One of the principal mechanisms through which inequality is reproduced is language, specifically the language used as the medium of instruction. The learner’s mother tongue holds the key to making schooling more inclusive for all disadvantaged groups, especially for girls and women.

Is there a gender gap in mathematics across many low- and middle-income countries? A detailed, comparable test score data is used to analyze this. Micro level data on school performance linked to household demographics shows that the gender gap appears to increase with age. It is shown that...

In this paper the issue of high dropout rates in India is examined which has adverse implications for human capital formation, and hence for the country’s long term growth potential. Using the 2004-05 National Sample Survey employment-unemployment survey data, transition probabilities of...

In this paper, with empirical data, the Capabilities Approach to identify 'conversion factors' that are not typically addressed in the utility approach is used. The two approaches are juxtaposed to examine how institutions such as caste and religion mediate access and returns to education of men...

Boosting women’s relative control of income and other economic resources has so many consequences that positively enhance both gender equality and development that female economic empowerment may be close to being a “magic potion.†[Paper presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of...