Gender and development

Presented by:
Felisa E. Elfa
 Gender and development

 Gender refers to socially constructed

differences between men and women boy or
a girl.

 Sex is a biological concept, the anatomy of an

individual’s reproductive system and
secondary sex characteristics.

 Gender equality means equality rights and

responsibilities for women and men.
 In some circumstances an individual’s assigned sex and
gender do not align, and the person may be transgender.
How does this gender develop?
 Did your parent’s told you to play guns or dolls?

 Did your parents told you to wear brief or panty?

 If yes, that is supported by social learning theory.

 “Male or female models, specially parents, as the distributors

of reinforcement, reinforce appropriate gender –role
behavior “

 Social learning theory

 Did you acquire gender-appropriate behavior when you were
two years old because of symbolic thinking?

 If yes this can be explained by cognitive development theory.

 Using symbolic thinking, children acquire their gender

identity and then begin the process of acquiring gender
appropriate behavior.

 Cognitive development theory

 But if your gender is developed through schema, this is
under the concept of “gender schema theory”
 Comparison between Boys vs. Girls

 Boys are better in Mathematics than girls

 Girls speak and pronounce better than

boys

 Female should do the household chores

 Males are rough noisy persons while

females are gentle and soft spoken.
 These ideas are called gender
stereotyping.

 Gender stereotyping are beliefs of

humans hold about the characteristics
associated with males and females.

 This gender stereotyping contributes

much to the two concepts that greatly
affect the development of a society, the
gender equality and inequality.
 Gender equality gives men and
women the same entitlements to all
aspect of human development.

 Strong evidence from around the

world confirms that gender
equality accelerates overall
economic growth, strengthen
democratic governments, and
reduces poverty and insecurity
therefore promotes development.
 On the contrary, gender
inequality refers to unequal
treatment or perceptions of
individuals base on their gender. It
arises from differences in socially
constructed gender roles as well as
biologically.

 Gender inequality tends to slow

economic growth and make the rise
from poverty more difficult. It
promotes discrimination rather than
development.
 The most significant factors
affecting gender equality
and inequality is power.

 Power is a basic fabric of society

and is possessed in varying
degrees by social factors in
diverse social categories.
Who are more powerful, men or
women?
 Both men and women have the possibility
of being more powerful in their own
society and in their own way. It depends
on the amount of the determinants of
power they have.

 These determinants are status resources,

experience and confidence.

 As a person gains such determinants, the

greater power he/she will achieve.
 But, by virtue of male’s greater ascribed status in society,
men have more legitimate power than women.

 WID –Women in Development Approach

 WAD –Women and Development Approach
 GAD – Gender and Development Approach
 GLAD – Gender and Law Development Approach
 Education is seen as providing key in promoting gender
equality regardless of the power and status an individual
has.

 As future educators, let us promote gender-sensitive

education. It is a way to reduce barriers to personal and
economic development created by sexism.
 It helps them determine which assumptions are in matters of
gender are valid and which are stereotyped generalizations.

 Gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it is a human issue. It

affects us all.
THANK YOU!