THE PUGGLE
SHARING WITH OTHERS TO MAKE
FASTER PROGRESS FOR ALL
Out in the bush, you’ll have to go into the pouch of a mama echidna to pet her baby puggle. Our Puggle is easier to find, showing up every month to share what we’re learning about emerging issues in girls’ education. Other posts provide our analysis of recent research and events and feature stories from our grantees. Explore more below, including a link to our resource library.

The Puggle: January 2020 edition
Dana Schmidt | February 12, 2020

Happy 2020! To kick off the year, we’re excited to share a recent episode of the Do One Better Podcast, in which host Alberto Lidji interviews Echidna Giving founders Craig Silverstein and Mary Obelnicki. Listen to the impetus behind founding Echidna Giving — including Craig’s theory of change, which, broadly characterized, “starts with girls’ education and ends with world peace” — how they got this work off the ground, and their recommendations for other philanthropists.

As we enter 2020, we have enjoyed reading reflections on trends of the past and forecasts for the future. Below are some of our favorites.

Looking backwards, we recommend a piece from David Evans, Maryam Akmal, and Pamela Jakiela at the Center for Global Development on Gender Gaps in Education: The Long View. In this piece, they find that: (1) “women are more educated today than 50 years ago in every country in the world,” but (2) “they remain less educated than men in the vast majority of countries.” They also find that (3) in many countries that started with low levels of education, gender gaps got worse before they got better (as enrollment expanded for boys first and then girls). Finally, they show that (4) “gender gaps rarely persist in countries where boys are attaining high levels of education.”

Our favorite graphic from the report is below, but read this twitter thread or the full piece for more.

The third finding — that gaps may get worse before they get better — may soon be at play in preschool. For instance, recent research by Young Lives shows that Ethiopia has made major strides in expanding their “O-class” (a year of schooling before primary school starts), but “more boys than girls are going to O-Class.” 

India’s latest Annual Status of Education Report looked specifically at learning outcomes for young children aged 4-8. Among the findings — nicely summarized in detail here and in this article — they show that girls are more likely to be enrolled in government preschools and parents are more likely to invest to enroll boys in private preschools.

As preschooling expands, can we expect to see gender gaps widen before they get better?

Another thoughtful look back from the Center for Global Development is Review of the Decade: Ten Trends in Global Education. Read in detail about the rise of universal secondary school, stagnation on universal primary school, the growth of private schools, the (unfulfilled) promise of ed tech, discovering the learning crisis, amping up RCTs in education, and more.

Looking forwards, Foresight Africa reflects on the top priorities for the continent in the coming decade. Among the 6 themes examined, the piece looks at leveraging demographic trends for economic transformation through job creation, skills development, and urbanization policies. There’s also a piece on closing the gender gap in African labor markets is good economics, which emphasizes that the lack of affordable care for children and the elderly decrease female labor force participation rates in developing countries by 4.8 percentage points. It emphasizes the gains countries could make by adding women to the labor market: “the gain in GDP ranges from 1 percent in Senegal to 50 percent in Niger.”

Likewise, a recent McKinsey piece looks at a set of priorities that will help in advancing women’s equality in Africa, including investing in human capital (education and skills training), creating economic opportunities, leveraging technology, shaping attitudes, and enforcing laws. This report also emphasizes the burden of unpaid care work that holds women back (the same is true in the U.S.). In fact, this is the dimension of gender equality at work against which Africa has made the least progress.

Given the above, what’s to be done in the here and now? A piece in Devex late last year describes how increasing the availability of high quality, affordable childcare could also be a big win for children’s outcomes. Is there room in the next decade to bring women and children advocates together to advance this agenda? 

What other trends are you hopeful will come to fruition in the next decade? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

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      The G7 summit in Canada in early June catalyzed a $3

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      This month we’re diving deep on a topic related to

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      April marked the first full month of a new season

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    • FEBRUARY

      This month brought encouraging news on aid to education.

