Community Gender Norms and Gender Gaps in Adolescent Agency in Nepal

Sustainable Development Goal 5 challenges governments to address child marriage, which may inhibit girls from developing an agentic self. This paper assesses the direct influence of community gender norms on adolescent agency, and the normative contexts in which gender gaps in adolescent agency are...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Youth & society 2024-01, Vol.56 (1), p.117-142
Main Authors: Yount, Kathryn M., Durr, Robert L., Bergenfeld, Irina, Clark, Cari Jo, Khan, Zara, Laterra, Anne, Pokhrel, Pankaj, Sharma, Sudhindra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent boys
Adolescent girls
Adolescents
Aspiration
Attitudes
Beliefs
Child marriage
Community
Foreign Countries
Gender
Gender Bias
Gender Differences
Gender roles
Individual Characteristics
Knowledge Level
Life transitions
Multilevel analysis
Self Efficacy
Sex Stereotypes
Sustainable development
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sustainable Development Goal 5 challenges governments to address child marriage, which may inhibit girls from developing an agentic self. This paper assesses the direct influence of community gender norms on adolescent agency, and the normative contexts in which gender gaps in adolescent agency are larger or smaller in Nepal. Using baseline data for adolescent girls, adolescent boys, and adults in 54 clusters participating in the CARE Tipping Point Trial, multilevel analysis tested whether: adolescent boys had higher agency than girls; and community gender norms among adults partly accounted for or modified gender gaps in adolescent agency. Gender gaps in agency disfavoring girls were common. Community gender norms were more positively associated with intrinsic agency among girls than boys, and more negatively associated with instrumental and collective agency among girls than boys. Enhancing girls’ agency while promoting gender-equitable community norms may empower girls’ transition to adulthood.
ISSN:0044-118X
1552-8499
DOI:10.1177/0044118X221140928