This article presents a critique of attempts to achieve equality for young women in education. It examines from a philosophical perspective some important issues in reform efforts which, it is argued, have received insufficient attention in educational theorising. These include the public-private dichotomy within education and attempts to increase young women's access to, and participation in, the male-dominated subject areas of mathematics, science and technology. These issues are then related to a significant Australian curriculum strategy, the gender inclusive curriculum and briefly to current proposals to achieve gender equity.
BiklenS.K. & ShakeshaftC. (1985). The new scholarship on women. In KleinS.S. (Ed.), Handbook for achieving sex equity through education. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
CaustL. (1989). Beyond equality: The theoretical and practical implications of equality of opportunity policy in one work-place. Unpublished thesis, Flinders University of South Australia.
6.
Commonwealth Schools Commission. (1984). Girls and tomorrow: The challenge for schools. Canberra: Author.
7.
Commonwealth Schools Commission. (1987). The national policy for the education of girls in Australian schools. Canberra: Author.
8.
CrawfordK.Groundwater-SmithS., & MilanM. (1990). Gender and the evolution of computer literacy. Sydney: NSW Department of Education.
9.
Curriculum Development Council. (1985). Report to the Minister. Canberra: Author.
10.
DayA.T. (1978). Formal egalitarianism – private traditionalism: The position of women in Australia. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
11.
Department of Employment, Education and Training. (1990). Girls in schools: 3: Report on the national policy for the education of girls in Australian schools. Canberra: Author.
12.
DorneyJ. (1990). Women teaching girls: Relationships in the practice of teaching. Unpublished paper, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
13.
DunneF. & RoseT. (1989). Implementation of sex equity policy in the US and Australia. Draft report of OECD.
14.
FosterV. (1984). Changing choices—girls, school and work. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger.
15.
FosterV. (1987). Creating a supportive educational environment for girls. In FosterV. (Ed.). Including girls—curriculum perspectives on the education of girls. Canberra: Curriculum Development Centre.
16.
FosterV. (1989). Is ‘gender-inclusive’ curriculum the answer for girls? In LederG.C. & SampsonS.N. (Eds.), Educating girls—practice and research. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
17.
GatensM. (1986). Rousseau and Wollstonecraft: Nature vs. reason. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 64, Suppl.
18.
GilliganC. (1990). Teaching Shakespeare's sister: Notes from the underground of female adolescence. In GilliganC. (Eds.), Making connections—the relational words of adolescent girls at Emma Willard School. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
19.
GoreJ.M. (1989). Discourses of teacher empowerment: A poststructural critique. Paper presented to the Australian Association for Research in Education, Adelaide, November 1989.
20.
GrayA. (1989). Equality of opportunity for women and girls in education in NSW: Some recent initiatives analysed. Paper presented to the Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Comparative Education Society, December 1989.
21.
GrossE. (1986). Conclusion: What is feminist theory? In PatemanC. & GrossE. (Eds.), Feminist challenges: Social and political theory (pp. 190–204). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
22.
GroszE. (1989). Sexual subversions—three French feminists. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
23.
HegelG.W.F. (1821). The philosophy of right (KnoxT.M., Trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
24.
HoweF. (1984). Myths of coeducation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
25.
IrigarayL. (1980). When our two lips speak together. Signs, 6(1), 69–79.
26.
IrigarayL. (1985). Speculum of the other woman. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
27.
KenwayJ. (1990). Gender and education policy. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
28.
KenwayJ. & ModraH. (1989). Feminist pedagogy and emancipatory possibilities. In Critical Pedagogy Networker. Geelong: Deakin University, School of Education.
29.
LatherP. (1984). Critical theory, curricular transformation and feminist mainstreaming. Journal of Education, 166(1), 49–62.
30.
LeckG.M. (1987). Review article—Feminist pedagogy, liberation theory and the traditional schooling paradigm. Educational Theory, 37(3), 343–354.
31.
LloydG. (1984). The man of reason: ‘Male’ and ‘female’ in western philosophy. London: Methuen.
32.
LonziC. (1974). Sputiamo su Hegel. Milan: Scritti di Rivolta Femminile.
33.
LukeC. (1989). Feminist politics in radical pedagogy. Unpublished manuscript, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland.
34.
MaherF. (1985). Classroom pedagogy and the new scholarship on women. In CulleyM. & PortugesC. (Eds.), Gendered subjects. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
35.
MartinJ.R. (1981). The ideal of the educated person. Educational Theory, 31(2), 104–109.
36.
McClellandA.E. (1988). Gender and the social foundations: A call for action. Educational Foundations, 2(2), 15–26.
37.
Ministry of Education and Youth Affairs. (1989). Education and training strategy for girls and women. Sydney: NSW Department of Education.
38.
O'BrienM. (1984). The commatization of women: Patriarchal fetishism in the sociology of education. Interchange, 15(2), 43–60.
39.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (1986). Girls and women in education: A cross-national study of sex inequalities in upbringing and in schools and colleges. Paris: Author.
40.
PatemanC. (1988). The sexual contract. Sydney: Polity Press.
41.
PatemanC. (1989). The disorder of women—democracy, feminism and political theory. Sydney: Polity Press.
42.
PatemanC. & GrossE. (Eds.). (1986). Feminist challenges: Social and political theory. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
43.
RousseauJ-J. (1972). Emile (FoxleyB., Trans.). London: Everyman. (Original work published 1762)
44.
Schools Commission. (1975). Girls, school and society: Report of a study group to the Schools Commission. Canberra: Author.
45.
SchusterM. & Van DyneS. (1984). Placing women in the liberal arts: Stages of curriculum transformation. Harvard Educational Review, 54, 413–428.
46.
ScottH. (1982). Sweden's right to be human—Sex role equality: The goal and the reality. London: Allison & Busby.
47.
SuggettD. (1987). Inclusive curriculum: A gain or loss for girls?Curriculum Perspectives, 7(1), 69–74.
48.
TapperM. (1986). Can a feminist be a liberal?Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 64, Suppl.
49.
YatesL. (1988). Does ‘all students’ include girls? Some reflections on recent educational policy, practice and theory. Australian Educational Researcher, 15(1), 41–58.
