Wakako Satomura Wakako Satomura

Associate Professor, Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies, Kyushu University *Profile is at the time of the award.

2026IncubateHumanities & Sociology

researchmap

Research topics: Mechanisms Behind the Stagnation of Girls’ Education in Post-COVID-19 Laos: Gender and Narratives

Keyword

Summary: In Laos, female enrollment rates have declined since the COVID-19 pandemic. The only such case in Southeast Asia and the Gender Gap Index has fallen sharply. This study asks that why do girls in Laos struggle to continue their education? _x000D_
Using the Narrative Policy Framework, we empirically investigate the mechanisms behind declining female enrollment. Through a mixed methods approach combining surveys of approximately 300 female high school students, qualitative interviews, and policy analysis, we examine contributing factors across multiple levels, individual, family, state, and market. By incorporating interviews with Laotian women working in Japan, we connect global dynamics with individual behavior to offer new perspectives on reducing gender disparities.

Message

"If you go to a good school, a good life will follow." This is the story I never thought to question. But in Laos, after COVID, I began to see it quietly falling apart._x000D_
For many years, Laos had been seen as making steady progress in women's education. So when I started to notice signs of change, girls leaving school, enrollment declining, I could not look away. Something was shifting, and I wanted to understand what. This is where this research begins. In a rapidly changing world shaped by globalization, information, and migration, I hope to get closer to the realities people in the Global South face, through the stories girls tell about their own lives and the patterns that emerge from the data behind them.