Gender Inequality in Developing Countries: A Multifactorial Review
top of page
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute

Journal of Social and Political

Sciences

ISSN 2615-3718 (Online)

ISSN 2621-5675 (Print)

asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
crossref
doi
open access

Published: 18 March 2023

Gender Inequality in Developing Countries: A Multifactorial Review

Ahmad Khan, Melanie M. Tidman

A T Still Health Sciences University

journal of social and political sciences
pdf download

Download Full-Text Pdf

doi

10.31014/aior.1991.06.01.402

Pages: 151-162

Keywords: Gender, Developing Countries, Education, Health, Equality

Abstract

Historically in some cultures, females are acknowledged differently than males, encouraging girls to follow specific cultural gender-typed behavior and norms. Girls are not perceived similarly to boys, who are considered superior with more intelligence, competence, and academically capabilities. In contrast, girls are deemed to have mediocre potential. All these gender-stereotyped cultural beliefs and practices make a platform for the perception that boys are superior to girls. Such stereotypes about women/girls negatively impact their access to education, work, and healthcare services. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perception of native Afghans regarding the problems and causes of gender inequality in Afghanistan and participants' opinions of cultural barriers and lack of access to healthcare for women and girls. A qualitative survey using a Likert scale was conducted, and data were collected for questions designed by a Focus Group of Afghan natives. The article ends with a more focused review of the perception of inequality in education for females in Afghanistan.

References

  1. Amen, D. G. (2013). Unleash the power of the female brain: Supercharging yours for better health, energy, mood, focus, and sex. Harmony.

  2. Amwonya, D., Kigosa, N., & Kizza, J. (2022). Female Education and Maternal Health Care Utilization: Evidence from Uganda.

  3. Arnaout, N. E., Chehab, R. F., Rafii, B., & Alameddine, M. (2018). Gender equity in planning, development and management of human resources for health: A scoping review. Human Resources for Health, 17.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0391-3

  4. Becker, G. S. (2009). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. University of Chicago press.

  5. Beneria, L. (2012). The World Bank and gender inequality. Global Social Policy, 12(2), 175-178.

  6. Chaffee, K. E., & Plante, I. (2020). How parents’ stereotypical beliefs relate to students’ motivation and career aspirations in mathematics and language arts. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.796073

  7. Chowdhury, A. M. R., Bhuiya, A., Chowdhury, M. E., Rasheed, S., Hussain, Z., & Chen, L. C. (2013). The Bangladesh paradox: Exceptional health achievement despite economic poverty. The Lancet, 382(9906), 1734-1745.

  8. Cislaghi, B., Bhatia, A., Hallgren, E. S. T., Horanieh, N., Weber, A. M., & Darmstadt, G. L. (2022). Gender norms and gender equality in full-time employment and health: A 97-country analysis of the world values survey. Frontiers in Psychology, 13

  9. Colom, R., Karama, S., Jung, R. E., & Haier, R. J. (2022). Human intelligence and brain networks. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience.

  10. Cooray, A., & Potrafke, N. (2011). Gender inequality in education: Political institutions or culture and religion?. European Journal of Political Economy, 27(2), 268-280.

  11. Costa, J. C., Wehrmeister, F. C., Barros, A. J., & Victora, C. G. (2017). Gender bias in care seeking practices in 57 low–and middle–income countries. Journal of Global Health, 7(1).

  12. Dagher, R. K., McGovern, P. M., Dowd, B. E., & Lundberg, U. (2011). Postpartum depressive symptoms and the combined load of paid and unpaid work: A longitudinal analysis. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 84(7), 735-743.

  13. Das, M., Angeli, F., Krumeich, A. J., & van Schayck, O. C. (2018). The gendered experience with respect to health-seeking behaviour in an urban slum of Kolkata, India. International Journal for Equity in Health, 17(1), 1-14.

  14. Elser, H., Williams, C., Dow, W. H., & Goodman, J. M. (2022). Inequities in paid parental leave across industry and occupational class: Drivers and simulated policy remedies. SSM-Population Health, 18, 101045.

  15. Endendijk, J. J., Groeneveld, M. G., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Mesman, J. (2015). Gender-differentiated parenting revisited: Meta-analysis reveals very few differences in parental control of boys and girls. PLoS ONE, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159193

  16. Faborode, H., & Olugbenga Alao, T. (2016). The battle against rural poverty and other challenges of development: Empirical analysis of women empowerment program of Justice, Development and Peace Movement (JDPM) in Osun State, Nigeria. Acta Agronómica, 65(2), 149-155.

  17. Forrester, J. D., Forrester, J. A., Basimouneye, J. P., Tahir, M. Z., Trelles, M., Kushner, A. L., & Wren, S. M. (2017). Sex disparities among persons receiving operative care during armed conflicts. Surgery, 162(2), 366-376.

