Gender, Social Change, and Educational Attainment

• Published in: Economic development and cultural change 2002-10, Vol.51 (1), p.109-134
• Main Authors: Beutel, Ann M., Axinn, William G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Achievement; Children; Community Development; Consumption; Cultural change; Daughters; Development studies; Dropouts; Economic development; Education; Educational Attainment; Employment; Enrollments; Family School Relationship; Gender; Gender differences; Gender roles; Hindus; Impact analysis; India; Neighborhood schools; Nepal; Parents; School Attendance; Sex Differences; Social Change; Studies; Women; Womens studies
• ISSN: 0013-0079; 1539-2988
• DOI: 10.1086/345517

This article tests several key hypotheses regarding a fundamental social transformation. First, we investigate hypotheses regarding the impact of gender on educational attainment during the spread of mass education. Although a large body of previous research documents important gender differences in educational attainment from settings in which education is already widespread, little is known about the connections between gender and specific dimensions of the educational attainment process, such as enrollment and drop-out rates, at the onset of universal education. Second, we test hypotheses regarding the impact of social changes at the community (i.e., local) level on individual educational attainment. These hypotheses predict that macro-level changes in educational, employment, and consumption opportunities will increase school attendance. Third, we test key hypotheses regarding the impact of local-level social change on the individual-level relationship between gender and educational attainment. The framework for studying this overall social transformation uses the social organization of the family as the key intervening link between macro-level social change and the impact of gender on educational attainment.