8.12: Assignments
- Page ID
- 294663
This page is a draft and is under active development.
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Assignment 1: Gender Lens Re-Analysis
Go Back and Look Again
Choose one case, issue, event, institution, or global process from Chapters 1 through 7 and analyze it again using the gender lens developed in this chapter.
Your goal is not simply to “add women” to the original discussion. Instead, investigate whether gender changes how the issue works.
In a response of approximately 750–1,000 words, identify the original issue and explain what becomes visible once gender is treated as part of the system. You might consider labor roles, access to resources, political influence, household responsibilities, migration status, bodily autonomy, exposure to violence, representation, or other relevant dimensions. Your analysis should also consider intersectionality rather than assuming that all women or all men experience the issue in the same way.
Conclude by explaining whether the gender analysis changes how you would define the problem or propose a solution.
Purpose: This assignment asks you to practice using gender as an analytical lens rather than treating it as a stand-alone topic.
Assignment 2: Empowerment or Structural Change?
Evaluate a Real Program
Find a current program, policy, NGO initiative, government strategy, or international development project that claims to advance women's or girls' empowerment.
Examples might involve entrepreneurship, education, microfinance, political leadership, digital skills, reproductive health, agricultural development, or workforce training.
In approximately 1,000 words, evaluate the initiative using the framework from Section 8.9. Begin by identifying the problem the program is trying to address and the intervention it proposes. Then ask whether the project primarily helps individuals navigate an unequal system, changes the system itself, or attempts to do both.
Your analysis should consider what forms of power the intervention actually changes. Does it affect income, legal rights, property ownership, time, mobility, political influence, access to institutions, safety, or decision-making? What barriers remain untouched?
Conclude by proposing one realistic institutional or policy change that could strengthen the initiative.
Purpose: This assignment develops students' ability to distinguish between individual-level interventions and structural reform.
Assignment 3: Who Gets the Future?
Gender and an Emerging Global Change
Choose one emerging global transformation, such as artificial intelligence, automation, climate adaptation, demographic aging, renewable energy, migration, digital finance, biotechnology, or changing labor markets.
Create a short analytical brief of approximately 1,000–1,250 words examining how this future might produce different opportunities and risks depending on gender.
Avoid predicting that “technology will help women” or “technology will hurt women.” Instead, identify the institutions that will shape the outcome. Who owns the technology? Who performs the labor? Who has access? Who is represented in decision-making? Who bears risk? Who benefits financially? Which existing inequalities might be reproduced?
End with two policy recommendations designed to make the emerging system more equitable.
Purpose: This assignment prepares students for Chapter 9 by connecting gender analysis to futures thinking.