Gender Bias in Schools
In this discussion we will examine how schools play a central role in maintaining societal inequalities based on gender. Further, the idea that reforms in the name of "equality" may result in a new type of inequality for another group (males) will be explored as well.
How can schools "make a dent" or decrease inequality?
How do they make it worse?
What are some of the social/political influences on school structure, function, and change related to gender?
- How do your answers correspond with those posed in the Lee et al. (1994) study?
"Compared to a single-sex environment, does the presence of both genders in any classroom promote or inhibit the occurrence of negative engenderment (sexism)?
* Do same-gender teacher-student interactions facilitate more positive engenderment than do cross-gender interactions?
* Does this phenomenon vary across single-sex and coeducational environments?
* Does the single-sex environment for males differ from that for females in terms of the occurrence, frequency, and form of sexism?
* Are girls' schools, which are more likely to evidence a relational organizational environment, relatively free of sexism compared to coeducational schools, where an individualist focus is more common?
* Is sexism more likely to occur in particular curricular areas? Do these areas change according to the gender composition of the classroom?
* Are some schools less likely sites for sexism than are others? If so, what characterizes such contexts?
Is the absence of sexism synonymous with positive engenderment?"
- What do you feel constitutes sexism in schools?
- How does this compare to the ways that Lee and colleagues conceptualize sex bias (see study measure description and appendices)?
- Why and in what situations would it be difficult to accurately identify what is sexism and what is not? For instance, think about the Evans article on school text materials and gender portrayal. Is describing behavior that is more prevalent in boys and girls sexism? Or do these portrayals lead to or reinforce "stereotypical" traits and behavior in boys and girls?
- Does acknowledging group differences equal bias? Or is something more required? Do schools specifically do things to provide that "something more?"
- If you feel that texts are gender biased, how would you propose to change them? Similarly, from what you have read and your own experiences, what reforms would you propose around gender in school settings? Would your recommendations differ by age/developmental level? In other words, what recommendations would you make for elementary schools and secondary schools compared to higher education institutions?