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.
