Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence: Bangladesh Chittagong and Sylhet Baseline, 2020

Abstract

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) is a ten-year (2015-2025) research programme, funded by UK Aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), that seeks to combine longitudinal data collection and a mixed-methods approach to understand the lives of adolescents in particularly marginalized regions of the Global South, and to uncover 'what works' to support the development of their capabilities over the course of the second decade of life, when many of these individuals will go through key transitions such as finishing their education, starting to work, getting married and starting to have children.GAGE undertakes longitudinal research in seven countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Rwanda), Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal) and the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine). Sampling adolescent girls and boys aged between 10‐19‐year olds, the quantitative survey follows a global total of 18,000 adolescent girls and boys, and their caregivers and explores the effects that programme have on their lives. This is substantiated by in‐depth qualitative and participatory research with adolescents and their peers. Its policy and legal analysis work stream studies the processes of policy change that influence the investment in and effectiveness of adolescent programming.Further information, including publications, can be found on the&nbsp;Overseas Development Institute GAGE website.&nbsp;Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence: Bangladesh Chittagong and Sylhet Baseline, 2020 includes a sample of 2,220 girls and boys aged 10-18, as well as their female caregivers. The research sample, composed of randomly selected adolescents and their families, was recruited during February and March 2020 from adolescents attending grades 7 and 8 across 109 government and monthly-pay-order (MPO) schools in the Chittagong and Sylhet Divisions of Bangladesh. The sample serves as a baseline data for a randomised controlled trial evaluating two interventions that were virtually-delivered during COVID-19-related school closures: (1) a gender-neutral Growth Mindset (GM) programming around malleable intelligence and (2) Girl Rising (GR) programming that focuses on gender norms around girls' education that is layered on top of the GM programming. Further information about the research site, sample selection, and data collection process is available in the documentation.Main Topics:The Core Respondent (CR) dataset contains data from the survey administered to the CR and covers education, time allocation, paid work, growth mindset and socio-economic skills, health and nutrition, physical activity, mobility and voice, psychosocial and mental health, financial inclusion and economic empowerment, information and communication technologies, marriage and relationships, confidence and curiosity, sexual and reproductive health and social desirability scale. A number of educational competencies tests are completed such as an Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) maths and reading comprehension tests.The Adult Female (AF) dataset contains information on the household, including the household roster, family background, durable goods, dwelling characteristics, access to productive capital and recent positive and negative shocks.  In addition, the AF survey contains detailed information about the AF herself, such as her investments in children and parenting, attitudes to gender equality, health and nutrition, marriage, fertility and social norms.</div