Exploring and Understanding Gender in Education: A Qualitative Research Manual for Education Practitioners and Gender Focal Poin

This manual discusses ways to conduct qualitative research in order to promote gender equality in the classroom, the school, and, by extension, in the wider educational system. It provides the reader with the knowledge and tools to understand gender disparities in education, their causes, and the ways they can be overcome. The manual is aimed at education practitioners whose major responsibility is to develop and manage an increasingly effective, high quality, and gender-responsive educational system.

The manual aims to help the reader gather information to:

• explore and develop a detailed understanding of the status or situation of girls and boys, as well as other vulnerable children, in terms of school access, participation, retention, learning achievement, and completion
• understand why these situations exist in the way they do
• understand how improvements can be made
• understand why and how existing interventions are/are not working.

The manual is presented in two parts - the first explores the nature and importance of qualitative research and the ways in which it can be applied in this context; the second provides a guide to the major steps and methods of conducting qualitative research. It also presents a list of recommended reading.

This manual is not intended to be a rigid set rules of procedures, rather it is meant to be a flexible guide that can be adapted to various needs and contexts. According to the manual, each qualitative research study, and especially those that explore gender in education, will be designed differently to answer different questions, in different contexts, and among different study groups.