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Changing Norms about Gender Inequality in Education: Evidence from Bangladesh

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  • Blunch, Niels-Hugo

    (Washington and Lee University)

  • Das, Maitreyi Bordia

    (World Bank)

Abstract

This paper examines norms about gender equality of the education of children and adults in Bangladesh using a recent household survey for two cohorts of married women. Education norms are found to differ substantially across cohorts, with women from the younger cohort being far more positive about female vs. male education of both children and adults. The effect of education in determining norms spans own and spousal education, as well as that of older educated females in the household, thus indicating sharing of education norms both within marriage and across generations. Detailed decompositions reveal that more than anything else it is the improvement in education across cohorts that has been driving the narrowing of the generational education norms gap in Bangladesh in recent years.

Suggested Citation

  • Blunch, Niels-Hugo & Das, Maitreyi Bordia, 2014. "Changing Norms about Gender Inequality in Education: Evidence from Bangladesh," IZA Discussion Papers 8365, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8365
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Gretchen C. Perry, 2021. "Non-Parental Investment in Children and Child Outcomes after Parental Death or Divorce in a Patrilocal Society," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-22, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender education inequality norms; human capital; decomposition analysis; Bangladesh;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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