Gender Equity in Access to Higher Education in Mongolia

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Gender Equity in Access to Higher Education in Mongolia GENDER EQUITY IN ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN MONGOLIA by Enkhjargal Adiya M.S, Moscow State Automobile and Road Construction Technical University, 1995 M.S, University of Kent, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2010 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION This dissertation was presented by Enkhjargal Adiya It was defended on July 15, 2010 and approved by Dr. Michael Gunzenhauser, Associate Professor, Administrative and Policy Studies Department Dr. Dennis Hart, Associate Director, Asian Studies Center Dr. John L. Yeager, Associate Professor, Administrative and Policy Studies Department Dissertation Advisor: Dr. John Weidman, Professor, Administrative and Policy Studies Department ii Copyright © by Enkhjargal Adiya 2010 iii GENDER EQUITY IN ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN MONGOLIA Enkhjargal Adiya, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2010 Mongolia is similar to several other Asian countries in experiencing significant growth in higher education enrollments, in part due to expansion of the private sector. In 2004-2005, 62 percent of Mongolian undergraduates were female, a pattern that has existed since the early 1990s. The study investigates reasons for the lower participation of male students than their female counterparts in Mongolian higher education. It intends to contribute to an understanding of why this gender imbalance persists in Mongolian higher education, especially since in all spheres of life, including politics and business, males predominate in leadership positions. This qualitative study examines what kind of reasons influence the reverse gender balance. Using an inductive model of qualitative analysis design, this investigation considers the human capital theory and socio-economic effects on college choice as a conceptual framework. Forty six respondents were interviewed and the findings of this study were based on analysis of these interviews using the conceptual framework. Four major sets of factors have been found as reasons why the gender imbalance exists in Mongolian higher education, which include cultural, social, economic and institutional factors. Some of the factors are very unique to the Mongolian context while others reflect global trends within the Mongolian context. The findings suggest that most of the reasons for the reverse gender gap in higher education are closely related to the fact that Mongolia went through and still is undergoing major changes caused by the transition from a centrally planned economy to a iv market economy. Prior this transition however, the consequences and structural elements of the socialist period have had impact on gender equity in higher education. On the other hand, some of the reasons for the gender imbalance are related to unique Mongolian traditions and a nomadic lifestyle that Mongolians have lead for centuries. The gender imbalance favoring female enrollment in higher education is a phenomenon also shared with the United States and other countries. Hence, the research contributes to a broader understanding of shifting gender equity patterns in higher education enrollment in the United States and Mongolia as well as around the world. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... XIV 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 CONTEXT AND PROBLEM ............................................................................. 2 1.1.1 Current situation of higher education in Mongolia ................................... 2 1.1.2 Reverse gender gap in higher education in Mongolia ............................... 5 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE ......................... 11 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 13 2.1 A REVIEW OF HISTORY OF GENDER EQUITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 DIFFERENCES EXISTING WITH REGARD TO GENDER ACROSS HIGHER EDUCATION IN CENTRAL ASIA AND MONGOLIA .............................. 18 2.2.1 Student participation in higher education in Central Asia and Mongolia 21 2.2.2 Curricula changes in higher education in Central Asia and Mongolia . 24 2.2.3 Curriculum selection and graduation rates in higher education in Central Asia and Mongolia ....................................................................................... 26 2.3 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FACTORS EXPLAINING DIFFERENCES IN GENDER EQUITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION ............................................................ 27 vi 2.3.1 Status of women in society ......................................................................... 27 2.3.2 Enrollment patterns .................................................................................... 29 3.0 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................. 31 3.1 HUMAN CAPITAL THEORY ........................................................................ 31 3.1.1 Returns to investment in human capital ................................................... 33 3.1.2 Controversies about human capital theory .............................................. 37 3.1.3 Implications of human capital theory to the gender situation in Mongolia ..................................................................................................................... 38 3.1.4 Investing in women’s education ................................................................. 40 3.1.5 Mongolian higher education and educational inflation ........................... 43 3.2 SOCIO-ECONOMIC EFFECTS ON COLLEGE CHOICE ........................ 45 3.2.1 Explaining differences of opportunity structure in higher education.... 47 3.2.1.1 Individual level factors ....................................................................... 47 3.2.1.2 Institutional factors ............................................................................. 55 4.0 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................... 62 4.1 DATA COLLECTION ...................................................................................... 64 4.1.1 Sample selection .......................................................................................... 64 4.1.2 Instruments for data collection .................................................................. 65 4.2 DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 67 4.2.1 Noticing phase ............................................................................................. 69 4.2.2 Collecting phase .......................................................................................... 69 4.2.3 Thinking phase ............................................................................................ 71 4.2.4 Writing phase .............................................................................................. 72 vii 4.3 LIMITATIONS AND STRENGTHS OF THE STUDY ................................ 74 5.0 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY .................................................................................... 76 5.1 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ................................................................... 77 5.2 TREE OF CAUSES AND EFFECTS: REVERSE GENDER GAP IN MONGOLIAN HIGHER EDUCATION ......................................................................... 78 5.3 THEME ONE. CULTURAL FACTORS ........................................................ 81 5.3.1 Country background .................................................................................. 81 5.3.2 Value of education....................................................................................... 85 5.3.3 Nomadic Traditions .................................................................................... 90 5.4 THEME TWO. SOCIAL FACTORS ............................................................. 93 5.4.1 Current social conditions in Mongolia ...................................................... 94 5.4.1.1 Internal Migration .............................................................................. 95 5.4.1.2 Importance of rural schools ............................................................... 97 5.4.1.3 Consequences of Socialist Ruling....................................................... 98 5.4.2 Urban and rural divide ............................................................................. 100 5.4.3 Gender equity policy ................................................................................. 104 5.5 THEME THREE. ECONOMIC FACTORS ................................................ 105 5.5.1 Country background ................................................................................ 105 5.5.1.1 Privatization ...................................................................................... 106 5.5.1.2 Informal sector .................................................................................. 107 5.5.1.3 Poverty ............................................................................................... 109 5.5.2 Transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy .. 112 5.5.3 Employment opportunities for males .....................................................
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