Gender and Education

The Hypatia collection has a wide range of sources regarding the position and role of women in education. Education is the process of formal learning, often within institutions, involving the acquisition of various forms of knowledge and skill. While access, standards and structures of education have increased throughout history, the global gender gap between recipients of formalised education has remained. Many barriers prevent women from participating, fulfilling and benefitting from education, with women today accounting for two thirds of the 750 million adults without basic literacy skills.[1] A multitude of global governmental and Non-governmental organisations exist to work towards gender equality in education, including UNESCO, GEA, InterAction and the NOW Foundation.

Gender inequality is an issue that every female has consciously and/or unconsciously faced in her life, with education being inherently instrumental in the encounters and prolongation of the prejudices and confines of women. Education is instrumental in not only enforcing ideals and expectations of women within educational systems but this is subsequently projected into the wider world and shapes the experiences and behaviours of women for the rest of their lives.

Areas of research that the Hypatia collection maintains include gender inequality and gender bias within different levels of formal education systems across the globe. These also include different types of study, such as geographical and thematic studies, explored in a range of different historical time periods. These studies encompass edited collections, primary accounts and biographical experiences in addition to the host of books analytically addressing various areas of research centred around women and education.