Using feminist critical policy analysis in the realm of higher education - The case of welfare reform as gendered educational policy

Policy analysis is often silent on the issue of gender, and as a result either ignores or misrepresents the ways in which women's lives are affected by policy. This article utilizes feminist critical policy analysis to challenge the positivist, gender neutral assumptions on which most policy analysis rests. It provides an overview of feminist critical policy analysis and its benefits as an analytic tool. Using welfare reform as an example of gendered educational policy, I illustrate how feminist critical policy analysis can be used to challenge the gender-neutral assumptions.