  18. Feingold, A. (1988). Cognitive gender differences are disappearing. American Psychologist, 43(2), 95.

  19. Heise, L., Greene, M. E., Opper, N., Stavropoulou, M., Harper, C., Nascimento, M., Zewdie, D., Darmstadt, G. L., Eleanor, M., Hawkes, S., Heise, L., Henry, S., Heymann, J., Klugman, J., Levine, R., Raj, A., & Gupta, G. R. (2019). Gender inequality and restrictive gender norms: Framing the challenges to health. The Lancet, 393(10189), 2440-2454.

  20. Hou, X., & Ma, N. (2013). The effect of women’s decision-making power on maternal health services uptake: evidence from Pakistan. Health Policy and Planning, 28(2), 176-184.

  21. Hyde, J. S. (2014). Gender similarities and differences. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 373-398.

  22. Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A. B., & Williams, C. C. (2008). Gender similarities characterize math performance. Science, 321(5888), 494-495.

  23. Ilaboya, D., Gibson, L., & Musoke, D. (2017). Perceived barriers to early detection of breast cancer in Wakiso District, Uganda using a socioecological approach. Globalization and Health, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0326-0

  24. Iwamoto, D. K., Corbin, W., Takamatsu, S., & Castellanos, J. (2018). The association between multidimensional feminine norms, binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among young adult college women. Addictive Behaviors, 76, 243-249.

  25. Kaffenberger, M., & Pritchett, L. (2021). Effective investment in women's futures: Schooling with learning. International Journal of Educational Development, 86, 102464.

  26. Kagesten, A., Gibbs, S., Blum, R. W., Moreau, C., Chandra-Mouli, V., Herbert, A., & Amin, A. (2016). Understanding factors that shape gender attitudes in early adolescence globally: A mixed-methods systematic review. PLOS ONE, 11(6), e0157805.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157805.

  27. Kalaitzi, S., Czabanowska, K., Fowler-Davis, S., & Brand, H. (2017). Women leadership barriers in healthcare, academia and business. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal

  28. Keller, E. F., & Scharff‐Goldhaber, G. (1987). Reflections on gender and science.

  29. Khan, A., Tidman, M. M., Shakir, S., & Darmal, I. (2022). Breast Cancer in Afghanistan: Issues, Barriers, and Incidence. Journal of Medical Research and Health Sciences, 5(8), 2125-2134.

  30. Langer, A., Meleis, A., Knaul, F. M., Atun, R., Aran, M., Arreola-Ornelas, H., Bhutta, Z. A., Binagwaho, A., Bonita, R., Caglia, J. M., Claeson, M., Davies, J., Donnay, F. A., Gausman, J. M., Glickman, C., Kearns, A. D., Kendall, T., Lozano, Rafael, L., Seboni, N., ... & Frenk, J. (2015). Women and health: The key for sustainable development. The Lancet, 386(9999), 1165-1210.

  31. Lindberg, S. M., Hyde, J. S., & Hirsch, L. M. (2008). Gender and mother-child interactions during mathematics homework: The importance of individual differences. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly (1982-), 232-255.

  32. Lindberg, S. M., Hyde, J. S., Petersen, J. L., & Linn, M. C. (2010). New trends in gender and mathematics performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136(6), 1123.

  33. Local Burden of Disease Educational Attainment Collaborators, L. B. (2019). Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries. Nature, 577(7789), 235-238. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1872-1.

  34. Manandhar, M., Hawkes, S., Buse, K., Nosrati, E., & Magar, V. (2018). Gender, health and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 96(9), 644.

  35. McCray, T. M. (2004). An issue of culture: The effects of daily activities on prenatal care utilization patterns in rural South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 59(9), 1843-1855.

  36. Miller, L. C., Joshi, N., Lohani, M., Rogers, B., Mahato, S., Ghosh, S., & Webb, P. (2017). Women’s education level amplifies the effects of a livelihoods-based intervention on household wealth, child diet, and child growth in rural Nepal. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16(1), 1-17.

  37. Moyer, C. A., & Mustafa, A. (2013). Drivers and deterrents of facility delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. Reproductive Health, 10(1), 1-14.

  38. Nahar, S., Banu, M., & Nasreen, H. E. (2011). Women-focused development intervention reduces delays in accessing emergency obstetric care in urban slums in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 11(1), 1-10

  39. Nave, G., Jung, W. H., Karlsson Linnér, R., Kable, J. W., & Koellinger, P. D. (2019). Are bigger brains smarter? Evidence from a large-scale preregistered study. Psychological Science, 30(1), 43-54.

  40. Ogbuanu, C., Glover, S., Probst, J., Liu, J., & Hussey, J. (2011). The effect of maternity leave length and time of return to work on breastfeeding. Pediatrics, 127(6), e1414-e1427.

  41. Osamor, P. E., & Grady, C. (2015). Women’s autonomy in health care decision-making in developing countries: A synthesis of the literature. International Journal of Women's Health, 8, 191-202. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S105483.

