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Chapter 8: Gendered
Education:
Communication in
Schools
I.
Gendered Expectations and Pressures on Students
A.
Academics
1.
All students encounter gendered expectations and pressures in schools
from kindergarten on.
2.
Boys and Men
a.
Young boys tend to have more physical energy and less impulse
control than girls. In addition, their verbal skills mature later.
b.
These developmental differences make it difficult for young boys
to sit quietly and follows instructions. Elementary school
classrooms may not be very boy friendly.
c.
These challenges may affect success later in school. More
women attend college and pursue graduate study.
d.
Personal choices play a role in academic success: boys and men
spend less time preparing for classes and more time leisure
activities.
3.
Girls and Women
e.
Long-standing beliefs that females are less able to understand
math and science have acted as barriers to study and to careers in
those fields.
f.
Persisting bias against female students in math and science show
up in various ways (a counselor who recommends a different
class). There is a faculty bias against female students in science
as well.
g.
One study found that professors who believed an applicant for a
lab assistant was male were more likely to hire the student,
propose a higher salary, and offer mentoring. Women and
minorities were significantly less likely to receive a response.
h.
Girls drop out of math and science at about the time they become
more aware of gender and see that women shy away from being
overly smart.
i.
Behaviors that facilitate success in school—completing work,
following directions, being neat—are the not the same as skills
often necessary for career success.
j.
Curricula, particularly history, tend to misrepresent or eras
women and gender-nonconforming people. If they do appear,
they tend to fit traditional stereotypes of women or have
distinguished themselves in masculine terms.
k.
Historical epochs tend to be taught in terms of effects on men
while neglecting their impact on women, people of color, and
other historically disenfranchised communities.
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l.
The default person presented as the standard is the white,
heterosexual, able-bodied, and middle- and upper-class men.
4.
LGBTQ Students
m.
Students who identify as LGBTQ also face challenges and
discrimination. Many of the challenges step from the gender
binary norm that infuses schools and society. Bathrooms, sports
teams, and locker rooms are divided by sex.
n.
Cisgendered heterosexuality is an assumption in school
curricula, from the stories read in early grades to activities
done for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
o.
The process of assigning roommates assumes students are
cisgender and heterosexual.
5.
Gender Isn’t the Whole Story
a.
Academic challenges are not exclusively tied to gender or
sexual orientation. The gap between rich and poor students
eclipses the gap between female and male success.
b.
This growing chasm is due in large part to the greater
investments of time and other resources well-off parents can
make in their children.
B.
Athletics
1.
Title IX is part of the reason that women have greater opportunities to
participate in athletics. Title IX requires women to be provided
equitable opportunity to participate in sports, for colleges to provide
female athletes with scholarships proportional to their participation, and
receive equivalent practice times, equipment, supplies, coaching, and so
forth.
2.
However, male athletes and their coaches continue to receive greater
support, including financial support.
3.
Some colleges and universities employ deceptive practices to make it
appear that they are meeting the criteria of Title IX when they are not.
4.
Participating in sports while in school is linked to higher salaries and
better health for women and girls.
C.
Gender Pressures from Peers
1.
Students have to work hard to conform to prevailing expectations for
their gender. Peers are primary agents of gender socialization.
2.
Pressures to Conform to Masculinity
a.
Male peer groups reinforce masculine identification. Cisgender
men engage in drinking and sexual activity, doing as a group
what they might not as individuals.
b.
Students of color, especially black men, often encounter
obstacles. Fewer black men graduate from high school, attend
college, or graduate from college than white men, white women,
and black women.
3.
Pressures to Conform to Femininity
a.
Female peer groups tend to encourage and reward compliance
with feminine stereotypes.
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b.
Girls and women are particularly targeted for sexual harassment
and assault. This is not confined to peer interactions, but may
come from faculty and coaches.
c.
An increasing problem for all students is bullying, which is
behavior intended to hurt, embarrass, shame or intimidate
another person.
d.
Undergraduate college women report feeling compelled to
achieve effortless perfection: to be beautiful, fit, popular, and
smart without any visible effort. Undergraduate women felt
overwhelmed by the thought that they should be perfect in all
realms of life.
e.
College women are also socialized into a culture of romance.
One reason is some women become discouraged by barriers to
their academic achievement and a second is peer pressure that
emphasize attracting men as more important than anything else.
4.
Gay, lesbian, and transgender students also face peer pressure.
a.
Pressure to conform to conventionally gendered identities can be
much greater for LGBTQ students, and they are more likely to be
bullied for living outside normative prescriptions for gender and
sexuality.
b.
In 2010, Tyler Clementi committed suicide after discovering his
roommate had sent out Twitter and text messages inviting others to
watch a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man.
II.
Gendered Expectations and Pressures Facing Faculty
A.
In addition to being educational institutions, schools are also workplaces, and so
it is important to explore the gendered attitudes and practices that affect faculty
who work there.
B.
Women faculty members often experience some of the same pressures faced by
women students. They may be stereotyped into traditionally feminine roles and
perform more service than male peers and have to deal with sexual harassment.
C.
The more advanced the educational level, the greater the ratio of male to female
faculty.
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.
Male faculty still earn more than female faculty. At doctoral universities,
men outnumber women three to one and women average 90 cents per
dollar earned by male faculty.
4.
