A Study Of UNESCO's Policy System Of Gender Equality In Education

Gender equality in education,as the intersection of education equity and gender equality,has long been an important issue on the global agenda of education governance.As the one of the major actors of global education governance,UNESCO has been committed to promoting gender equality in education since its establishment in 1945,and has always been at the forefront of theoretical and practical exploration,developing over time an integrated policy system to promote gender equality in education.By exploring the policy system of UNESCO,this thesis reveals the evolving interpretation of the international community on gender equality in education,enriches the research on the role and practice of international organizations in the global governance of specific fields,and provides important insights for the promotion of gender equality in education in ChinaThrough the analysis of the major reports and policy documents of UNESCO,this study defines the policy system of UNESCO as an organic combination of policy pillars and policy tools:policy pillars set the direction and value standards,while policy tools act as an engine,providing momentum and guarantee for governance practice.Thus,this study examines the policy system of UNESCO from two aspects policy pillars and policy tools.UNESCO defines gender equality in education as a dynamic combination of equality of opportunities,equality in the learning process,equality of internal and external results,which form the three pillars of its policy system.In terms of policy tools,UNESCO mainly applies four kinds of them:data collection and monitoring,evaluation mechanism,law and policy guideline and international cooperation to promote and spread its policy concepts and ideas at all levels of global governance,providing strong capacity-building and support for member states to champion gender equality in education.Meanwhile,this study examines the design of UNESCO's policy system applying the Women's Empowerment framework of Gender and Development theory,and finds that the system covers all five levels of equality and empowerment in the educational setting,and emphasizes the intersectionality of inequalities.Thus,this thesis reaches the conclusion that the policy system of UNESCO is a representative case of applying Gender and Development theory in international education governance.However,challenges remain as the effect of policy ideas and tools for high-level empowerment seems moderate.This study believes that how to integrate the high-level empowerment and gender equality indicators into national legislation and strengthen the binding force and accountability of its policy system should be high on UNESCO's agenda in the future.