resources
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education
https://yali.state.gov/five-ways-to-keep-girls-in-school/
https://www.right-to-education.org/girlswomen
Sadržaj ovog članka isključiva je odgovornost Udruge IKS.
