Achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls has been set as a key sustainable development goal by the United Nation (2015). Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful and sustainable world. Worldwide, progresses have been made: more girls have access to education, and more women move upwords into the leadership. However, challenges still remain: women continue to be underrepresented in many industries; in some countries, girls are deprived of the right to education and health care…

Education is deemed as a powerful approach to empower girls and women. In this course, we will expore the status of gender in the field of education and international development. There will be an opportunity to consider how education constructs and shapes the different understandings of gender. We will learn several approaches for women empowerment and reflect on these apporaches. We will examine the different ways to researching gender. Through this critical refelection, we will consider how inequitable gender relation combines with other forms of injustice to influence learning and teaching in schools, higher education and other education settings.

By the end of this course, students will have:

1. Been introduced to concepts and issues related to gender and education 
2. Developed knowledge and understanding of the ways that gender, education and development are linked
3. Reflected critically on some different approaches to researching gender 
4. Developed skills to apply their study and work to promote gender equality in a global context

Relevant SDGs: SDG5 – Gender Equality; SDG4 – Quality Education 

1. An in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the SDG goal related to gender and education 
2. The critical thinking skill that can be used to reflect real-world issues related to gender inequity
3.  The skills of knowing how to promote gender equity and advocate for the SDG goals in daily life
4. The ability to work with peers in a multi-cultural context and build the culture sensitiveness  
5. The knowledge of conducting social science-related research and skills in proposal writing

This course will be arranged in mixed-mode combing online and offline teaching. The following teaching methods will be used:

1. Project-based learning  

Students will be introduced to a number of real-world women-empowerment projects that were launched by NGOs, based on which students will be invited to think and write a project proposal that addresses gender-related issues.

2. Collaborative learning 

During the course, students will be divided into study groups to conduct collective reading, discussion, presentation and work on an assignment.

3. Flipped classroom

The reading materials and teaching contents will be delivered to students prior to the course. The reading tasks will be sent to students to guide their self-learning. During the course, students are invited to share their reading reviews and reflections and engage in collective activities. 

1. Attendance: 20%;
2. Group presentation: 40%;
3. Final program summary: 40%

This course is targeted to undergraduate students, no restriction for the majors and years of undergraduates. Students with different disciplinary background are particularly welcomed in this course.

Ziyin Xiong, Assistant Professor

Center for education leadership and policies, School of Education

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Room 237, Chen Ruiqiu Building, 800 Dongchuan Road Minhang District, Shanghai China, 200240

Contact phone:（021）3420 4898

Contact email: ziyin.xiong@sjtu.edu.cn