Title: Education in Latin America - Wikipedia
Headings: Education in Latin America
Education in Latin America
Contents
Retention and completion
Education inputs
Learning
PISA
School bullying
Central America
South America
Education and growth
Primary and secondary education
Higher education
Overview
History
Women and men led quite different lives in 19th century Latin America. Virtually every aspect of their lives were determined by the gender they were assigned at birth, based on sex. This began at infancy, and carried on through education, marriage, and old age. Beginning in childhood boys and girls would have been encouraged to partake in very different activities. In education boys would have been taught reading, writing, mathematics, as well as religious subjects. Young girls, however, were rarely enrolled in education to begin with, this was reserved for the daughters of the elite. In these cases girls' education was centered around homemaking, though they dabbled in reading. Home making was a vital aspect of their education after all they would grow to be responsible for the next generation, specifically the next generation of young men. It was important that these boys grew up in the “ideal” family setting and were taken care of by their mothers before this became their wives role.
This not only had a large impact on how they were raised and what roles they came to expect of themselves in the future, but also affected what they were able to do, regardless of their perceived role. Limiting education in this way by gendered circumstances actively limited womens abilities to be independent in any way, or to take an active role in financially supporting themselves or their families. This left women susceptible to harmful home lives. It left them vulnerable to abuse and forced early marriage. Without marriage from a young age women grew to be less likely to get married with every passing year and more likely to become a burden on her parents long term. This motivated parents to educate their daughters on how to be good homemakers and wives as it was perceived that this was the only way to allow them to have a future outside of their immediate family. There were, of course, exceptions to this that will be explored below.
Further into adulthood, careers and societal roles were limited by gender. Men went on to participate in education, politics, religion, medicine etc. as well as physical labor. Women, on the other hand, were limited to house work and occasionally merchant work. Merchant work became one of the only ways women, particularly women of color, had an opportunity to care after themselves. Some slave women were even able to participate in this and earn their own freedom, One's role within society was determined just as much by race or ethnicity as it was gender. Slavery was still widespread in Latin America throughout the 19th century. Enslaved women had particular hardships compared to others. Their bodies were susceptible to the whims of those that believed they owned them. It was common for enslaved women to be tasked with raising, breastfeeding, and caring after the children of the head family. Breastfeeding was a particularly traumatic experience for these women, particularly those who had lost their own children and were still forced to breastfeed someone else's as described in “Black Nurse, White Milk: Wet Nursing and Slavery in Brazil” by Cassia Roth.
Gender roles influencing one's role in society can be seen in Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Latin America Since Independence by William French and Katherine Bliss with "gender performance is not an act of the individual but rather a negotiation between the individual and his or her society" (pg 60). It was common that presenting oneself with more masculine traits, though generally frowned upon, had its benefits. In the case of Madame Durocher, for example, she was a woman in the medical field that chose to present herself with masculine traits, giving her a certain level of authority and credibility. She recognized this connection between masculinity and power with " emphasi [ing] that her decision to dress in masculine attire... for practice reasons... She describes herself against the backdrop of other women... whose frivolous nature prevents them from being respected as midwives" (pg 60). Madame Durocher is a prime example of both the idea that men and women experienced "gendered spheres" but also that it was possible to live outside these boundaries, though it would require taking on a gender performance that may not align with how one would actually identify. This was not only unique to the 19th century, however. As the Poem Queer Theory: According to My Grandmother by Richard Blanco describes, what is and is not allowed of each gender seems incredibly clear in the minds of many people to this day. Things like showing affection, even for family, is firmly distasteful behavior of men to the author's grandmother. Even the use of everyday items like shampoo and conditioner are off limits to men and reserved for women. Gendered spheres, though perhaps less strict and with more wiggle room, are still a defined aspect of many individuals lives.
Institutions in Latin American higher education
Higher education funding
Student opportunities and future challenges
Gender Gap
Migration
Educational Labor Unions in Latin America
Effects of Labor Union on Latin American education
Effects of Labor Unions
Professionalization of Teachers in Unions
Addition of Incentives
Bolivia
Peru
Violence Against Labor Unions
Difficulty in Assessing Effect of Labor Union on Education
See also
Sources
References
External links

Content: Education in Latin America - Wikipedia
Education in Latin America
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Despite significant progress, education remains a challenge in Latin America. The region has made great progress in educational coverage; almost all children attend primary school and access to secondary education has increased considerably complete on average two more years of schooling than their parents' generation. Most educational systems in the region have implemented various types of administrative and institutional reforms that have enabled reach for places and communities that had no access to education services in the early 90s. However, there are still 23 million children in the region between the ages of 4 and 17 outside of the formal education system. Estimates indicate that 30% of preschool age children (ages 4 –5) do not attend school, and for the most vulnerable populations – poor, rural, indigenous and afro-descendants – this calculation exceeds 40 percent. Among primary school age children (ages 6 to 12), coverage is almost universal; however there is still a need to incorporate 5 million children in the primary education system. These children live mostly in remote areas, are indigenous or Afro-descendants and live in extreme poverty. Among people between the ages of 13 and 17 years, only 80% are enrolled in the education system;