Stereotypes in schools: Gender Stereotyping

As we've discussed before, stereotypes can take all sorts of forms and occur in all sorts of places. One place where their presence can be particularly detrimental is in the classroom. The next three entries will focus on schools and the ways in which stereotypes and stereotyping shape the minds attitudes and very identities of the young people impelled to be there.

Today our topic is gender stereotypes. Many of the same stereotypes we have observed on a societal scale are observable in schools. indeed the dated cultural norms that pervade mass media and pop culture inform the minds of toddlers, children, and adolescents, and why should that be a surprise? After all, kids spend more time watching tv than they do IN school, anyway. http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/635134.html

A few stereotypes pop up often and can have serious effects on the way children are taught, as well as what and how effectively. The notions that boys are better at math than girls is not new, and at one point, boys did categorically outperform girls on standardized math assessments. Today however that is simply not the case. Indeed The fact remains, however that many boys and girls believe that math is "for boys" and not so for girls. http://ilabs.washington.edu/meltzoff/pdf/11Cvencek_Meltzoff_Greenwald_Gender_Math_Gender_Stereotypes_2011.pdf

At hte elementary school level, there is hardly if any difference in mathematics aptitude, in the cognitive ability of children's brains' ability to do math, yet the widespread beliefs of many children, before they even get to their multiplication tables remain skewed.

How and why can that be? It must be that images and ideas that boys and girls are surrounded with impress upon them these ideas. The people making decisions about a child's life may have those same ideas about what is "right for" each gender. the same way we paint babie girls' rooms pink and boys' rooms blue (and rarely the opposite), the same way boys get balls and girls get dolls, boys are pushed gently, but consistently, from an early age to math, athletics, and the sciences, and girls to humanities, social service and homemaking.

So What?

The issue becomes critical when parents, students and educators are unaware of the presence of this conditioning, let alone its impact on their classrooms and schools. A theoretical anecdote could help shed some light:

When Susie comes to her high school and registers for classes, a teacher or administrator mightn't ever wonder whether or not Susie has always pretended to be mediocre at math, even though it came naturally to her, so as to not stand out. They will however gladly put her in a less rigorous math track, at her request. Say Susie graduates on time, and high in her class ranks? Well the pre-calc and/or calculus she never took impacts her impression on colleges and universities and limits the kinds of professions she chooses. She was never going to do anything math-related, and was never encouraged to do so, so that will not come as a shock to anyone, not even her parents who used to buy her all those erector sets; after all toys are just toys.

Good educators are aware of the plausibility of this anecdote and they are making adjustments to account for the gap between the sexes. The issue is not dead however, and complications have made themselves manifest, including a slippage in the performance of boys in math classes, girls surpassing boys in college application, attendance, and graduate. There has recently been a large push to bring more male educators into the classroom, well trained, to not perpetuate stereotypes of any kind, and promote good learning.

Now that I've made you listen to me, this video does a great job addressing some of these issues and outlines some of the science behind it (better, more thoroughly than I do here):

Ponderings:

• What other gender specific stereotypes appear in schools and classrooms?
• Why are there more female teachers than male?
• How might this impact boys and girls differently, in different subjects?
• What stereotypes about boys impact the ways they are taught and learn?

Thanks, and happy thinking,

P

Stereotypes: A real time saver

The first step in the process of understanding stereotypes is admitting they exist. Check. The next step is trying to figure out what role they play in society. The question becomes: What work to stereotypes do? What are stereotypes for?

Comedy? They are used that way, but to assume that it's all for fun and games definitely misses a bulk of the placement and usage of stereotypes.

To hurt and belittle people? again, stereotypes can be applied such that they have that function, but I don't think that is inherent. (It is important to differentiate between "Stereotyping," "discrimination" and all the -isms-- racism, sexism, classism, ageism etc. While there are moments when they surely align, an unnecessary conflation of those terms wont help us navigate this investigation.)

No, stereotyping seems much simpler and yet much more complex than that. Stereotypes are a way for our brains to quickly make sense of information. Instead of redefining existing categories, or creating a new category for the new information (accommodation), we assimilate the new information into categories we already have, often incorrectly.

So, instead of adding new data to our definition of "woman" everytime we come across one, we rely on previous evidence which we ASSUME is still valid. Instead of asking that woman about her identity, we use stereotypes to project her likely identity onto her. If she is not a homemaker, she may likely be a teacher or nurse. If she does not have a wedding ring, she is single and childless (but if she has a child with her and no wedding ring, she's immoral, got knocked up, etc.). Is her hair short and/or is she wearing flannel? She is a lesbian. Consider seeing her in an office building, or in front of a computer. She is somebody's (some man's) secretary.

