Chapter 8: Gendered Education:
Communication in Schools
I. Gendered Expectations and Pressures on Students
A. Academics
1. Males
a. Some psychologists say that the average boy is disadvantaged in early
schooling because the “feminine environments” present include mostly
adult females. They also say that boys tend to have more physical
2. Females
a. Long-standing beliefs that females are less able to understand math
3. Gender-Nonconforming Students
a. Gender-nonconforming students frequently face school practices and
policies that are challenging and that can even go so far as to negate
their identities.
b. Gender binary norms are pervasive in schools. Bathrooms, sports
teams, and locker rooms are divided by sex.
c. Heterosexuality is an assumption in school curricula, with
heterosexual relationships presented as the norm in families and
romantic relationships. Sexual orientation can also complicate
roommate choices in college.
B. Gender-stereotyped curricula, while less pervasive than in the past, still exists in
today’s schools.
1. Women who are highlighted in curricula tend to act in traditional feminine
roles or have distinguished themselves in masculine contexts using traditional
masculine behaviors.
2. History tends to be taught based on how it affected men, but not on how it
affected women. Science even shows bias when we consider how
reproduction used to be taught.
3. Sexism intersects with racism, classism, and heterosexism. White,
heterosexual, able-bodied, middle- and upper-class men are depicted as the
norm, while others are underrepresented.
4. This partial curriculum limits our understanding of diverse perspectives and
accomplishments. It may also encourage men to see themselves as able to
influence events and meet high accomplishments, while discouraging women
from the same.
C. Athletics
1. Title IX is part of the reason that women have greater opportunities to
participate in athletics. However, male athletes and their coaches continue to
receive greater support, including financial support.
2. In spite of efforts to promote fair implementation of Title IX, colleges and
universities continue to employ deceptive practices to make it appear that they
are meeting the criteria of Title IX when they are not.
3. Participating in sports while in school is linked to higher salaries and better
health for women and girls.
D. Gender Socialization in Peers
1. Peer acceptance is higher when children and young adults conform to gender
stereotypes.
2. Pressures to conform to masculinity are stronger for boys than the pressures
for girls to conform to femininity.
3. Pressures to conform to femininity are apparent. Female peer groups
reinforce feminine identity in most girls.
a. Women and girls encounter sexual objectification and harassment
2. Gay, lesbian, and transgender students also face peer pressure.
a. Pressure to conform to conventionally gendered identities can be much
greater for LGBT students, including the use of bullying.
policies in place.
E. Single-Sex Educational Programs
1. Some believe that single-sex educational programs may help negate some of
2. Critics state a better solution is to ensure that teachers in all schools treat all
students equally since single-sex schools tend to be private and charge tuition.
II. Gendered Expectations and Pressures Facing Faculty: Schools are also workplaces,
and so it is important to explore the gendered attitudes and practices that affect
employees.
A. Gendered Hierarchies
1. Although most high school and elementary school teachers are female, most
administrators and superintendents are male.
2. At higher status colleges and universities, most faculty members are white
males.
3. Three-quarters of full-professorships at American colleges and universities are
held by males. Female faculty earn 80.6 cents for every dollar male faculty
earn. Men also highly outnumber women in chief administrative positions.
4. The proportion of male and female faculty and lack of diversity affects
students by limiting available faculty role models.
B. Gender Bias in Evaluations
1. Women and minorities are more likely to be hired when the selection process
is blind with respects to applicants’ sex, race, and other characteristics.
2. Three major sources of bias against women faculty have been identified
by researchers:
a. Women’s performance tends to be more strictly scrutinized than men,
3. These forms of subtle discrimination are called invisible hand
discrimination, or the unwitting discrimination in applying policies that are
not inherently biased.
C. Gendered Policies and Expectations:
1. Policies are based on an outdated family model in which the man is employed
outside the home and the woman works within the home.
3. Earning Tenure
a. For female faculty, the “tenure clock” during the early years of an
appointment coincides with the time many women expect to have
Journal Entries
1. Observe and analyze gendered patterns of interaction in a class other than this one. Discuss
how classroom dynamics reproduce or contest cultural views of gender.
2. Observe your campus population. What are the racial and gender demographics of the
faculty, staff, and students on your campus? Analyze how these data inform your gendered
and racialized education. (We find it never ceases to surprise both instructors and students to
research their campus through our Affirmative Action offices and campus papers to discover
what these demographics actually are versus our perceptions.)
3. Think back to when you were in grade school or high school. Recall messages that
were given to you by your teachers. For example, recall if any teachers gave you gendered
messages such as, “boys are better at math and science and girls are good at language and
reading.” Think about how these messages may have affected how you viewed what career
choices were available to you. Do you feel these types of messages have had an impact on
other areas of your life today?
