Gender Bias in Education

Sadker, David. "Gender Equity: Still Knocking at the Classroom Door". Educational Leadership, Vol 56 April 1999.

This article considers a "Top Ten" of updates on gender bias in the classroom and in education in general. The purpose is to highlight a variety of sticking points in the move towards gender inequality that are often overshadowed. For example, while tax-supported tertiary education is nearly all coed, there is still a distinct gender divide present in majors. These majors feed into jobs that propagate the reality that women earn less money (due to the nature of their work, not necessarily outright discrimination). Another point made was about high school dropout rates. Boys repeat grades and drop out more often, but female repeaters on the whole are much more likely to become dropouts. The characterization that girls quietly drop out (often due to pregnancy) and do not return, boys drop out "with a crash" but are somewhat more likely to return.

I found many of these statistics and ideas very intriguing. While some of the facts highlighted areas where sexism was clearly to blame for the discrepancy, other problem areas seemed to be the result of personal choice. How do we motivate girls to even out the majors? What if they are capable, but simply still are drawn to being teachers or nurses?

I appreciated that #5 on the list also mentioned the impact of gender bias on males. The article explains that "...[m]ales are less likely to have close friends and more likely to endure alienation
and loneliness at every stage of life. It is males, after all, who experience higher mortality
rates through accidents, violence, and suicide, most of which are male role related." As we focus on traditionally disadvantaged groups, it seems appropriately egalitarian to note the struggles of the traditionally privileged as well.