  42. Ostby, G., Urdal, H., & Rudolfsen, I. (2016). What Is driving gender equality in secondary education? Evidence from 57 developing countries, 1970–2010. Education Research International, 2016.

  43. Palloni, G. (2017). Childhood health and the wantedness of male and female children. Journal of Development Economics, 126, 19-32.

  44. Pereira-Kotze, C., Doherty, T., & Faber, M. (2021). Maternity protection for female non-standard workers in South Africa: The case of domestic workers. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 22.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-022-04944-0

  45. Pickering, A. J., Djebbari, H., Lopez, C., Coulibaly, M., & Alzua, M. L. (2015). Effect of a community-led sanitation intervention on child diarrhea and child growth in rural Mali: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. The Lancet Global Health, 3(11), e701-e711.

  46. Qureshi, S. A., Udani, S. K., Zehra, M., Batool, T., Lateef, T., Ghani, F., & Azmi, M. B. (2018). A cross-sectional study: Bone markers in different body mass index groups of newly diagnosed breast cancer females in Karachi, Pakistan. Age (yrs), 51, 12-47.

  47. Reid, T. D., Wren, S. M., Grudziak, J., Maine, R., Kajombo, C., & Charles, A. G. (2019). Sex disparities in access to surgical care at a single institution in Malawi. World Journal of Surgery, 43(1), 60-66.

  48. Reilly, D., Neumann, D. L., & Andrews, G. (2022). Gender differences in self-estimated intelligence: Exploring the male Hubris, female humility problem. Frontiers in Psychology, 226.

  49. Saad, L. (2017). A sea change in support for working women. Washington, DC: Gallup.

  50. Saxena, D., Vangani, R., Mavalankar, D., & Thomsen, S. (2013). Inequity in maternal health care service utilization in Gujarat: Analyses of district-level health survey data. Global Health Action, 6(1), 19652.

  51. Seedat, S., & Rondon, M. (2021). Women’s wellbeing and the burden of unpaid work. British Medical Journal, 374.

  52. Shah, S., & Shah, U. (2012). Girl education in rural Pakistan. Revista Internacional de Sociología de la Educación, 1(2), 180-207.

  53. Stanford Medicine (2017). Sex, gender, and medicine. https://stanmed.stanford.edu/2017spring/how-mens-and-womens-brains-are-different.html.

  54. Sternberg, R. J. (2012). Intelligence. State of art. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 14(1), 19-27.

  55. Tanner, J., Cockerill, R., Barnsley, J., & Williams, A. P. (1999). Gender and income in pharmacy: Human capital and gender stratification theories revisited. The British Journal of Sociology, 50(1), 97-117.

  56. United Nations (2023a). Afghan girls and made focus of international education day: UNESCO. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132637.

  57. United Nations (2023b). Afghanistan: Humanitarian awaits guidelines on women’s role in aid operation. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132997.

  58. United Nations (2017). Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.  http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/.

  59. United Nations Development Program (2023). Gender equality index (GII). https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/thematic-composite-indices/gender-inequality-index#/indicies/GII.

  60. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2020). Interview: “Literacy rate in Afghanistan increased to 43 percent. https://uil.unesco.org/interview-literacy-rate-afghanistan-increased-43-cent.

  61. United Nations Economic and Social Council (2017). Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Report of the Secretary General. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2017/secretary-general-sdg-report-2017--EN.pdf.

  62. United Nations Economic and Social Council (2016). Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work Report of the Secretary General.

  63. United Nations Women (2018). Why gender equality matters across all SDGS. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2018/SDG-report-Chapter-3-Why-gender-equality-matters-across-all-SDGs-2018-en.pdf.

  64. Wei, W., Sarker, T., Żukiewicz-Sobczak, W., Roy, R., Alam, G. M., Rabbany, M. G., Hossain, M. S., & Aziz, N. (2021). The influence of women’s empowerment on poverty reduction in the rural areas of Bangladesh: Focus on health, education and living standard. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(13), 6909.

  65. Weil, P. A., & Kimball, P. A. (1996). Gender and compensation in health care management. Health Care Management Review, 19-33.

  66. White, K. (2019). Publications Output: US Trends and International Comparisons. Science & Engineering Indicators 2020. NSB-2020-6. National Science Foundation.

  67. World bank (2022). Literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.1524.LT.FM.ZS.

  68. World Bank (2019). There are fewer female than male STEM graduates in 107 of 114 economies. https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/there-are-fewer-female-male-stem-graduates-107-114-economies.

  69. World Policy Analysis Center Adult Labor (2022). Is paid leave available for both parents of infants? https://www.worldpolicycenter.org/policies/is-paid-leave-available-for-both-parents-of-infants.

  70. World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health & World Health Organization. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health: Commission on Social Determinants of Health final report. World Health Organization.

  71. Zell, E., Krizan, Z., & Teeter, S. R. (2015). Evaluating gender similarities and differences using meta synthesis. American Psychologist, 70(1), 10.

bottom of page