What's Happening?
The Brookings Institute's 'Embedding Equality in Education' podcast, featuring Jennifer L. O’Donoghue and Edem Dorothy Ossai, is exploring the concept of agency as understood and exercised by girls in various global contexts. The fourth episode focuses
on what agency means and looks like to girls, drawing insights from over 400 girls across multiple countries in Asia, Africa, America, and the Caribbean. The research, conducted by the Learning and Action Alliance for Girls’ Agency (LAAGA), emphasizes that agency is multidimensional, dynamic, and rooted in girls' everyday lives. It moves beyond individual focus to consider the ecosystems surrounding girls, including families, communities, institutions, and peer groups. Girls' definitions of agency commonly include themes of freedom, identity, aspiration and action, courage, and perseverance, highlighting that agency is not merely theoretical but lived and practiced daily.
Why It's Important?
This research is crucial for understanding how to effectively empower girls by centering their voices and lived experiences. By moving away from preconceived notions of agency, the Brookings Institute and LAAGA are developing frameworks that are contextually relevant and driven by girls themselves. This approach challenges traditional top-down development models and advocates for collaborative efforts where girls are co-creators and decision-makers. The findings underscore that systemic barriers, such as poverty, insecurity, and lack of educational access, significantly impact girls' ability to exercise agency. Recognizing the relational and situational aspects of agency is vital for designing interventions that genuinely transform systems and expand opportunities for girls, rather than imposing one-size-fits-all solutions. This work has significant implications for global education, gender equality, and development policies.
What's Next?
Future episodes of the 'Embedding Equality in Education' podcast will delve deeper into the framework developed by LAAGA for transforming systems with and for girls' agency. The discussions will explore how work is carried out across individual, relational, and systemic levels, and how to engage ecosystems effectively. The podcast will continue to highlight how girls exercise everyday agency and will emphasize centering girls as co-creators and decision-makers. The goal is to shift from 'acting for girls' to 'acting with girls,' ensuring that interventions are responsive to local realities and girls' expressed needs. This ongoing exploration aims to translate research findings into actionable steps that promote girls' agency and contribute to more gender-just futures.
Beyond the Headlines
The research by the Brookings Institute and LAAGA reveals a profound shift in understanding agency, moving it from an abstract concept to a tangible, everyday practice. It highlights the ethical imperative of listening to marginalized voices and allowing them to shape the solutions that affect their lives. The emphasis on the 'everyday' nature of agency, even in seemingly mundane acts, underscores its cumulative power in driving systemic change. This perspective challenges the notion that agency must always manifest in extraordinary, public acts, recognizing that subtle acts of resistance and decision-making are equally significant. The work also implicitly critiques development approaches that fail to consider the complex interplay of individual capabilities, relational dynamics, and systemic structures, advocating for a more holistic and participatory model of empowerment.
