Gender Equity in the Classroom

An equal opportunity to participate in the educational system is being denied to half of America's school-age population. Gender bias subtlety, insidiously, but indisputably denies girls equal access to instruction. This article explores the reasons underlying the problem and suggests strategies to promote gender equity.

The fact that females receive an inferior education is significant in today's society. An increase in the employment of women in all areas has been documented and this trend is expected to continue. Women will hold professional positions in ever increasing numbers. Education must prepare women for these careers. American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Women's Education Equity Act (WEEA) Resource Center studies indicate that females continue to be shortchanged in the academic arena. Unsurprisingly, their professional and economic growth lags behind that of their male counterparts. The foundations for solutions begin in our schools.

Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act in 1972 and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act have been touted as panacea to the problem of gender bias. Legislation made sexual discrimination unlawful in schools receiving government funding. Unfortunately, the laws did little to provide gender equity within the confines of the classroom. Gender bias, built upon unconscious acceptance of stereotypes and gender role expectations is still evident in today's classrooms. Sadker & Sadker in Failing at Fairness assert "girls enter school at a higher achievement level and leave it with a lower achievement level" [than their male counterparts]. Girls appear to be the ideal students in elementary school. They seem to be doing well. They receive better grades and are disciplined less frequently. The unfortunate result is that girls receive less--time, attention, help, encouragement, challenges, and feedback. "When female students are offered the leftovers of teacher time and attention…they achieve less…girls and women learn to speak softly or not at all; to submerge honest feelings, withhold opinions, and defer to boys; to avoid math and science as male domains; to value neatness and quiet more than assertiveness and creativity; to emphasize appearance and hide intelligence…they are turned into educational spectators instead of players; but education is not a spectator sport" (Sadker & Sadker). As a result, their self-esteem, independence, motivation and academic opportunities suffer.

THE DISPARITIES

Teacher Attention
AAUW studies indicate that girls are less assertive in the classroom. They need more time to think when responding to questions. Sadly, they receive less time. Boys, on the other hand, call out 8 times more frequently than girls and are more often called upon to respond. Boys are allowed to call out answers while girls must raise their hands and be recognized before speaking. Accordingly, boys participate more in class and secure more teacher attention and feedback than their female counterparts. This need not occur. Research conducted by the AAUW and the WEEA indicates that girls become almost as assertive as boys in class when teachers receive training in gender equity.

Differential Feedback
When providing feedback educators are more likely to praise, correct, help and criticize boys - all of which foster achievement. Boys are more likely to receive comments on the content of their work and suggestions for improvement. Conversely, girls receive more superficial communication, frequently focusing on the appearance rather than the academic content of their work. The message portrayed is that a higher level of performance is possible and expected of boys than girls. Accordingly, girls receive less valuable feedback impeding their ability to correct mistakes and leaving them unprepared for future real-life situations.

Classroom Assistance
A difference also exists when students request assistance. Boys are led through the exercise and given suggestions. They are encouraged to work through problems and finish projects. When girls need help, teachers are likely to tell them the answer or complete the project for them depriving them of active learning experiences. Teacher interaction of this type fosters dependence in girls and independence in boys. As a consequence, girls get less practice at problem solving skills than boys.

BELIEF SYSTEMS
Girls attribute the cause of academic failure to an internal locus of control. In other words, their failure is due to internal factors such as lack of ability or intelligence. Boys, on the other hand attribute academic failure to an external locus of control-teacher bias, illness, poor instruction, etc. "When children internalize success and externalize failure (the male approach), they are able to tackle new and challenging tasks with a mastery orientation, one that perseveres in the face of difficulty and leads to future achievement. Children who attribute success to effort and failure to lack of ability (the female approach) exhibit "learned helplessness." Girls frequently downplay academic achievement or attribute it to luck. Boys take credit. Sadly, many teachers unconsciously support these erroneous beliefs.

PREDICTIONS FOR SUCCESS
A positive correlation exists between professional position, economic success and success in math, science and technology. Although males and females enter junior high school on equal footing in these areas, boys' performance begins to surpass that of their female classmates at this stage. This outcome appears to be largely a result of attitude and expectation, rather than of innate ability and can be attributed to:

• Expectations of parents and teachers.
• Science and math teachers are primarily male.
• Few women role models are furnished.
• Boys have higher expectations for themselves.

Most devastating of all is the fact that teachers are unaware of this inadvertent discrimination. They try to and honestly believe that they do treat all of their students equally regardless of sex. Research however indicates an entirely different reality. Incidents of discrimination are so subtle, that frequently, girls themselves cannot pinpoint it. The result is that females feel less intelligent and less valued and receive an inferior education than that of their male counterparts.

After reviewing the research, it is evident that half of the school-age population is receiving less than equal education. "Denied their history, discouraged from taking crucial courses that lead to key careers, concluding that the appearance of their bodies may be worth more than the quality of their minds, realizing they are not the gender of choice, and doubting their intelligence and ability…girls make the journey from adolescence to womanhood. They pay a steep price." declare Sadker and Sadker. Females in the American educational system are achieving at levels far below their potential. This has very negative implications not only for their future, but for society's as well.

SOLUTIONS
Although this problem is sociologically based, the structures are already in place to implement solutions within the educational system. Teacher training is an ideal place to begin as research indicates that educators teach the way they were taught and they most strongly model the styles of their most recent instructors.

• Wait a few seconds after asking a question before calling on students. Girls, more than boys formulate their response prior to raising their hands.
• Assign more team projects as girls learn better through collaboration.
• Facilitate a cooperative, rather than a competitive environment, by conducting some classes with students sitting in a circle. (Girls will be more comfortable and learn better in this type of setting.)
• Provide coaching to develop problem-solving skills.
• Incorporate interdisciplinary teaching using real-world problems and hands-on projects to demonstrate the value of the learning being acquired.
• Create an environment that reduces stereotyping and helps students relate to each other as individuals.
• Praise students equally for achievement, creativity and effort.
• Attribute cause for poor performance accurately
• Attend equally to the misbehavior of both sexes.
• Provide numerous opportunities for girls to experience science, math and technology.
• Examine the rules (both implicit and explicit) set for girls and the underlying assumptions.
• Provide girls with more opportunities to be leaders.
• Create an environment that is safe for mistakes, not safe from mistakes.
• Encourage more outdoor and physical opportunities for girls.
• Teach girls how to assess the risk and how to insure their own safety. Offer more access to machinery and equipment.
• Let girls know that they are capable of learning math, science and technology; and encourage them to choose these courses in high school.
• Expect females to pursue higher education.
• Select curriculum materials that equally and realistically represent both sexes.

Teachers having participated in gender-biased education throughout their academic careers, unknowingly perpetuate the cycle. It is unrealized that "little, by little, lesson by lesson, day by day [girls] are being robbed. …Every day in America little girls lose independence, achievement, and self-esteem…Subtle and insidious, the gender biased lessons result in quiet catastrophes-tomorrow's women-are very real." according to Sadker and Sadker. Educators hold the key to the future in their hands. Tomorrow's society sits in their classrooms. Teachers must begin to consciously monitor their interactions with children to ensure that all students receive the education guaranteed them by law-a free, appropriate and equitable education for all.

-- Lynn Kepford, Research Analyst

REFERENCES