Lesson 6: Education

Lesson 6: Education Introduction to Women’s StudiesRobert Wonser

Schools Socialize Us • Like other agents of socialization, schools tell us what behavior and feelings are appropriate for which gender. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Elementary School • Much of gender we learn is unintentional and largely “hidden agendas” in the school curriculum • Boys and girls attend schools equally in the U.S. • Children are automatically and with little thought segregated by gender. Why? • Schools help create the dichotomy of boys and girls rather than reflect some “natural” distinction among them. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Widespread Inequalities • There is widespread educational inequalities based on gender, race, class, and age found in systems of education everywhere. • Explanations for these inequalities include that • (1) educators rely on stereotypes about gender differences, • (2) schools provide teaching materials that promote stereotypical views of girls and boys, • (3)families and states favor the education of boys over girls, and • (4) standard beliefs are that students should train for appropriately gendered occupations (e.g., boys for science and girls for carework). Lesson 6: Eductaion

Class-, gender-, and race-based inequalities such as poverty, heterosexism, racism and nativism (hostility to immigrants) also contribute to a “chilly climate” in schools that impedes the progress of many students, boys as well as girls. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Treated Differently in K-12 • For Girls: • Wait less time for their answer before moving on even though girls are less assertive and like to think about their answers • Girls become fringe elements of classroom action • For boys: • Called on more frequently • Boys speak up sooner, more interaction w/ teacher • Boys demand more attention Lesson 6: Eductaion

Treated Differently • For Girls: • Teachers engage in fewer complex interactions • Teachers respond with a nod or brief “okay” and move on to the next topic • For boys: • When they speak out, teachers comment on their observations • Encourage to correct a wrong answer or expand a right one Lesson 6: Eductaion

Treated Differently • For Girls: • When girls ask for help the teachers are more likely to show her how to do things by doing it themselves • For boys: • When they ask for help teachers give elaborate instructions to the student as he does the work Lesson 6: Eductaion

For Girls • Teachers are more apt to comment on appearance or clothing or girls. What about comments on academic performance? • What does this indicate we value from our boys and our girls? • Teachers are largely unaware of these discrepancies and are usually stunned to see them when they view themselves on videotape. Lesson 6: Eductaion

The Results? • Decline in girls’ self-confidence during school years, especially adolescence • Self esteem slightly declines for boys but more noticeably declines for girls • Boys scores go from 5 to 4.8 • Girls’ scores go from 4 to 2.8 Lesson 6: Eductaion

Studies Show that at a Younger Age, Girls are Smarter than Boys… Lesson 6: Eductaion

But girls begin to question their ability because of gender… Lesson 6: Eductaion

These feelings continue into college Lesson 6: Eductaion

Lesson 6: Eductaion

Taming Warriors in the Kindergarten Classroom • Not only girls are harmed in schools • Boys also find difficulties • Boys’ socialization doesn’t prepare them well for school • They’re taught to be rowdy and rambunctious—traits that require discipline in school. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Feminine Socialization • Females are socialized to play nurturing and self-display games; mothers, nurses, brides, princesses are easily incorporated into school • Ways of expressing themselves are within the line of rationality, responsibility and decorum of school. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Medicalizing and Medicating Boys in School • Little boy can’t stop fidgeting? Ritalin! • Diagnosis for ADHD increased by 700% in the 1990s; of all prescriptions in the world, 90% are to Americans • Boys are 3 to 10 times more likely to be identified with ADHD • Girls may be overlooked for diagnosis because it is marked by less disruptive, impulsive behavior and more by disorganized, unfocused performance. • Or… Lesson 6: Eductaion

ADHD • Women and girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) are not only less frequently diagnosed than their male counterparts. • ADD/ADHD girls and women often require gender-specific treatments to help manage symptoms, succeed at school and work, and have successful relationships. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Teaching Materials • School books contain many gendered messages. Studies in the 1970s found that more men and boys were characters in stories and the subjects of autobiographies and pictures. • In the 1990s, the ratio of women and girls had improved but men and boy characters were still more visible and more likely to be active and involved in important areas of social life. • Women and girls were invisible in introductory sociology texts for college students, relegated to chapters on family and sexuality, and underrepresented in chapters on politics. • A result is that most students are ignorant about women’s contributions to ideas, social institutions and history. Lesson 6: Eductaion

How to survive a BFF FightHow to Survive Soccer TryoutsHow to Survive a BreakoutHow to Show You’re SorryHow to Have the Best Sleepover EverHow to Take the Perfect School PhotoHow to Survive BrothersScary Survival Dos and Don’tsHow to Handle Becoming RichHow to Keep Stuff SecretHow to Survive TestsHow to Survive ShynessHow to Handle Sudden StardomMore Stardom Survival TipsHow to Survive a Camping TripHow to Survive a Fashion DisasterHow to Teach Your Cat to SitHow to Turn a No Into a YesTop Tips for SpeechmakingHow to Survive EmbarrassmentHow to Be a Mind ReaderHow to Survive a CrushSeaside SurvivalHow to Soothe SunburnHow to Pick Perfect SunglassesSurviving a Zombie AttackHow to Spot a FrenemyBrilliant Boredom BustersHow to Survive Truth or DareHow to Beat BulliesHow to be an Amazing Babysitter • How to Survive a shark attackHow to Survive in a ForestHow to Survive FrostbiteHow to Survive a Plane CrashHow to Survive in the DesertHow to Survive a Polar Bear AttackHow to Survive a Flash FloodHow to Survive a Broken LegHow to Survive an EarthquakeHow to Survive a Forest FireHow to Survive in a WhiteoutHow to Survive a Zombie InvasionHow to Survive a SnakebiteHow to Survive if Your Parachute FailsHow to Survive a Croc AttackHow to Survive a Lightning StrikeHow to Survive a T-RexHow to Survive Whitewater RapidsHow to Survive a Sinking ShipHow to Survive a Vampire AttackHow to Survive an AvalancheHow to Survive a TornadoHow to Survive QuicksandHow to Survive a FallHow to Survive a Swarm of BeesHow to Survive in Space Lesson 6: Eductaion