Limited numbers of female faculty and faculty of color mean
women and minority students have fewer role models.
D.
Researchers have identified three major sources of gender bias hiring and
promotion of faculty.
1.
Women’s performance tends to be more closely scrutinized and judged by
stricter standards than men’s.
2.
Men have to give stronger demonstrations of incompetence to be
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judged by others as incompetent.
3.
Male candidates tend to be hired and judged upon whether they show
promise. Female candidates tend to be judged on accomplishments.
4.
Invisible hand discrimination is unwitting discrimination in applying
policies that are not inherently biased.
D.
For female faculty, early years require long hours and heavy
investments that often coincide with the ideal years for bearing
children. The lack of representation also often means excessive
responsibilities for service and mentoring.
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.
Your text 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 this 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?
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 of this resource book). The Hall and Sandler article gives
suggestions for students, teachers, and administrators to make the classroom a less-
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biased place for female students.
As gender issues in the classroom frequently hit home with students, your responses to
students’ examples will reveal a good deal about how you view gender bias in the
educational system. Students often discuss professors who tell sexist jokes, professors
who do not learn the names of female students, and classrooms where African
American students routinely are passed over when students’ hands are raised. You may
want to encourage students to address these issues in whatever ways seem wise. Course
evaluations at the end of a term can give anonymous feedback to professors on their
instructional materials and their style of interaction. Additionally, many professors are
unaware of the subtle bias that occurs in the classroom against female students; when
these issues are brought to the attention of instructors, amazement and gratitude may
follow for raising awareness.
For this exercise, we find it helpful to allow students first to discuss these issues in
groups of four or five of their peers. Often students’ observations spur classmates to
consider examples in their experiences in the educational system. Additionally, students
may share common classes and have differing perspectives on materials presented and
interactions occurring.
After allowing groups to share their findings for 20 to 25 minutes, pull the students
back together for a full-class discussion. Be prepared to respond supportively, to
express amazement and horror, and to offer suggestions.
2.
Transgender Students at Single-Sex Schools: Show the episode of Transgeneration
(The Sundance Channel’s documentary miniseries which follows four transgender
college students) in which Lucas struggles with being an FTM transgender 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 transgender students? Why
does/might Lucas feel alienated? Why would a transgender 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 education) are examples of these. Ask students to note what assumptions
are made about men or women and their education needs, styles, and goals in the film.
It may be useful to show both films and contrast two different views. (Both films are
set in the 1950s.)
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
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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. Debrief the exercise as a large group. Do the compiled evaluations
follow the patterns you might expect? Are other themes apparent? What do the
evaluations tell us about students’ attitudes toward male and female professors? (You
may want to use your own evaluations and/or evaluations of your colleagues if they are
willing to share them. Alternatively, you can find evaluations of professors at
ratemyprofessor.com.)
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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, and so forth? 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?
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JUDGMENT CALL 8: SHOULD SAME SEX EDUCATION BE
ALLOWED IN SCHOOLS THAT RECEIVE FEDERAL SUPPORT?
Title IX states that schools that receive federal funds cannot discriminate on the basis
of sex. Thus, schools that accept federal support must not show preference to either sex in
admission, and they must provide “equal opportunities” in school-sponsored courses, co-
curricular, and athletic activities.
Title IX was recently tested when women applied to the Citadel, a military training
school in South Carolina that had admitted only males since it opened its doors. The Citadel
went through several levels of court battles in its fight to remain an exclusively male school, but
the Citadel lost the fight. The courts ruled that as long as the Citadel accepted federal funds, it
must admit qualified women who want to enroll in one of the top military training institutions.
To do otherwise would be to refuse to provide women with the same opportunities to prepare
for military careers that men have historically had.
Even though Title IX prohibits discrimination by schools receiving federal support,
some educators believe that sex-segregated education is desirable—at least in some cases. For
example, research has shown that many female students learn more in sex-segregated math and
science classes. Studies also show that a greater percentage of women who attend traditional
women’s colleges become leaders in business and government than women who attend co–
educational schools.
Yet the law is very clear. Any school that accepts federal funds must provide equal
opportunities to students of both sexes and all races. Supporters of these laws argue that sex–
segregated education exists now and can continue to exist in private schools, but not in
schools that receive federal funding.
Is it acceptable to have sex-segregated education (classes or whole schools) when
federal support is provided? As you reflect on the question, consider these prompts and consult
the websites listed below:
Can separate education be “equal”? Is it possible that women and men are more
likely to receive an equal quality education if they are in separate classes or schools?
To learn more about research (pros and cons) on sex-segregated education and
about alternative ways of achieving gender equity in education visit this site:
http://www.now.org/issues/education/single-sex-education-comments.html
Should federal funding be a criterion for making decisions about how
educational institutions operate?
Does historic discrimination (both legal and attitudinal) against women
justify providing special educational opportunities to girls and women today?
Is it fair to argue that there should be women only classes in science and math
because those classes benefit women, and, at the same time, to argue that
historically male institutions such as the Citadel should not be allowed to exclude
women?
If women are admitted to formerly all-male schools, should the schools adjust their
policies and practices? The Citadel, for example, prides itself on harsh discipline,
lack of privacy, and punitive treatment of students.
To gain understanding of military institutions and how their history might affect your judgment
on the issue of admitting women, visit these websites: