Does spending money on education reduce gender equality? Or are governements just wasting their money?

Governments throughout the years have allocated a significant amount of their GDP to  education, in hopes that in the long run it improves upon the overall well being of the country. History has proven that investing in education prevents a vast array of social issues, such as: unemployment, poverty, environmental issues, hunger and some issues related to health; but does investing in education help reduce gender equality? This study is a cross time series analysis from 1946-2014 on all countries in the Quality of Governance Data, measuring the effect on total public expenditure on education on gender equality. I control for GDP per capita, and assistance from international agencies.

 Education and Gender Equality- Importance of this study

As aforementioned, education is associated with many development outcomes and interacts with other factors to contribute to achievements  related to the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations. According to UNICEF and UNESCO, education underpins all social progress. If the general education level worldwide is improved, global unemployment problems can be hugely tacked leading to improvements in poverty and general standards of living, including reducing the gender inequality gap (2013). Not only is it impossible to achieve gender equality without education, expanding education opportunities for all can help stimulate productivity and reduce the economic vulnerability of poor households. Gender equity in and through education examines education processes in education as well as outcomes in education to help a more gender equitable, productive and peaceful society. Education is an important tool in creating gender equity in society. Efforts to achieve gender equality through informal and formal education (2012).

The social significance of gender is that it is the device by which society controls its members, it opens and closes doors to power, property and even prestige. Like social class, it is a structural feature of society. This stratification is often referred to as the sex/gender system These types of differentiations occur not only on an interpersonal level between individuals, but also on a structural level within a given society. The shape and form of these systems can vary historically and cross culturally, as well as across populations. Thus closing the gender gap and making women equal to men has been such important part of societal development, even included in the Millennium Development Goals (2007). Additionally, it has been extensively proven through literature that improving the gender inequality gap in recent years, has increased participation of women in income-generating activities, education for girls and women becomes particularly important, especially in redressing gendered patters of discrimination.

Study Design

Variables

IV:  Public expenditure on education ($)
DV: Gender equality
Z1: GDP per capita (by IMF)
Z2: Net Official Flows from UN Agencies and UNAIDS

 Findings

Hausman Test p>.05

Checking for evidence of covariation (scatter plot)

Scatter Plot of Relationship

Conclusion

The data shows that historically there is not a significant relationship between public expenditure on education and gender equality. Although the relationship is not statistically significant, the charts and graphs show a positive relationship. For every dollar spend on education, there is a .00099 increase in gender equality. With this in mind the data suggests that if we want to progress upon the Millennium Development Goal of improving gender equality, perhaps it would be more valuable to allocate those specific resources to other initiatives besides educational program. For example, the data shows a positive and significant relationship between gender equality and GDP per capita, thus, perhaps investing in initiatives that incentivize financial growth result more effective when tackling the issue of gender inequality. Therefore, a more complete follow-up to this study could integrate a regression of other initiatives suggested by the literature that have the potential of improving gender equality across nations. Also, the study could be done separating countries by region, in which perhaps expenditure on education might have a bigger effect. Finally, this study poses helpful information for policymakers, specially in the departments of the government working towards gender equality to explore different alternatives besides educational initiatives.

References

Klein, Susan et al (2007). Handbook for Achieving Gender Equality through Education. Lawrence Earlbaum Associates. Retrieved from  http://www.feminist.org/education/handbook.asp

Narayan, Swati (2012) Education for All: Beyond 2015. Mapping Current International Actions to Define the Post-2015 Education and Development Agenda. Paris: United Nations Educational, Cultural and Social Organization. Available from www.unesco.org/newfileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/temp/Mapping_post_2015-Swati_Narayan.pdf

Nayyar, Deepak (2012). The MDGs after 2015: Some reflections on the possibilities. Background Paper. New York: UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda. Available from www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/d_nayyar.pdf

UNICEF and UNESCO. (2013). The World We Want— Making Education a Priority in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Available at http://www.unicef.org/education/files/ Making_education_a_Priority_in_the_Post-2015_Development_ Agenda.pdf