Conceptual Approaches to Studying Gender in Education

Abstract

In the mid‐1970s Goetz examined published work in educational anthropology and distinguished four conceptual approaches to gender and education. This article analyzes research in anthropology, education, feminist studies, psychology, and sociology appearing since Goetz's review. We find decreases in what Goetz termed “sex difference” studies, but increases in research on how gender relationships are created, maintained, and transformed through education. Social interactionism and sociocultural reproduction have become increasingly dominant as theoretical frameworks.