Grace C. L. Mak (Ed). (1996) Women, Education, and Development in Asia: Cross-National Perspectives. Reviewed by Jing Lin

Grace C. L. Mak (Ed). (1996) Women, Education, and Development in Asia: Cross-National Perspectives. New York: Garland 273 + xi pp. ISBN 0-8153-0795-0 Reviewed by Jing Lin McGill University May 12, 1998 This book focuses on women, education, and development in three parts of Asia: East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. There are altogether ten chapters, focusing on the following countries: China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Each chapter contains detailed notes and references, and a bibliography of sixteen pages appears at the end of the book. The objective of the book, as outlined by the editor, Grace Mak, is to deal with "four interrelated aspects of schooling in ten Asian countries": 1) The development experience of a country and impact on education for women and women's status; 2) types of educational opportunities available to women, and alternatives such as nonformal education for those denied formal education; 3) women's participation in the public sphere as a result of their educational attainment; 4) impact of education and economic participation on women's domestic status in terms of possible changes in marriage, fertility and decision making patterns at home (p. x). Given that the book totals only 271 pages, it is a formidable task to cover ten countries and discuss all of the above-mentioned aspects. However, the slim volume succeeds in providing readers a comprehensive overview of aspects of schooling for women in these countries. What makes this possible is that the authors are very focused and adhere to a clear organizational framework in their writing. First, they provide a historical account of culture and traditions in a country, examining social and economic structures that impacted on women's learning in earlier times. Then, they review government development policies and social economic contexts for educational expansion and development; they discuss women's achievement or lack of it in education, criticizing gender biases and discrimination and paying particular attention to cultural expectation, curriculum content, subjects of study, women's promotion to higher levels of learning, and women's participation, treatment and mobility in the work force. Finally, issues related to marriage, family, and women's role in decision making are dealt with. In the more than five decades after the Second World War, the ten Asian countries have taken different paths for national and economic development. China first adopted a highly centralized economic system under a socialist framework, and having experienced tremendous failure, embarked on an economic reform two decades ago to allow greater autonomy and personal initiatives in the society. Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan have "undergone industrialization and urbanization processes characterized by remarkable economic growth and educational expansion" (p. 65). Countries such as India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, made attempts to shed their colonial legacy and rebuild their national economy and culture through making basic education available to the majority of school-age children. Among all of these, expansion in education has been experienced by nearly all of the ten countries, and women entered the labor market in large numbers making them a vital force for economic development. In China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia, women work as a dominate force in agriculture, in the teaching and service sectors, and in manufacturing and textile industry. Documenting these changes, the book is equipped with numerous tables to illustrate growth and trends in education for girls and women, and to compare learning and employment opportunities available for both sexes. Chapter 3 by Oksoon Kim on South Korea features 12 tables, while Chapter 10 by Swarna Jayaweera on Sri Lanka has 11 tables. Most other chapters have between six and ten tables. The tables provide statistics on women's access to primary, secondary and higher education, disparity between rural and urban regions, literacy and illiteracy rates for both sexes, female students enrollment in universities, and participation in the labor force, and the like. It is obvious that economic development in these Asian countries has opened doors to education for both sexes, and women have gained in many respects. One example is that nearly all of the ten countries have significantly improved enrollment ratios of girls in primary and secondary schools, and countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia, have achieved close to universal enrollment at the primary level. Admission to secondary education, vocational education, and higher education has improved tremendously, and so has women's entrance into traditionally male dominated domains. However, problems persist. Women in the curriculum still follow gender stereotypical lines; in secondary and post secondary learning institutions women are segregated in "feminine" subjects and underrepresented in science and engineering; women are treated unfairly in the job market--they are generally paid only 55% to 75% of what men earn doing the same type of job, and women concentrated in low skilled, labor- intensive economic sectors encounter significant barriers in