Doctoral Dissertation Research: Girls' Education as a Globalized Priority: A Case Study of Corporate Philanthropic Investment in Brazil

在过去二十年中，在国际发展制度内出现了女童教育的全球化优先事项。这项研究考察了在这一全球化优先事项范围内运作的一组新的行为者：跨国公司及其基金会。本研究采用个案研究方法，考察了以下研究问题：1)女童教育全球化的起源、发展和现状是什么？2)跨国公司及其基金会是如何就这一优先事项对女童教育进行投资的？3)这些投资对青春期少女以及对跨国公司及其基金会的影响是什么？本研究将采用参与者观察、访谈和档案研究的方法，研究企业基金会的投资是如何通过与巴西非政府组织的伙伴关系构成的，以努力阐明该基金会投资于青春期女孩的更广泛做法。研究结果基于人种学和话语分析方法，将在女孩教育的发展话语和实践的更大范围内进行。这个项目的学术价值在于它有助于更好地了解国际发展。这项研究提出了一套关于发展、全球化和教育进程的新的理论问题。它表明，少女和跨国公司及其基金会是这些进程中的重要行为者。这是关于为什么一系列不同的发展行为者将女童教育作为全球化优先事项，以及跨国公司及其基金会如何成为这一广泛联盟中的关键行为者的第一次实证研究。这项研究还将有助于了解公司赞助的发展的做法和影响，并可提供对公司、其慈善机构及其伙伴关系发展组织之间关系的细微差别的理解。通过在美国和巴西的广泛传播，这项拟议的研究将在学术、政策和实践导向的社区中产生两个更广泛的影响。首先，它将通过向公众宣传促进女童教育以促进经济发展和减贫，从而影响未来的政策和实践；其次，它将表明企业赞助的发展的优势和局限性。

Over the past two decades, a globalized priority for girls' education emerged within the international development regime. This study examines a new set of actors operating within this globalized priority: transnational corporations and their foundations. Employing a case study methodology, this research examines the following research questions: 1) What is the genesis, development, and current nature of the globalized priority in girls' education? 2) How are transnational corporations and their foundations investing in girls' education in regards to this priority? 3) What are the implications of these investments for adolescent girls, and also for transnational corporations and their foundations? Using methods of participant observation, interviews, and archival research, this study will examine how the investments of a corporate foundation are constituted through partnerships with non-governmental organizations in Brazil in an effort to elucidate the foundation's broader practice of investing in adolescent girls. The research findings, based on ethnographic and discourse analytic methods, will be situated within a larger constellation of development discourse and practice in girls' education. The intellectual merit of this project lies in its contribution to better understanding international development. The research poses a new set of theoretical questions regarding the processes of development, globalization, and education. It suggests that adolescent girls and transnational corporations and their foundations are significant actors within these processes. It is the first empirical study on why a diverse set of development actors are making girls' education a globalized priority, and how transnational corporations and their foundations are emerging as critical actors within this broad coalition. The research will also contribute to knowledge of the practices and implications of corporate-sponsored development and can provide a nuanced understanding of the relationship among a corporation, its philanthropic arm, and its partnering development organizations. The proposed study will have two broader impacts within academic, policy, and practice-oriented communities through its wide dissemination in the U.S. and Brazil. First, it will influence future policy and practice by informing the public discourse on the promotion of girls' education for the purposes of economic development and poverty alleviation, and, second, it will indicate the strengths and limitations of corporate-sponsored development.