Ei-iE

Education International (EI) is the global federation of education unions representing over 32 million teachers and education support personnel (ESP) working in early childhood to higher education.

Education trade unions education unions, as the organised collective voice of the teaching profession, and in line with their social justice mandate and democratic structures, have a unique role to play in furthering the rights of and addressing wrongs against gender equality and equity in and through education around the world.

Through various actions, EI and its member organisations have been working to advance gender equality, equity and rights of women and girls at local, national, regional and global levels. To take stock of these efforts, EI has been mandated by its’ founding Congress in 1995 to carry out surveys on gender, equality and diversity issues prior to each World Congress every 4 years. The next EI World Congress will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in July 2024, where these results will be published to EI member organisations.

This survey provides an informative cross-section of union policies, advocacy points and current educational challenges, together with selected case studies which seek to advance EI’s work furthering and protecting rights of women and girls through education.

Objectives

• Collect experiences and insights from EI member organisations across regions on their work furthering gender equality and diversity, for example, in their work:

• Promoting inclusive environments for women members within unions, including recruitment and retention, policy development, research activities, networks, advisory structures, etc;
• Promoting the gender equality and diversity of teachers, ESP, and students within schools and universities;
• Advocating and demonstrating solidarity work on women’s and girls’ rights in society at large;
• Collaborating with other women-led and feminists civil society organisations
• Promoting and enabling the participation of women union work;

• Review key developments, including progress on achieving equality and inclusion in education and education unions.

• Explore union strategies and challenges in contexts where unions face anti-gender, misogynistic, sexist and unequal environments.

• Explore union efforts on achieving gender equality through an intersectional approach (racism, disability, discriminations etc.)

• Gain insights on the ways EI can better support member organisations in this regard.

Suggested research approach

Phase 1

Development of the survey. Co-create the indicators and questions of the survey in collaboration with EI staff and with feedback from EI’s Executive Board. The first draft of the survey will be subject to a pilot test, after which the researcher should address the received suggestions and comments. In phase 2, the second draft of the survey is sent to EI members across regions.

Phase 2

Collection of data. An online quantitative and qualitative survey will be sent to all EI members across regions. This survey will be co-created with guidance from EI staff and will address and expand upon the various objectives indicated above.

Phase 3

Follow up interviews. Unions (around 4) will self-identify if they are interested in participating in follow-up interviews to participate as a case study linked to our Gender Equality Action Plan exploring:

• What efforts have been made to promote women’s participation and leadership within education unions?
• What strategies and actions are implemented to increase intersectional gender equality in and through education?
• What initiatives were organised to promote women’s economic empowerment?

Phase 4

Data analysis. The analysis will seek to synthesize member inputs, identify trends over the last 5 years where possible, examine regional priorities and trends, and provide a range of case studies from different regions. The qualitative evidence resulted from the interviews should be triangulated with the quantitative data and included in the final report.

Phase 5

Drafting the report. Drafting the preliminary and final versions of the report. The final report should be accompanied by the editable graphs and figures and the full data set.

Languages

The survey will be conducted in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish in accordance with EI’s working languages, and potentially other languages, with consultation with EI. If the researcher(s) cannot work in these languages, EI can support translation of documents; however, EI cannot provide interpretation during interviews. The report will be drafted in English, and EI will translate the report into French and Spanish.

Suggested timeline & deliverables

• December - January | First version of the survey uploaded to the survey platform and ready for pilot test
• Early February | Final survey in 3 languages & interview protocol (if applicable)
• Mid-February to end-March 2024 | Data collection
• 8th March 2024 | 1 page summary with initial findings for the EI Executive Board
• Mid-April 2024 | 1st draft of the report received in English
• Early-May 2024 | 2nd draft of the report received in English
• Early June 2024 | 3rd and final draft of the report received in English. The report should be accompanied by editable versions of the graphs and figures and the raw data collected in the surveys (xlsx or cvs formats).

Budget

• 11,000 Euros
• Education International will bear the cost and responsibility of copyediting, translation, and layout of the final report
• Education International will bear the translation costs for any communication with EI member organisations, including costs of the survey itself; however, any interpretation needed for interviews will come from the allotted 11,000 budget

Schedule of payments

• 25% on receipt of the signed contract
• 25% on receipt of the interim report
• 50% on receipt and approval of the final report

Report format

The final report, delivered in English, will be no longer than 30 pages long or 15,000 words and will be divided into the following sections:

• Executive Summary
• Table of Contents/Acknowledgements
• Main text: Introduction including a brief overview of major trends in gender, equality and diversity and education, methodology, findings
• Case studies
• Conclusions and discussion points
• Appendices (digital format): graphs and figures in editable version and full data set in xlsx or cvs format.

Researcher experience and expertise

• Advanced academic degree in a relevant field (e.g., education, gender, equality and diversity studies, anthropology, politics, human rights, sociology, labour and employment);
• Experience in gathering and analysing qualitative and quantitative data, and in producing compelling and user-friendly reports, academic publications, and/or other professional written work in the field of the rights of women, particular in education or in the world of work;
• Experience in intersectional and decolonial research approaches;
• Capacity to work independently, with ability to share information, receive feedback and engage in dialogue with partners;
• Experience of working with and coordinating a team of researchers, if necessary;
• Excellent command of the English language and excellent writing skills;
• Excellent knowledge of statistical software (e.g., R, Stata or SPSS) and qualitative analysis software.
• Working proficiency in French and/or Spanish are strongly encouraged;
• Prior experience in publishing in academic journals and writing for a policy audience are desirable.

Applications

Applications should include:

• The researcher(s)’ up-to-date curriculum vitae(s);
• A cover letter stating the research methodology, the scope and scale of the project as well as detailing how applicants’ qualifications and experience make them suitable for the assignment.