moving up social and economic lapers. Cultural values prevailing in society have proved to be difficult to change. Chapter 4 on Taiwan presents a most striking case. The author, Hsiao-chin Hsieh, was critical of the fact that in 12 volumes of elementary school social studies textbooks, 98% of the characters presented are males who play a variety of roles, and that the 2% of female characters include three fictional figures, one empress portrayed negatively and one historical heroine of China. Only three of the 214 pictures in the Chinese history textbooks are of women (p. 73). Underlying factors that perpetuate gender inequalities in school and society between the two sexes are many. Cultural ideology is highlighted in Chapter 2, by Machiko Matsui, who looked at the ryosai kenbo ideology which advocates training girls to become "good wives and wise mothers." The author argues that the ideology has imposed limitations on Japanese women's choices and aspirations for education. Confucianism has had a negative impact on the perception of women's roles and education in China, Japan and Taiwan. Religious influences are identified as important in affecting girls' education in Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka as well as in India. These cultural ideologies and religious values contribute to low expectation for girls' education and parents' unwillingness to invest on their daughters. Chapter 8, by Ratna Ghosh and Abdulaziz Talbani on India, noted that the colonial history of the country, religious values and the caste system placed women under triple burdens, limiting their roles to be mainly mothers and daughters. Ghosh, Abdulaziz and other authors, however, also point out that women have diverse experiences in terms of access to educational opportunities and social mobility. Indian women in different castes and regions do not have the same kind of educational opportunities. In Sri Lanka, social class, regional differences and rural/urban disparities are identified as the main factors underlying unequal distribution of educational opportunities (p. 225). In all, gender inequity results from the interactive influences of traditional cultural ideologies, classism, sexism, religion, regional differences, and rural urban disparities. State control is also identified as one pervasive force propelling educational expansion as well as perpetuating gender disparities and class gaps. Acknowledging that women have made many inroads into the society, the book demonstrates that gender biases and discrimination are still deeply rooted in the social and cultural systems of these countries. Women as a whole are still disadvantaged in education and in benefiting from economic growth. They are still perceived to be playing roles mainly in nonpublic domains, even though their contributions to social and economic development have been vital. Social and economic systems supported by patriarchal values continue to place caps on women's possibility to move up the social and economic systems in the ten countries. Overall, the authors present a balanced view of development, improvement, barriers and remaining problems for women's educational and social advancement. The book devotes much attention to examining government polices, laws, regulations and attempts made by different social groups (such as women's organizations) to develop education for women. The gap between government rhetoric and shortfalls in educational funding are criticized to have resulted in lack of schools and low enrollment for girls in some countries, such as in Pakistan where female admission in primary schools, secondary schools, and higher education were 28%, 11%, and 3.1%, respectively. The authors bring to their writing solid theoretical underpinnings. Drawing from feminist theory, conflict theory, functional theory, and human capital theory, they look at the multifaceted roles women play in changing societies, and their schooling in relation to the nation's development and to their own benefit. In sum, the book does a great job mapping out the complex interrelationship of development, education and impacts on women's life in Asia. Having said this, one thing a reader may feel lacking in the book is the availability of vivid details as to how women live their lives in these ten vastly different countries: What are women's perception of their life? What does juggling work and home responsibilities really mean? How parents' expectations are conveyed to them? How do girls experience their growing up? These questions are not answered. Giving that this is not what the book sets out to do, a reader wishing to go from broad outlines of changes to details happening in women's life, may want to read case studies and women's biographies in these countries. The book is rich with information and the writing is clear and well organized. It can serve as a good introductory book on gender issues in developing countries, or a textbook on women and education from a cross-national perspective. About the Reviewer Jing Lin Associate Professor Department of Culture and Values in Education McGill University   Montreal, Canada Jing Lin's research interests are in social and cultural foundations of education, politics of education, equality issues as related to gender, social class and ethnicity, democracy in society and education for democracy. Her research mainly focuses on Chinese society and education.