Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. The dichotomy between equality & difference is a central issue in both feminist & education debates. Georgina Tsolidis examines this dichotomy with particular reference to gender, ethnicity & schooling & argues that in the context of reformist education policies targeting gender equity & the affirmation of cultural difference, the schooling experiences of ethnic minority girls provide insights into ways of challenging this dichotomy. School-based case studies are provided as a means of challenging the predominant view, reiterated through education policies, that these girls are victims of a culture clash which establishes a 'minority as backward, majority as enlightened' binary. Feminist theorizations of difference are used as a means of interpreting the contradictions between the representations of ethnic minority girls in education policies & the vision of them which emerges through the case-studies. This then provides the basis for a speculative exploration of the equality & difference dichotomy in relation to transformative curriculum & pedagogy. Contents: Introduction - Feminist theorizations of cultural difference - Theorizing cultural difference in relation to Australian feminism - The construction of ethnic minority girls in education policy literature - Case studies: a girl's reputation - Case studies: academic aspirations & experiences - Conclusion - References - Index.

Schooling Diaspora looks into the motivations and strategies of missionaries, colonial authorities, and Chinese reformists and revolutionaries for educating girls, as well as the impact that this education had on identity formation among overseas Chinese women and larger society.

What are the politics of gender within education? How are the issues of gender being explored in diverse educational settings? Does gender still matter in education? This book draws together the work from an international array of authors working at the cutting edge of gender research in education. From policy issues affecting single mothers to the incorporation of 'Southern learning' into Northern contexts, this collection provides a compelling argument for renewed engagement with gender issues at both macro and micro political levels within the full range of educational contexts - from primary to higher education.

Organized around the broad themes of women's labor, community activity, and identity as their organizing concept, Women, Gender, and Diasporic Lives intersects these issues with the concerns of ethnicity, class, generation, and masculinity. The country-specific case studies reveal women's intentionality and agency in labor, in building community institutions, and in negotiating and re-defining their identities. The broad range of contributor backgrounds make this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in gender, diaspora, labor, or modern Greek studies

Education has long been a cornerstone of Chinese culture. Traditional Chinese norms have also held that the less education and exposure to influence from outside the home a girl had, the more likely she would be to remain true to conventional domestic values and to remain morally upright. In the mid-nineteenth century, overseas Chinese communities encountered a new perspective via Western European and American missionary schools. Formal education could be not just helpful but integral to preserving female virtue and had the added benefit of elevating the socio-cultural status of the overseas Chinese. As a result, increasing numbers of girls began to attend school. Within a few decades, other groups who sponsored female education-local Chinese community leaders, mainland Chinese reformists, the British colonial government-were offering a competing approach: education for the sake of modernization. These diverse and sometimes divergent priorities preoccupied educators, parents, politicians, and, of course, the girls and women who attended these institutions. In this work, Karen Teoh relates the history of English and Chinese girls' schools that overseas Chinese founded and attended from the 1850s to the 1960s in British Malaya and Singapore. She examines the strategies of missionaries, colonial authorities, and Chinese reformists and revolutionaries for educating girls, as well as the impact that this education had on identity formation among overseas Chinese women and larger society. Such schools ranged from charitable missions operated by nuns who rescued orphans and prostitutes, to elite institutions for the daughters of the wealthy and powerful. They could tailor their curricula to suit the specific needs of female students, emphasizing domestic skills such as sewing and cooking, or, later, training for "women's work" in teaching, nursing, or secretarial jobs. They would help to produce what society needed, in the form of better wives and mothers, or workers and citizens of developing nation-states, while ensuring compliance with desired ideals. Chinese women in diaspora found that failing to conform to any number of state priorities could lead to social disapproval, marginalization, or even outright deportation. Overseas Chinese communities were mindful of these perils, and their responses were as myriad as their modes of identity construction and adaptation. They grappled with questions of how this project might support Chinese nationalism, absorb the best of British colonial influence, and strengthen their image as a stable, modern, and desirable population in their countries of settlement. Bridging Chinese and Southeast Asian history, British imperialism, gender, and the history of education, Schooling Diaspora shows how these diasporic women contributed to the development of a new figure: the educated transnational Chinese woman.

Gender equality has been on the agenda of national policies of higher education within and outside the European Union (EU) for the last twenty years. In some European countries, this process was initiated early on and has brought about remarkable results, while in others progress has been slower. Different countries and institutions have focussed on different strategies for raising awareness about the discrimination of women and for increasing the number of women in aca- mia, particularly in leadership positions. Previous research on gender equality in higher education has produced many case studies about programmes at institutions of higher education in Europe and elsewhere. Different actors like the European Commission and - tional organisations have also furnished reports about national policies. Building on this material, it is now time to analyse under what conditions equality p- grammes are successful. For a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of and barriers to gender equality in higher education, we also need studies that focus on the development of gender equality policies in different countries, as well as on conditions of implementation, change of strategy, and the evaluation of - sults. Comparative studies would be another useful tool for understanding the development and success of gender equality programmes.