Yes, those kinds of leaps are unfounded and unfair, but we make them everyday, over and over, unconsciously just for the sake of saving time and mental strain.

http://toddanthonydirect.typepad.com/photos/funny_shots_of_the_week/stereotypes.jpg

The perpatuation of these stereotypes is carried out by the entertainment industry, ruthlessly, and with little regard for what effect they are having. They take advantage of the recognizability of these images and use them to make a profit. They reify the stereotypes, such that we don't recognize the fallacy of our assimilations

A show like "Cops" instills images of what criminals look like and do: they are poor, black or brown, violently resist arrest and possess (do) illegal drugs. These are the images that stick with us.

take a look at the following clips of gender stereotypes. at 2:10, 3:35, 4:30, 7:30 are clips that really exemplify the kind of gender stereotyping that pervades commercial media

Commercial advertisement does not hesitate to use race stereotyping either. Like gender stereotyping, racial stereotyping in ads works to indoctrinate the expected and acceptable positions and predispositions of people of different ethnicities and cultures.

Ponderings for next time:

What stereotypes are found in schools?

What are blacks supposed to be in schools? Whites? Latinos? Asians?

Who are the women in schools? Who are the men?

With this under our belts, we can move forward and explicitly examine the ways in which stereotypes are present in, and have effects on schools and schoolchildren.

An Introduction

Twenty-first Century schools are complex places in the United States. Literally hundreds of ethnicities, races, languages and dialects, religions, cultural distinctions, sexual orientations and socioeconomic factors exist among students, faculty, staff and administration. These are differences that should be embraced in a perfect world, differences that are what give public schools and institutions their greatest potential source of strength: wide and varied perspectives.

This is not a perfect world, however, and often a school's greatest source of strength is its greatest source of contention; all of these distinctions between people are sites where ignorance, misinformation and bigotry raise their ugly heads in the form of stereotypes.

stereotype

noun

1

: a plate cast from a printing surface

2

: something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially : a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment

— ste·reo·typ·i·cal \ˌster-ē-ə-ˈti-pi-kəl\ also ste·reo·typ·ic \-pik\ adjective

(source: Meriiam-Webster Dictionary)

Whether you are aware of them or not, stereotypes likely existed and still exist in any school environment you were in. What varies is the extent to which stereotypes make themselves manifest, and the effect stereotypes and stereotyping have on the culture and psychology of a school. These are the questions I pose (to myself, and any interested readers/responders): the "how", the "why", "to what extent", and finally "to what discernible effect." Only with these questions answered can we theorize about what, precisely, we can do about it. As a person who has both been affected by stereotypes and who has let unfair and ugly stereotypes inform my interactions with various kinds of people, I am invested in this process of self-awareness and positive change, as should be anyone who interacts with a heterogeneous group of people.

Look to your left; look to your right. You are all different, and all of you have misconceptions about those differences that inform your interactions to some extent.

Ponderings for next time:

• How long have stereotypes existed?
• Are all stereotypes negative?
• Who can be stereotyped?
• Who is stereotyped (more often than others)?
• Where do our preconceived "truths"about people come from?
• What research is there that supports/refutes the existence, prevalence and/or effects of stereotyping?
• Are stereotypes static or can they change over time?

Future posts may be a bit bulkier than this, as I intend to shed some light on the "ponderings" posed at the end of the previous post, and as we progress, questions will become harder to answer. I will support my assertions, when possible/necessary, with current and dated research, for validity, and as a glimpse into the assumptions that even the supposedly "most educated" among us have and are unaware of.

Feel free to address issues/concerns, pose further questions and comments as you see fit. I only ask that you be civil. Critical analysis is a party, and everyone is invited, but we have a bouncer, and he is one mean cuss that never hesitates to evict a rowdy customer if need be.

Since you jsut pictured a bouncer and rowdy partier, what did he (she?) look like? How do you think stereotypes influenced either of those looks like in your mind's eye? How complete and/or detailed was the picture? These are the kinds of things a critical analysis will ask you to think about, not only about yourself, but about the information and images you are inundated with on a regular basis. Almost any image presented to/in/for American culture was constructed purposefully, with particular goals in mind, and with decades of research to support their decisions. Our job is to unpack all this, and simply ask, WHY?

Here's some practice:

this video is a series of racial stereotypes from the popular TV show "Family Guy." Think about what the stereotypes are, how they are supposed to portray a race or culture, and who the intended audiences are. Even in jest, stereotypes can set a bad precedent for children who sometimes misinterpret and misapply their "humor." How plausible is it that among that audience, there is an adolescent contingent who doesn't quite grasp the absurd elements of adult humor, and carries those stereotypes onto a school bus, or into the classroom? And on a deeper level, why are these things funny to us at all?

So long, for now, and happy thinking,

P.