Mainstreaming Gender Equality into Legal Education: Perspectives and Challenges in a Vietnamese University
| dc.contributor.author | Nguyen, Phuong Khanh | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-04-29T15:35:03Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-04-29T15:35:03Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-04 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Gender inequality silently permeates Vietnamese society, often dismissed as a “no-problem’s problem” (Rhode, 1991), where gender stereotypes are viewed as natural or unalterable. While Vietnam’s legal framework promises equality, a profound gap persists between the law on paper and lived reality. This thesis argues that mainstreaming gender equality into legal education is vital for planting the “seeds” of gender justice. Adopting a qualitative in-depth interview design, this study explores how six law professors in Southern Vietnam negotiate gender perspectives during their teaching. Findings reveal that integration remains marginal, spontaneous, and discretionary. Decision No. 678, issued by the Minister of Education and Training, acts as an “institutional architect of silence,” omitting gender from mandated learning outcomes and allowing leadership to prioritize political and economic objectives over social justice. Furthermore, pedagogical insecurity and the persistent myth of legal neutrality lead law professors in Vietnam to reduce complex gender issues to safe and abstract principles. The study also notes students’ reactions, as observed by law professors, including a “hibernation” of marginalized voices and student resistance to the “privileges” women enjoy under the law. To transform constitutional promises into reality, Vietnamese legal education must move beyond a “one-size-fits-all” doctrinal model toward a critical feminist pedagogy, from a purely doctrinal epistemology toward a standpoint epistemology. Only by recognizing the gendered nature of law and identifying systemic gender biases through the lens of feminist legal theorists can the next generation cultivate a truly just legal system. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ec.msvu.ca/handle/10587/2377 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Mount Saint Vincent University | |
| dc.title | Mainstreaming Gender Equality into Legal Education: Perspectives and Challenges in a Vietnamese University | |
| dc.type | Thesis |