P R O M O T I N G G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y I N E A S T A S I A A N D T H E P A C I F I C
Revising school and professional training curricula to include better female role models can enable greater agency in the h ousehold over time. The formal education system can educate young children on the basic principles of gender equality by integrating these principles into the curricula, introducing the value system early in children’s lives, and challenging existing gender-related social norms that are learned outside the classroom. In Indonesia, a recent textbook evaluation shows strong gender bias starting in the sixth grade, with stereotypical gender roles that portray men as income earners and women as homemakers. The evaluation resulted in a recommendation that the government should promote the incorporation of gender equality into the curricula for primary and secondary school to address gender-based violence as well as other social norms that perpetuate gender inequality (Utomo et al. 2009). Alternatively, policy interventions can actively promote entrance into nontraditional fields of study. Offering scholarships to girls and women to study fields such as engineering or law is one option. Not enough is known about the impact of such scholarships on breaking traditional patterns that are deeply rooted in norms, and small financial incentives may lead to changes only at the margin. Aside from financial incentives, other interesting approaches use female role models and encourage female pupils in nontraditional careers, though evidence of their impacts is usually not available either. 3 In the United States, the Science Connections ( SciCon) program offered monthly science workshops for girls plus a summer science weekend for the family to foster girls’ interest in science. After the program, the retention rate from the first to the second workshop rose from only 10 percent to 25–50 percent for different cohorts. The program reportedly also increased girls’ knowledge about nontraditional careers in science, self-confidence, interest in science, and motivation to increase their efforts in science-related courses.4 The Technical/Engineering Education Quality Improvement Project in India takes another approach to create a gender-friendly environment in science and
engineering schools and department. The project expands access to training for female engineering faculty and includes refurbishments to enhance the ability of campuses to serve women students. Activities to reduce traditional patterns of gender streaming in education are likely to become increasingly important as economies move up the value chain away from laborintensive production. In middle- and higherincome countries in the East Asia and Pacific region, movements up the value chain have typically been accompanied by reductions in the fraction of females working in Special Economic Zones (SEZs). For example, in Malaysia only 40 percent of workers in SEZs are now female, compared to 60 percent two decades ago (Simavi, Manuel, and Blackden 2010). Addressing the skill constraints of workers as countries make the transition up the value chain will require policies ranging from appropriate technical and vocational training among school-age girls and boys to training programs to help retrain workers whose skills are in lower demand.
Promoting balanced sex ratios at birth A few countries—China and Vietnam, in particular—should continue their efforts to address the phenomenon of “missing girls” at birth. This problem does not have easy policy solutions since preference for sons is the underlying cause, and certain population policies or access to technology that comes with economic growth can exacerbate the problem. Countries can enact and enforce legal clauses against sex-selective abortion; however, those measures are extremely difficult to implement when societies have strong incentives to select the preferred gender and bypass the law. More promising policy approaches could alter the incentives themselves by enhancing the relative value of daughters as perceived by families. Relying on economic growth to raise female education and participation in the labor market alone may not suffice, as the Republic of Korea’s recent experience suggests. Chung and Das Gupta (2007) argued
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