Gendered Ambition and Disappointment: Women and Men in a Vernacular Language Education Movement in Melanesia

AUTHOR(S)
Debra McDougall
Development

In this chapter, the author analyses gendered experiences of education in Solomon Islands, expressed through the reflections of students and young teachers involved in the Kulu Language Institute. Inequality is obviously harmful to those of lower economic means, social status and educational opportunities. Scholarly research on inequality provides a more counterintuitive insight—socioeconomic inequality is also harmful to those who are on the top of the rankings (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). In the cases the author discusses, young men enjoy privileged access to schooling. Until recently, parents were much more likely to pay school fees for boys rather than girls. Boys continue to undertake far less domestic work than girls and teenage boys are rarely expelled from school when they impregnate girls, nor are they burdened with the care of children born outside marriage. Yet these privileges do not necessarily benefit young men. Rather than feeling empowered, many feel worthless and unable to live up to expectations. The Kulu Language Institute has opened a path for some young men to reconceptualise their lives and envision a positive future for themselves and their communities.

Research Type(s)
Book Chapter
Submitted by Almah Tararia
April 6, 2022
Published in
2021
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