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    • JANUARY

      This month, champions spoke up for girls: Oprah made a rousing

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      This month we are keeping it short and sweet. In

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    • NOVEMBER

      This month we are excited to share a piece we published

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      The latest World Development Report focuses exclusively on education for the first

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    • OCTOBER

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    • SEPTEMBER

      This month the World Bank released the World Development Report (WDR). For

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    • AUGUST

      August offered plenty of great material, including a collection of essays from

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    • JULY

      There is a notion that things slow down during the

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    • JUNE

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    • MAY

      In May, the Center For Universal Education (CUE) and the

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    • APRIL

      In April, the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings served

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    • MARCH

      March 8th marked International Women’s Day. This month we were

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    • FEBRUARY

      Even if every single girl completed at least 6 grades

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    • JANUARY

      News in January seemed to be dominated by the new

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    • JANUARY

      In 2016, the Echidna Giving team reviewed literature related to

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    • DECEMBER

      Welcome to the end-of-year installment of The Puggle. In this

      Dana Schmidt

    • NOVEMBER

      In September, the Echidna Giving team joined the masses of

      Dana Schmidt

    • OCTOBER

      In case you missed it, on October 11 the world celebrated

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    • SEPTEMBER

      It turns out September was a busy month for

      Dana Schmidt

    • AUGUST

      This August we couldn’t help but be inspired by the Olympics!

      Dana Schmidt

    • JULY

      Echidna Giving is delighted to launch our blog, a space

      Dana Schmidt

    • The Puggle: January 2020 edition
    Dana Schmidt | February 12, 2020

    Happy 2020! To kick off the year, we’re excited to share a recent episode of the Do One Better Podcast, in which host Alberto Lidji interviews Echidna Giving founders Craig Silverstein and Mary Obelnicki. Listen to the impetus behind founding Echidna Giving — including Craig’s theory of change, which, broadly characterized, “starts with girls’ education and ends with world peace” — how they got this work off the ground, and their recommendations for other philanthropists.

    As we enter 2020, we have enjoyed reading reflections on trends of the past and forecasts for the future. Below are some of our favorites.

    Looking backwards, we recommend a piece from David Evans, Maryam Akmal, and Pamela Jakiela at the Center for Global Development on Gender Gaps in Education: The Long View. In this piece, they find that: (1) “women are more educated today than 50 years ago in every country in the world,” but (2) “they remain less educated than men in the vast majority of countries.” They also find that (3) in many countries that started with low levels of education, gender gaps got worse before they got better (as enrollment expanded for boys first and then girls). Finally, they show that (4) “gender gaps rarely persist in countries where boys are attaining high levels of education.”

    Our favorite graphic from the report is below, but read this twitter thread or the full piece for more.

    The third finding — that gaps may get worse before they get better — may soon be at play in preschool. For instance, recent research by Young Lives shows that Ethiopia has made major strides in expanding their “O-class” (a year of schooling before primary school starts), but “more boys than girls are going to O-Class.” 

    India’s latest Annual Status of Education Report looked specifically at learning outcomes for young children aged 4-8. Among the findings — nicely summarized in detail here and in this article — they show that girls are more likely to be enrolled in government preschools and parents are more likely to invest to enroll boys in private preschools.

    As preschooling expands, can we expect to see gender gaps widen before they get better?

    Another thoughtful look back from the Center for Global Development is Review of the Decade: Ten Trends in Global Education. Read in detail about the rise of universal secondary school, stagnation on universal primary school, the growth of private schools, the (unfulfilled) promise of ed tech, discovering the learning crisis, amping up RCTs in education, and more.

    Looking forwards, Foresight Africa reflects on the top priorities for the continent in the coming decade. Among the 6 themes examined, the piece looks at leveraging demographic trends for economic transformation through job creation, skills development, and urbanization policies. There’s also a piece on closing the gender gap in African labor markets is good economics, which emphasizes that the lack of affordable care for children and the elderly decrease female labor force participation rates in developing countries by 4.8 percentage points. It emphasizes the gains countries could make by adding women to the labor market: “the gain in GDP ranges from 1 percent in Senegal to 50 percent in Niger.”

    Likewise, a recent McKinsey piece looks at a set of priorities that will help in advancing women’s equality in Africa, including investing in human capital (education and skills training), creating economic opportunities, leveraging technology, shaping attitudes, and enforcing laws. This report also emphasizes the burden of unpaid care work that holds women back (the same is true in the U.S.). In fact, this is the dimension of gender equality at work against which Africa has made the least progress.

