Learning by Doing — Presenting at CIES 2017
My research examines gender bias in textbooks used in different school systems and analyzes differences in the extent of bias across the systems. I hypothesized that there was a possible relationship between income level and gender inequality, which could be a result the former affecting the latter, vice versa, or common determining factors of both (Dollar, Gatti, and Filmer 1999; Jensen 2010). In other words, it is possible that there are common factors such as cultural practices or beliefs that are preventing certain groups to rise out of poverty and are also promoting a more gender biased atmosphere. It is also possible that the gender biased atmosphere is leading to class-reproduction, or vice versa. However, my paper did not claim for any these relationships to hold true.
I’m thankful that the FSI grant helped me present my research proposal at the Comparative and International Education Society conference in March 2017 in Atlanta. Research is a very messy and complex process and many times, us researchers find ourselves confused between how to take the next steps in our research. Sometimes it is also very crucial for our research to get constructive feedback that can help us take our research to the direction that can help us make progress with our ideas. This FSI grant helped me get that opportunity through giving me chance to present at CIES 2017.
I was initially going just because my program director said it would be a great experience and my advisor also spoke very highly of the conference. I had made my mind that I would only go if I got funding because I couldn’t afford it on my own. The FSI grant gave me the motivation to go and present at the conference. While I was there, I met many researchers who were working in similar fields as I was. Discussing my research proposal with them and hearing about their ideas was a great experience for me. It gave me several ideas of how to proceed with the pilot of my study and how to polish it even further. Meeting other researchers in the same field also gave me exposure to different lenses to view my own research. Some people ended up giving very useful feedback that helped me shape my research.
While I was presenting my proposal, I myself realized the areas that were relatively weaker and needed more work. There was something about presenting in front of an audience and hearing myself that gave me a clear idea of where there were certain gaps in my proposal. Took the opportunity to discuss those gaps with the people there as well and incorporated their feedback into my proposal. Our panel discussant was also very helpful in making us see which parts of our research were strong and which could need more work. Overall, presenting at this conference turned out to be a very productive experience and the FSI grant had an important role to play in it. Not just presenting, but listening to other people’s researches also was a very educative experience.
Written by Marriam Musa, M.A. candidate in International Comparative Education at Stanford University. She received an FSI conference grant in Winter 2017. Find out more here: https://globalstudents.stanford.edu/research-and-conference-grants.
