The Impact of Podcasts on Educational Inequality in Afghanistan

Gender inequality in Afghanistan's education system has long been a cause for concern in international education developments. As the result of the war, conflict, extreme education policies, and the extent of women's educational suffering have been widely concerned by the international community. In addition to international aid and foundation support, many online education courses have been created specifically for Afghan women (Pherali and Sahar, 2018). Since podcasting, as an online medium, is also widely used in education, whether podcasts are improving educational inequality for school-age girls in Afghanistan or reinforcing the problems caused by the gender digital divide has become a controversial issue. Many factors are causing the digital divide, such as gender, region, ethnicity, and economic gap (Cullen, 2001); considering that this paper discusses the educational inequality suffered by Afghan women, this paper will focus on the gender inequality factor in the digital divide. Next, I will first explain the factors that make it difficult for Afghan women to access higher education, then discuss the positive effects of podcasting on this dilemma, and finally reflect on the possible negative effects of podcasting as an online resource on gender inequality in education in the context of the gender digital divide.

After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, they imposed a ban on higher education for women. This policy has undoubtedly made it harder for Afghan women to get an education. Although the international organization and donors 20 years ago had already tried to apply various means to improve Afghanistan's basic education system, women who want to go to school in Afghanistan still face many deep-seated blocks (www.globalpartnership.org, 2012). These obstacles are mainly cultural and policy. In terms of culture, the traditional expectation of society is that it is not necessary for women to receive higher education, and the values of the parents also believe that the primary function of women is to enter the marriage or run the house. They worry that women's education will make them deviate from the traditional way of life (Blum et al., 2019). Half of the Afghan women are married before they reach adulthood, and the domestic labor and reproductive responsibilities that come with marriage leave little time and energy for education (World Bank, 2005). In terms of policy, under the extreme rule of the Taliban, most girls' schools were closed, and there was no government funding to help women get an education. In the Afghan political system, the need for women to get an education and work outside the home was completely ignored. Government policies' unequal distribution of educational resources further reduces the possibility of higher education for women. In Afghanistan's extreme social structure, women's role in the division of labor is to serve men in the household, which fundamentally makes it harder for them to get an education (Shayan, 2015).

In this grim situation, except for a small number of women who are able to take the risks to go to the "secret schools" established by the civilian sector in Afghanistan (Winter, 2011), for most women who are not allowed to go to school, receiving education through online media such as podcasts is a safer and more convenient way (Scollon, 2021). As an essential means of distance education, podcasting, with its academic threshold, dissemination range, and especially its unique flexibility as audio, can play a positive role in Afghan women's distance education. Compared with academic journals, where the words are more obscure, the teaching content in podcasts can be presented in the form of voice conversations, which in some ways, makes it easier for listeners to understand complex concepts intuitively (Ralph and Olsen, 2007). Moreover, the technical threshold of podcasts and the requirement of electronic equipment is also low, only need a player that can play audio, such as MP3, can complete the download and playback of podcasts. Compared with text or video, the advantage of the podcast as audio is its flexibility, which enables learners to learn blogs without the limitation of time or space. This kind of auditory learning enables learners to learn anytime and anywhere (Muppala and Kong, 2007). In particular, many students respond that they can do other activities while listening to podcasts, such as doing housework, driving and exercising (Chin, Helman and Chan, 2017). In a way, this opens up a possibility for Afghan women who carry out strenuous daily household activities. They may not have enough time to study because of heavy parenting and housework (Shayan, 2015), but podcasts may allow them to learn while doing their daily chores. There has been little concrete research on the effect of podcasting flexibility on female education in Afghanistan, a gap that may be worth exploring and filling in the future.

Although the technical threshold of podcasting is low, it is still an online resource that requires visitors to own electronic devices and the internet (McCombs and Liu, 2007). In underdeveloped areas such as Afghanistan, women's ownership and usage of electronic products are far lower than men's (Tyers-Chowdhury and Binder, n.d.). Due to this gender digital divide, the emergence of online education resources such as podcasts undoubtedly exacerbates significant inequality (Watling, 2009). The main reason for the gender digital divide in underdeveloped areas such as Afghanistan is women's limited time and economic capacity. As mentioned earlier, women do most of the family care and work (Shayan, 2015), leaving them with little time to study online, and the restrictions on female education in Afghanistan give them little autonomy when using the internet. On the economic front, under the religious and social paradigm of Afghanistan, where finances are controlled by men, women rarely work outside the home and have no source of income, making it difficult for them to buy or use their own electronic devices. This also creates a never-ending vicious cycle where women are unable to access the internet to receive education and learn skills, which deteriorate their conditions. With their own income, they are unable to afford the resources and facilities that enable them to improve and learn (Antonio and Tuffley, 2014). At the same time, Afghan men have easier access to online education resources, boosting incomes and skills and reinforcing structural gender inequalities in society.

In the process of making the podcast, my team members and I used prosperous resources instead of only using academic journals like in previous assignments. Using different non-academic resources has broadened my horizons and enriched my understanding of the development of international education. Because the podcast is structured differently than a traditional academic paper, I could see what I was learning from a new, story-like perspective. The content we made about the plight of female education in Afghanistan, in a way, helped raise awareness of the issue. Nevertheless, given the gender digital divide, it's worth reflecting on whether our podcasts can make a difference.

In general, apart from the stereotypes and expectations of society for women, the inequality and lack of policies make it almost difficult for women to receive qualified education in Afghanistan. Structured gender inequality leaves most women to serve the family in the division of labor (Shayan, 2015). The podcast itself, with its easy-to-understand content and accessible format, gives Afghan women the opportunity to receive distance education at home (Ralph and Olsen, 2007) . As audio in particular, its time-and-place flexibility may allow women with heavy domestic responsibilities to study while working (Muppala and Kong, 2007). However, from the perspective of the gender digital divide, compared to men, women are less likely to gain access to the internet due to status and economic factors (Tyers-Chowdhury and Binder, n.d.), and they are less likely to have the opportunity to improve themselves through education. The existence of online education resources such as podcasts has undoubtedly exacerbated this inequality. In the field of international education development, it is valuable to disseminate the educational experiences of Afghan women through podcast (Antonio and Tuffley, 2014). However, it is more important to consider the factors involved that may bring about inequality and conduct a comprehensive reflection.

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