Intersectionality in education
Rationale and practices to address the needs of students’ intersecting identities
Intersectionality highlights that different aspects of individuals’ identities are
not independent of each other. Instead, they interact to create unique identities
and experiences, which cannot be understood by analysing each identity dimension separately
or in isolation from their social and historical contexts. Intersectional approaches
in this way question the common classification of individuals into groups (male vs.
female, immigrant vs. native etc.), which raises important implications for the policy-making
process. In education, analyses with an intersectional lens have the potential to
lead to better tailored and more effective policies and interventions related to participation,
learning outcomes, students’ attitudes towards the future, identification of needs,
and socio-emotional well-being. Consequently, as elaborated in this paper, some countries
have adjusted their policies in the areas of governance, resourcing, developing capacity,
promoting school-level interventions and monitoring, to account for intersectionality.
Gaps and challenges related to intersectional approaches are also highlighted.
Available from November 09, 2023
In series:OECD Education Working Papersview more titles