Gender & EducationMelanie Tannenbaum, Ph.D.

SOC 463/663Spring 2015

Discussion Questions: In The Beginning…

What is the largest socialization factor for gender? Parents? Schools/Teachers? Media? Peers?

How early does gender socialization start? Gender inequality? Do you remember early examples of things being different in your home/classroom based on gender?

“Gendering”

Sex vs. Gender

Shaping FactorsSchoolsTeachersPeers

Is there a smarter sex? Halpern & LaMay (2000)

Male AdvantageVisual-spatial tasksMath achievement tasks

Female AdvantageVerbal tasksMemory tasks

Diane Halpern

Gender difference largest at highest & lowest ends

Biology may have something to do with it…but minimal

Schools/Teachers

Schools & Gender SocializationMale athletic teams have value/prestige; female teams less so

Different values, goals, behaviors, etc. are reinforced

Textbooks rarely focus on important women

Valued behaviors are largely female-stereotypic

Is there a male crisis?

Is there a male crisis?

Women more likely to…

Enroll in college/university

Graduate from college/university

Get higher grades

56% of students enrolled in master’s degree programs are women

Why would there be a male crisis?

“Feminization of Education”Most teachers are womenActivities/school policies made by women, oriented toward girls

Changing image of masculinityNarrowing of images of masculinity Socially sanctioned male goals incompatible with intellectual goals

But…Men still more likely to enroll in the most prestigious/selective universities

Women earn 30% of STEM degrees

Majors remain highly segregated

Men: Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Technology

Women: Education, Nursing, Social/Life Sciences

More favorable depiction of men than women in textbooks

Boys given more time to respond to teacher’s questions

Boys receive more help, more praise, more correction

Girls called on less often in class

Differential Treatment of Females

Differential Treatment of Females: A Second Look?

More favorable depiction of men than women in textbooksUsed to be true — but changing!

Boys given more time to respond to teacher’s questionsLower expectations?

Boys receive more help, more praise, more correctionBoys also receive more disciplinary attention & punishmentPraise & unsolicited help may reflect lower expectations

Girls called on less often in classBoys volunteer moreNo gender difference after controlling for amount of volunteering

Is the educational system to blame for gender inequality in society?

YES NO

More encouragement & challenging tasks from teachers for boys Girls get higher grades

Gender role socialization & peer culture

Girls score higher on some standardized achievement tests

Differential status of female & male extracurriculars (despite Title IX)

Boys more likely to be diagnosed with (some) learning disorders

Discussion Questions: Reforming Education

Can a change in the education system and the curriculum redefine the roles of boys and girls?

Do teachers understand that they are giving boys that extra attention in school? And if they do understand then are they doing anything personally about it?

If boys are being treated so much better and are being constantly encouraged to build up their own self-esteem and skills at school, why are girls still continuously outperforming boys when it comes to grades?

Gender Differences in Lifetime Achievement

Males more likely than females to…Get advanced educational degreesBecome academic facultyEnter careers that allow quick advancementOccupy positions of power and prestigeEarn more money for the same job (“earnings gap”)

Note: Most differences involve careers, labor market; not so much educational system

Within educational system: Often parity or advantage for girlsHow does female advantage within educational system translate into

disadvantage on the labor market, power in society?

Why do women achieve more in education than in society?

Reality constraintsHigh power jobs are often not family friendly

Individual ChoicesPreferences

Activities and interactionsGoals

Career aspirationsLifestyle values

ExpectationsSelf-efficacyAnticipated responses to the self

Career-Relevant Choices & Decisions

Females are less likely to end up in high-power careersGender-typing of

TasksMajorsCareers

Educational choicesLess interest in tech, quantitative careersLess likely to choose advanced math in high schoolLess likely to choose college major that requires math

Discussion Questions: Is it really a free choice?

Perhaps there is some component of a woman's choice not to pursue science because it has such a large population of males already? With such a large number of men, there's bound to be a number who are discriminatory, sexist, or misogynist. Do you think this knowledge makes choosing to go into math-based or scientific fields less attractive? After all, if there were a pool totally full of harmless fish, but amongst these fish there were a few bull sharks here and there, I certainly wouldn't choose to enter the pool.

Ceci & Williams discuss the “choices” made by women, like opting out of tenure-track careers in order to raise families. Do you think that these are really “choices,” especially since men in those careers are never expected to make them? Or do you think that women are given the illusion of a choice and are expected to “choose” appropriately by opting for the family route?

Peers

BOYS GIRLS

Socialized to be aggressive, dominant, strong, athletic

Socialized to be nurturing, communal, kind, bubbly

Pick your fights wisely; display dominance strategically

Smile all the time; hide your true feelings at all costs

Gender & Self-Esteem AAUW Report, Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America 1991

Self-

este

em in

dex

0

1.3

2.5

3.8

5

Elementary Middle High School

Girls Boys

This is the sad reality in workplaces around the world: Women help more but benefit less from it. In keeping with deeply held gender stereotypes, we expect men to be ambitious and results-oriented, and women to be nurturing and communal. When a

man offers to help, we shower him with praise and rewards. But when a woman helps, we feel less indebted. She’s communal, right? She wants to be a team player. The reverse is also true.

When a woman declines to help a colleague, people like her less and her career suffers. But when a man says no, he faces no

backlash. A man who doesn’t help is “busy”; a woman is “selfish.”

http://stuffhappens.us/boy-at-school-snapped-her-14307/

Girls are often socialized to smile & accept behavior that probably should not be seen as acceptable.

One possible solution…

Emphasize the “communal” nature of STEM careers?

Parents & Society

Shaping Interest

185 families visiting a science museumCrowley, Callanan, Tenenbaum & Allen, (2001), Psy Sci, 12, 258-261

Parents explain more often to boys than to girls during shared scientific thinking

Parents are more likely to take boys to the science museum than they are to take girls!

Shelley Correll (2001)

Cultural beliefs condition ability self-assessmentsMales = good at mathFemales = bad at math

Whether or not cultural beliefs are personally endorsed, individuals are aware of them & they influence self-assessments

Males think more highly of themselves compared to females, even when there is no difference in math achievement

Influences choice of courseInfluences choice of major

Discussion Questions: Increasing Interest

What are ways we could make STEM fields more communal?

How else could we get more women into STEM fields?

Discussion Questions: The Other Side

Should society continue to uphold the [lower] status of women [if] it proves advantageous to us in the long-run?

Is the gender difference really only one sided or should the harm being done to boys be addressed as well? (Like being dissuaded from pursuing careers in teaching/social work…)