High School • Slightly more than 10% of all high school students drop out before graduation. • Boys drop out more than girls, Latinos more than white or black students • Girls are more involved in extracurricular activities than boys Lesson 6: Eductaion

Math and Science and Gender • Girls now outnumber boys in college preparatory courses, especially Geometry, Algebra II, Biology, and Chemistry. • They are only slightly behind boys in Calculus and Physics • But ideas about gender still identify these fields as masculine. • As a result, women may be less likely to recognize their abilities in these fields. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Vocational Education • Young women remain clustered in a few vocational education programs that prepare them for low-wage jobs. • Young men are likely to train for skilled trades with median hourly wages of about $30 an hour Lesson 6: Eductaion

Title IX, No Child Left Behind, and Single Sex Schools • Title IX, passed in l972, made it illegal for schools that receive federal assistance to discriminate against girls and women. • There is a potential conflict between Title IX and the No Child Left Behind Act, which encourages schools to try same sex classrooms. Lesson 6: Eductaion

SAT Scores • SATs are an important gateway to higher education in the U.S. Women are now the majority of those students who take SATs, but men score higher on average on the test (see Table 5.5). • Explanations for men’s higher scores are that boys are better prepared in high school, that the test is gender-biased, that the format of the test coincides with masculine style of test-taking, that the test rewards guessing (and boys are more likely to risk a guess), or that timed tests reward speed. • The purpose of SATs is to try to predict which students will be successful in college, but they do not predict well. • Women get better grades in college courses on average and are more likely to finish their degrees. Lesson 6: Eductaion

International Comparisons on Standardized Tests • Boys and girls in many nations score about the same on achievement exams when they have the same background. • The biggest gaps in educational attainment are between countries, not genders. • The highest math scores of U.S. students are about equal to the average score of students in the top scoring nations of Singapore, Korea, Japan, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Higher Education and Gender • In the past few decades, women have made gains in education, especially in the United States, which now has the highest proportion of women attending college in the world. • Men are still more likely to obtain a Doctoral degree, but even that gap is diminishing Lesson 6: Eductaion

The gender balance in many fields of university study has also become more equal as women enter fields once thought to be for men only, such as business, law, and dentistry. • Similarly, men are more likely to earn degrees in women-dominated fields such as nursing, elementary education, and home economics • However, within fields, gender differences remain. Women concentrate in family law and men in tax law, for example. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Race ethnicity and class intersect with gender to create other differences in the educational attainment of men and women. • In historically black colleges, women make up 70% of the student body despite efforts to recruit men. • African American and Native American women are a greater proportion of non-traditional age students • Women have made the greatest strides in surpassing men in college attendance in the poorest households Lesson 6: Eductaion

Global Rates of Literacy • At the global level, girls suffer from discrimination by governments, families, and schools. • Two-thirds of children not attending schools in the world are girls, and 86 million of the 140 million illiterate young people in the world are girls. • Low education levels among women are associated with higher fertility, lower-paid jobs, decreased income, and greater poverty, leaving women and their children in poorer health, suffering higher rates of malnourishment and early mortality. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Unexpected Connections Between Water and Education • A major barrier to education for girls in poor countries is the lack of access to water and sanitation. • Carrying water is women’s work in many countries, which can take up to four hours a day, cutting into school attendance. • If schools do not have toilets, boys are sent into the fields to pee but girls must wait all day until they can return to their home or community to find a toilet and when girls get their periods, they must stay home from school. Lesson 6: Eductaion

Gender and Teachers • In higher education, women are clustered in the lowest ranks of faculties, are lower paid, are more likely to be in part-time or temporary positions, and are tenured more slowly • They feel less supported on campus because of sexist jokes, sexual harassment, and exclusion from social networks. • Their students are more demanding and give them lower evaluations, especially if they violate gender norms. Gatekeepers such as journal editors rate their research more critically than research done by men. • Women are still the minority in many faculties Lesson 6: Eductaion

Evaluating Professors • Some studies find that students have higher expectations of women faculty, hold women teachers to different standards and evaluate them more harshly. • Do you find this to be true in your own experiences? • I wonder what would happen if we did a content analysis of ratemyprofessors.com? Lesson 6: Eductaion

Some scholars argue that schools are organized to prepare students for future roles as docile, obedient, and motivated workers in a capitalist workforce. • Some argue that we learn these lessons through the “hidden agenda” of schools: following the rules, accepting the hierarchy of authority, and working for external rewards (pay and praise). • The hidden agenda is gendered in complex ways, helping schools to function as a “gender factories.” Lesson 6: Eductaion

Lesson 6: Education