Processes of Gendering and the Institutionalization of Gender in the Family and School: A Case Study from Nepal

It has been argued that providing girls equal access to schools will remedy many social and economic problems, but much of the research regarding girls and schools fails to consider participation in schools within the context of gendered institutions. Failing to recognize gender as an institutionalization of power perpetuates inequalities, particularly in the context of schools. This article examines the complexities of gender inequality within schools in a Nepalese village. I discuss how gendered socialization patterns within the gendered institutions of family and school constrain students, especially girls. Gender, however, is socially constructed and fluid; it can be negotiated and changed.