UCL Discovery Stage
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery Stage

Does women's education improve the sex ratio at birth? Gender, agency and sex-selective abortion in South and East Asia: a critical literature review

Peppin Vaughan, Rosie; (2025) Does women's education improve the sex ratio at birth? Gender, agency and sex-selective abortion in South and East Asia: a critical literature review. Women's Studies International Forum , 109 , Article 103050. 10.1016/j.wsif.2024.103050. Green open access

[thumbnail of Peppin Vaughan_1-s2.0-S0277539524001882-main.pdf]
Preview
Text
Peppin Vaughan_1-s2.0-S0277539524001882-main.pdf

Download (784kB) | Preview

Abstract

The increasingly skewed sex ratio at birth, a result of son preference and sex-selective abortions, is a pressing concern in development. It appears that many aspects of development (such as economic growth, technological development, and women's increasing economic independence and voice) are occurring alongside a growing number of ‘missing’ girls and women, with various adverse social and economic consequences. A perplexing dimension is that women's education apparently has no clear relationship to the sex ratio at birth, and in some contexts appears to increase the propensity for sex selection. However, so far, studies have tended to use basic measures such as level or years of education, which do not explain whether and how educational experience affects traditional patriarchal norms and the relative value afforded to boys and girls. Drawing on a capabilities perspective on education, this article argues for a more nuanced concept of agency (which incorporates social structures and norms), and the need to integrate critical perspectives on the relationship between education, agency and empowerment. Finally, it makes a case for innovative measures of gender and education, which would allow comprehensive empirical exploration of how different forms of education affect women's capabilities and agency in relation to sex selection.

Type: Article
Title: Does women's education improve the sex ratio at birth? Gender, agency and sex-selective abortion in South and East Asia: a critical literature review
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2024.103050
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2024.103050
Language: English
Additional information: Crown Copyright © 2025 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Gender bias; Sex stereotypes; Empowerment; women’s education
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204373
Downloads since deposit
60Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item