    Given the above, what’s to be done in the here and now? A piece in Devex late last year describes how increasing the availability of high quality, affordable childcare could also be a big win for children’s outcomes. Is there room in the next decade to bring women and children advocates together to advance this agenda? 

    What other trends are you hopeful will come to fruition in the next decade? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

  • Recent posts

    Load Older Posts

    Older posts

    • SEPTEMBER

      News from Aug and Sept on everything from why girls’

      Dana Schmidt

    • JULY

      Dana Schmidt

    • JUNE

      In honor of Father’s Day, this June edition of the

      Dana Schmidt

    • MAY

      Dana Schmidt

    • APRIL

      Dana Schmidt

    • MARCH

      Dana Schmidt

    • FEBRUARY

      Dana Schmidt

    • JANUARY

      Ed quality in 3 charts, a new teacher observation tool,

      Dana Schmidt

    • JANUARY

      In 2019, our team will spend considerable time and effort

      Dana Schmidt

    • DECEMBER

      2018 Is A (W)rap

      Dana Schmidt

    • NOVEMBER

      What's social and emotional learning got to do with it?

      Dana Schmidt

    • OCTOBER

      Obama's Global Girls Alliance, The Human Campital Index, and India's

      Dana Schmidt

    • SEPTEMBER

      Three themes on girls' education from UNGA

      Dana Schmidt

    • AUGUST

      Before we get to our usual Puggle updates, we have

      Dana Schmidt

    • JULY

      We’re at the peak of vacation season in the Northern

      Dana Schmidt

    • JUNE

      The G7 summit in Canada in early June catalyzed a $3

      Dana Schmidt

    • MAY

      This month we’re diving deep on a topic related to

      Dana Schmidt

    • APRIL

      April marked the first full month of a new season

      Dana Schmidt

    • MARCH

      In this update from March, we celebrate the march of progress

      Dana Schmidt

    • FEBRUARY

      This month brought encouraging news on aid to education.

      Dana Schmidt

    • JANUARY

      This month, champions spoke up for girls: Oprah made a rousing

      Dana Schmidt

    • DECEMBER

      This month we are keeping it short and sweet. In

      Dana Schmidt

    • NOVEMBER

      This month we are excited to share a piece we published

      Dana Schmidt

    • JANUARY

      The latest World Development Report focuses exclusively on education for the first

      Dana Schmidt

    • OCTOBER

      Echidna Giving team highlights emerging issues and findings related to

      Dana Schmidt

    • SEPTEMBER

      This month the World Bank released the World Development Report (WDR). For

      Dana Schmidt

    • AUGUST

      August offered plenty of great material, including a collection of essays from

      Dana Schmidt

    • JULY

      There is a notion that things slow down during the

      Lexie Wagner

    • JUNE

      Lexie Wagner

    • MAY

      In May, the Center For Universal Education (CUE) and the

      Lexie Wagner

    • APRIL

      In April, the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings served

      Dana Schmidt

    • MARCH

      March 8th marked International Women’s Day. This month we were

      Dana Schmidt

    • FEBRUARY

      Even if every single girl completed at least 6 grades

      Dana Schmidt

    • JANUARY

      News in January seemed to be dominated by the new

      Dana Schmidt

    • JANUARY

      In 2016, the Echidna Giving team reviewed literature related to

      Dana Schmidt

    • DECEMBER

      Welcome to the end-of-year installment of The Puggle. In this

      Dana Schmidt

    • NOVEMBER

      In September, the Echidna Giving team joined the masses of

      Dana Schmidt

    • OCTOBER

      In case you missed it, on October 11 the world celebrated

      Dana Schmidt

    • SEPTEMBER

      It turns out September was a busy month for

      Dana Schmidt

    • AUGUST

      This August we couldn’t help but be inspired by the Olympics!

      Dana Schmidt

    • JULY

      Echidna Giving is delighted to launch our blog, a space

      Dana Schmidt

    • LIBRARY
    We believe in exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge. Here’s some of what we’ve been reading to inform our thinking on girls’ education. Feel free to suggest additional resources for us to read and feature!