Constructing and deconstructing ‘girls’ as a category of concern

Abstract

Since the 1970s, many countries have initiated projects of reform for girls and women in education. Now, at the turn of the century, the media and education policy-makers are beginning to raise new questions about what has taken place. Have the aims of the original reforms been achieved? Have feminist agendas ‘gone too far’? Is it boys who now deserve special attention? Should economic agendas replace social concerns in the development of education policy?