A Girl's Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiv

   PDF

2. Who Are Girls in Current Times and Is There a Problem?

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 1-25

3. How We Know What We Know: Knowledge and Evidence

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 27-60

4. See How Far We’ve Come! Girls’ Education in Recent History. And Where Does This Leave Girls Now?

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 61-93

5. The Balancing Act

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 95-124

6. Girls at School: The Formation of Learning Identities

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 125-153

7. Post-school Pathways and Girls’ Imagined Futures

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 155-181

8. Girls at School: A More Complex Picture

   • Judith Gill, Katharine Esson, Rosalina Yuen

   Pages 183-204

9. Back Matter

   Pages 205-212

   PDF

This book argues that educators and the general public have become complacent about girls’ education as a consequence of the more recent fuss about problems for boys. After an analysis of persistent  disquiet about girls’ lifestyles, it uses theories of gender and education to demonstrate that girls are being produced in contradictory ways in current schooling. Many girls develop a  sense of themselves through close connection with friendship groups but schooling processes typically require them to adopt the position of competitors in the end-of-school rankings and to act out their individualized positions in imagining themselves into the future. Ultimately the work offers insight and understanding leading to a less divisive educational pathway for girls.

• Gender
• Schools
• Future Visions
• Girls
• Female
• Women
• Identity

“A Girl’s Education likely will be an enlightening book for many readers, opening their eyes to an abundance of issues still affecting adolescent girls and their schooling today. Schooling is a crucial element of adolescence, and this book provides opportunities for further discussion regarding the issues young women continue to face in the world of education today.” (Alexis Koomler, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 46, 2017)

• School of Education, University of South Australia School of Education, Mawson Lakes, Australia

  Judith Gill

• NSW Department of Industry , Darlinghurst, Australia

  Katharine Esson

• Ros Yuen Psychology , Beulah Park, Australia

  Rosalina Yuen

Judith Gill is Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of South Australia and a former secondary schoolteacher who has worked in teacher education  for the past 30 years. Her main research interest is in gender and its associations with achievement and working lives.


Kathy Esson has worked widely in the fields of education and health, including her role as Senior Manager at the NSW Skills Board Secretariat, Australia. She has also been involved in a review of public education in NSW, taught psychology, and been a school and university counsellor, working primarily with young women. 


Rosalina Yuen is a psychologist in private practice in Australia. As a former social worker, she worked extensively with girls and young women in many settings. She provides counselling services to schools, universities and major employers. 

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