Great Hub of Activity: Social Network Analysis of Non-state Private Actors’ Financing Networks in Girls’ and Women’s Education in East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia
Abstract
Despite improved levels of gender parity globally, girls and women from lower socio-economic groups continue to face significant barriers in accessing and continuing education. Framed within the continuously evolving context of privatization, market-making, and network governance of education, this MA thesis considers the financing networks of non-state private (NSP) actors, such as private foundations and impact investors, and other funders active in financing girls’ and women’s education in East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia.
This study contributes a preliminary analysis on a sub-set of data (172 funders and 56 girls’ and women’s education initiatives) from Invest-ED, a larger regional database and research project on NSP actors funding education in Asia. Using basic descriptive statistics and social network analysis methods, the analysis focuses on the main research questions: 1) How is the financing landscape of girls’ and women’s education in East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia organized? 2) What are the key characteristics of the active financing networks in girls’ and women’s education in these regions? Findings indicate that despite being a stated priority area, only 9% of initiatives in the database specifically targeted girls’ and women’s education. Geographically, NSP actors and other funders showed meaningful concentration in South Asia and India where, access to education, advocacy and policy, and skill development emerged as the most preferred areas of programming. Whilst private foundations emerged as the most central NSP actors in this network, such global or regional comparisons may be deceptive due to the hybrid natures and inconsistent definitions of NSP actors, which change from country to country.