The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Methodological issues and intersectionality in gender

Methodological issues and intersectionality in gender
Methodological issues and intersectionality in gender
The methodological issues raised by gender equality research are related to the equality goals implicit within studies. Most organisations focus on representation and use numeric surveys as a means of assessing progress or the contrary. Representation is taken to be a mathematical relationship between the population of women educational leaders and a comparator population. Such studies raise numerous methodological and substantive issues, including the choice of comparator population, homogenization of women and problems in interpretation of what is deemed progress. Such studies routinely show the under-representation of women and far from providing suggestions for policy and practice development, may act as a displacement activity for addressing the factors which sustain inequality. Qualitative studies offer richer insights though from the perspective of those who are socialised into current gender regimes. Such data can offer insights into the range of perceptions of equality goals. Intersectionality theory has offered the potential to understand in more sophisticated ways the barriers created by the interplay of personal, structural and social factors which shape identities and relationships. As yet, there is little experience of methodological sophistication on which to draw in analysing data using an intersectionality framework. The paper uses data from a mixed methods study of women school principals in South Africa as an exemplar of methodological issues in using different kinds of data. It explores analysis methods related to questionnaire and interview data, and how intersectionality theory might aid assessment of women’s power to accept or to resist gender derived limitations on their entry to and enactment of leadership. It considers what analytical approaches might provide results to steer policy and practice in relation to the goals
Lumby, Jacky
Lumby, Jacky

Lumby, Jacky (2011) Methodological issues and intersectionality in gender. International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) Policy Forum on Gender Equality in Education,, Paris, France. 03 - 04 Oct 2011.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)

Abstract

The methodological issues raised by gender equality research are related to the equality goals implicit within studies. Most organisations focus on representation and use numeric surveys as a means of assessing progress or the contrary. Representation is taken to be a mathematical relationship between the population of women educational leaders and a comparator population. Such studies raise numerous methodological and substantive issues, including the choice of comparator population, homogenization of women and problems in interpretation of what is deemed progress. Such studies routinely show the under-representation of women and far from providing suggestions for policy and practice development, may act as a displacement activity for addressing the factors which sustain inequality. Qualitative studies offer richer insights though from the perspective of those who are socialised into current gender regimes. Such data can offer insights into the range of perceptions of equality goals. Intersectionality theory has offered the potential to understand in more sophisticated ways the barriers created by the interplay of personal, structural and social factors which shape identities and relationships. As yet, there is little experience of methodological sophistication on which to draw in analysing data using an intersectionality framework. The paper uses data from a mixed methods study of women school principals in South Africa as an exemplar of methodological issues in using different kinds of data. It explores analysis methods related to questionnaire and interview data, and how intersectionality theory might aid assessment of women’s power to accept or to resist gender derived limitations on their entry to and enactment of leadership. It considers what analytical approaches might provide results to steer policy and practice in relation to the goals

Text
J_Lumby_paper_IIEP_Paris_2011FV_(3).doc - Author's Original
Download (101kB)

More information

Published date: October 2011
Venue - Dates: International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) Policy Forum on Gender Equality in Education,, Paris, France, 2011-10-03 - 2011-10-04

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 199183
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/199183
PURE UUID: c136c72f-7b3f-45ba-b04b-f67792cff8f1

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 13 Oct 2011 07:53
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 04:15

Export record

Contributors

Author: Jacky Lumby

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×