Alexander W. Wiseman, PhD

A few words from Prof. Wiseman on his plans as a Class of 1961
Professor:

I am currently studying the ways that educational policymakers in
gender-segregated school systems make policies that meet international
standards for gender “equality” in schools. I will do this by
examining the only fully gender-segregated educational system in the
world, which is in Saudi Arabia. The results of this study will
contribute new knowledge to our understanding of how national
education policymakers reconcile specific social traditions and values
with so-called “world culture.” It also forwards the international
educational agenda of achieving “education for all” among boys and
girls in every nation by the year 2015, which is a goal of the UNESCO
Education for All initiative and the UN Millennium Development Goals.

I have already done preliminary analyses of the publicly-available
statistical data from Saudi Arabia on gender differences in
educational access, achievement, and opportunity, which was published
earlier this year in the journal Research in Comparative and
International Education. These data suggest that gender parity (not
necessarily equality) is rapidly approaching in these areas even in
this extremely gender-segregated system. However, this quantitative
data does not fully explain why or how educational policymakers in
these countries continue to “equalize” education for boys and girls
while maintaining strict gender segregation; nor does it fully address
more deeply embedded gender differences in the school system as a
whole.

Dr. Naif Alromi is the Deputy Minister of Educational Development in
the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia. He has agreed to provide me
access to the directors of girls’ education and educational planning
in the Ministry if I come to Riyadh. I plan use the Class of 1961
support to travel to Riyadh and interview these directors regarding
(1) the short history of girls education and the merging of the boys
and girls education ministries in the early 2000s, (2) decision-making
strategies related to gender equity policies, (3) formal plans for
girls versus boys development through schooling, and (4) ministry
responses to relative gender parity in access, achievement, and
opportunity. The information from these interviews will supplement the
statistical data I currently have, and allow me to both describe and
qualitatively analyze the ways that these ministry officials and
official policies about gender and education in Saudi Arabia are
shaped (or not shaped) by “world culture.” The results of this study
will help educational researchers to better understand the reasons why
and how educational policymakers balance the specific needs of their
country or region with the requirements imposed by international
standards.

Alexander W. Wiseman, PhD
Associate Professor and Coordinator
Comparative and International Education Program
Lehigh University