Women's Education in Developing Countries

Because of limited aid, developing countries and donors have measured the most successful aid projects. Not only is equal education for women ethically correct, educating women is one of the best practices developing countries can undertake to improve social wellbeing. Goldman Sachs has linked female education to better economic outcomes while the Joint Chiefs of Staff has recognized a link between female education and reduced radicalism.[1]

Although many countries have improved access to education for women and girls, problems remain. In the developing world, girls generally have lower literacy rates than boys and are less likely to complete primary education.[2] Access to education is also a problem because poorer states lack resources to provide public schools nationwide.[3] Because poorer families with several children lack resources to send all children to school, they educate children selectively, which favors male children and younger girls; older girls generally receive the poorest formal educations.[4] Additionally, poorer families are often farming families, and sending children to school instead of working saps the family of income; because girls perform a larger amount of housework relative to boys, families often sacrifice educating their daughters.[5]

Despite the costs to poorer families and countries of investing in female education, the long-run social benefits outweigh the short-term individual costs. Average education levels of women in communities correlates negatively with child mortality, which suggests a possible causal link that increasing female education leads to better community health; in India, education empowers women to feed their children better and vaccinate them.[6] Although it is statistically difficult to separate causal factors, the limited research suggests programs to educate women and girls leads to healthier populations.[7]

Because of the high costs to poor families regarding female education, states can undertake several reforms to incentivize equal education. Even if tuition at public schools is free, the books and supplies required for school may not be, so scholarships for high achieving girls may motivate both girls and boys to achieve more in school.[8] Paying for school uniforms appears to increase retention and reduce pregnancy for girls in school.[9] States have made considerable progress, but much work remains.


[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=all
[2] Bruce H. Rankin and Işik A. Aytaç, “Gender Inequality in Schooling: The Case of Turkey,” Sociology of Education, Vol 79, No. 1, 2006. p 25.
[3] Ibid, 27.
[4] Ibid. 28.
[5] Ibid, 30.
[6] Øystein Kravdal, “Child Mortality in India: The Community-Level Effect of Education,” Population Studies. Vol. 58, No. 2, (Jul. 2004) p. 180.
[7] Ibid, 190.
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=all
[9] Ibid.