The politics, policies and practices of intersectionality: Making gender equality inclusive in and through education

The concept of intersectionality allows for an expanded understanding of many facets of gender inequality associated with education, and a more nuanced approach to thinking about inclusion in education systems that go beyond equalising the numbersof girls and boys enrolling or progressing. The approach signalled by intersectionality thus suggests ways to address and change some of the causes of inequality and not just mark some effects. This paper aims to discuss the politics, policies and practices associated with the concept of intersectionality. It sets out to summarise some research that draws on this idea to consider forms of gender inequalities associated with education, and someof the ways inclusive gender equality in and through education has been addressed in policy and practice.It considers how the idea of intersectionality provides insight into processesof overlap, so that gender inequalities in education can be read through an understanding of the complex systems in which they are located. The discussion looks at the concept of intersectionality and the ways in which this has been used in social research and policy analysis. The discussion then draws some implications for thinking about the concept of intersectionality in gender in education settings. The discussion presents three ways of understanding intersectionality drawing on McCall’s (2005) distinction between intra-categorical, inter-categorical, and anti-categorical formulations. We interpret these as entailing a policy approach that highlights descriptions of overlapping differences within groups defined by gender (descriptive intersectionality as an interpretation of intra-categorical intersectionality), undertaking an analysis of the ways that formations of power and powerlessness operate in and through education (institutional and normative intersectionality, an interpretation of inter-categorical intersectionality), and engaging with discursive critique of the ways ideas of gender and inclusion are formulated in education policy and practice (discursive intersectionality, an interpretation of anti-categorical intersectionality).The paper then documents some of the intersectional inequalities associated with gender inequalities in education showing how quantitative studies have generally focussed on descriptive intersectionality, and that it is often difficult without additional historical, sociological and political economic analysis to understand why there aredifferent patterns of difference within groups of girls and boys or within and between countries. Literature which looks at formations of power and powerlessness, institutional and normative intersectional analysis draws out some of the ways institutions operate intersectionally to produce inequalities and the ways in which these processes are experienced within and beyond education. We give some instances of how discursive intersectional analysis helps to highlight the ways in which these forms of power operate through ideas and language.In conclusion the paper reviews how drawing on three approaches to analysing intersectionality can help in analysing particular kinds of policies and practices that support inclusion and distinguish between, monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Generally descriptive forms of intersectional analysis tend to focus on particular kinds of interventions which work to support education for particular groups of girls, and monitor their presence or absence in projects. Institutional forms of intersectional analysis aim to look more closely at how the intersections of institutions produce inequality and how forms of inclusion can be monitored to sustain gender equality in education