4. Wood maintains that history classes and texts tend to focus on the activities of powerful
men. Peruse a textbook used for a first year world history or U.S. history course taught on
your campus. Does Wood’s assertion hold true? If so, how so? If not, why not? Be careful
to consider the amount and kind of coverage given to different topics. For example, if you
are perusing a textbook on U.S. history, how much space and significance is given to the
feminist movements? Is it comparable to the coverage given comparable historical events
and social movements?
InfoTrac Activities
1. Choose the Advanced Search option using InfoTrac College Edition. Select title and type
“Different, not more difficult: gender–specific training helps bridge the gap” by Bona Miller.
In what instances might gender-specific training or single-sex education be helpful? In what
ways might it be harmful?
2. Choose the Advanced Search option using InfoTrac College Edition. Select title and type
“Incorporating women’s voices into the middle and senior high school history curriculum”
by Barbara C. Cruz and Jennifer L. Groendal-Cobb. Reflect on your own history classes in
high school. Did you see many women’s stories told in your textbook? By your teacher?
Consider your other classes—for instance, English. How many women writers can you
name? How many have you read in school?
Suggested Activities
1. The Gender Curriculum: The handout at the end of this section should be distributed to
students at least one class period before the discussion you schedule to examine gendered
patterns of interaction in the classroom and in instructional materials. You may want to
consider reading the Hall & Sandler (1982) piece on the “chilly climate” that exists for girls
and women in the classroom (complete citation for this article found in the reference section
2. Transgendered Students at Single-Sex Schools: Show the episode of Transgeneration (The
Sundance Channel’s documentary miniseries which follows four transgendered college
students) in which Lucas struggles with being an FTM transgendered person at an all-
women’s college. The college’s official position is that a student must be female at the time
of admittance in order to attend Smith College; however, Lucas feels marginalized and
unsupported. Lead a discussion about this episode addressing the following questions (you
may choose to have students talk first in small groups about these questions). How should
single-sex colleges handle transgendered and transsexual students? Why does/might Lucas
feel alienated? Why would a transgendered or transsexual student want to attend a single-sex
college? What issues might trans students face at either single-sex or coed colleges that other
students do not face (e.g., bathrooms, dorms, sports)? This episode also illustrates how the
arguments for same-sex education are based on a binary model of gender and assumed
heterosexuality.
3. Gendered Education in Film: Show a clip from a film that highlights education of males or
education of females. Dead Poets Society (male education) and Mona Lisa Smile (female
4. Gendered Evaluations: Compile several sets of teacher evaluations: one set should include
evaluations of one or more male professors, the other set should include evaluations of one or
more female professors. In all cases, make sure that the names of the professors are not
disclosed. Make copies of the evaluations and distribute to students. Place students in small
groups and ask them to review the evaluations for gendered themes. Wood’s discussion
suggests that the female professors may receive more comments about their physical
appearance and personality (e.g., is she “nice”?) whereas the male professors may receive
more comments about the intellectual content of their classes. Debrief the exercise as a
large group. Do the compiled evaluations follow the patterns Wood discusses? Are other
themes apparent? What do the evaluations tell us about students’ attitudes towards male and
female professors? (You may want to use your own evaluations and/or evaluations of your
THE GENDER CURRICULUM
Prior to the class period in which you will meet with your groups to discuss sex-typing
in schools, please prepare for discussion by doing the following field research.
***
1. Take notes on gender typing in the readings you have for two classes other than this one.
The following general questions are meant to guide your examination of books. Some
questions may not be relevant to textbooks for some courses.
A. Is generic language used, e.g., “he,” “man”?
B. How many examples feature women? How many feature men? Are the examples
presented exclusively white individuals?
C. How often are females presented in roles of dependency, leadership, supporting
others, etc.? Notice photos in books as well as prose.
D. How often are males presented in these roles?
E. How often are men and women presented in caregiving roles, such as taking care of
children?
2. Pay attention to patterns of interaction in two of your classes other than this one. As you do
so, notice whether there are gender inequities such as these:
A. How often do male members of each class contribute comments?
B. How often do female members of each class contribute comments?
C. Does the instructor respond equally (encouragement, elaboration, interest, etc.) to
comments from females and males?
D. Does the instructor use an equal number of examples featuring each sex? Are the
sexes portrayed in similar roles?
E. Does the instructor use generic language?
F. Are there any gender tendencies in interruptions of students?
G. Do you notice any differences in the length of comments made by male and female
students?
H. In examples used in the class (both ones by teachers and students) are males and
females represented with equal frequency and in equal kinds of roles?