Sex Role Stereotyping in the Public Schools

Abstract

The authors investigate sex role stereotyping in three major areas: elementary school basal readers, educational achievement tests, and difjerential auricular requirements for males and females. The section on basal readers documents the extent and kind of sex role stereotyping in the kindergarten to third grade textbooks of four major publishers. The section on educational testing raises the issue of sex bias in item content and language usage and shows the presence of sex role stereotyping in test batteries from major test publishing companies. The curriculum section discusses the presence and ramifications of different curriculum patterns for males and females.

Gender divergence in physical education classes

“…We evaluated a group of students, pointed out as gender divergent by their physical education teachers. Most of the teachers interviewed, labeled these students as having some kind of "divergent gender identity" and approached this conflict in terms of moral Gender-role stereotyping is well-documented in schools (Cardoso, 1994a;Frasher & Walker, 1972;Jackson, 1968;Levy & Stacey, 1973;Lynch, 1975;Reha & Nappi, 1975;Romero, 1994;Saario, Jacklin & Tittle, 1973) and the social conflict that may result from atypical gender behavior, is usually perceived as problematic by educators, especially in physical education classes. This type of conflict has inspired a series of studies of male children with conflictive sexual identity during the past decades (Blanchard, Dickey & Jones, 1995;Davenport, 1986;Green, 1974Green, , 1976Green, , 1987Green, Williams & Goodman, 1985;Grellert, Newcomb & Bentler, 1982;Hockenberry & Billingham, 1987;Whitam, 1983Whitam, , 1991Whitam & Mathy, 1986;Zucker, 1990;Zucker & Bailey, 1995).…”

From Policy to Practice: Finnish Educational Policy and the Portrayal of Men and Women in Guidance Books

“…2 Most research has been done on reading books for young children. A common finding in these studies is that male characters vastly outnumber female characters described in stories and depicted in the illustrations (Kyle 1978;Weitzman & Rizzo 1974;Kingston & Lovelace 1977-78;Schnell & Sweeney 1975;Women on Words and Images 1972;Saario et al 1973). Males and females are portrayed in very different roles in these readers.…”

“…Boys are shown as active and their world is full of adventure, energy, achievement, heroism, and problem-solving. Girls, on the other hand, are pictured in passive play, and as weak, uninteresting, watching and waiting (Schnell & Sweeney 1975;Saario et al 1973;Sutherland 1981;Taylor 1973;Oliver 1974;Weitzman & Rizzo 1974).…”

Sex Bias in the Helping Behavior Presented in Children's Picture Books

“…The higher representation of males has been found not only in broad samplings of children's literature but in award-winning books as well (Czaplinski, 1972;Engel, 1981;Nilson, 1971;Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, 8c Ross, 1972). Second, male and female story characters are typically portrayed as engaging in sex-role stereotyped activities (Engel, 1981;Key, 1975;Marten 8c Math, 1976;Pottker, 1977;Saario et al, 1973;Stewig 8c Knipfel, 1975; Weitzman I would like to thank Ann Bristow and the students in her Psychology of Women class who participated in this project. I am also grateful to Anita Shores, children's librarian at the Manhattan Public Library, for her support and cooperation throughout all phases of the study.…”

“…Future studies might examine the depiction of specific interpersonal behaviors, such as helping, in books written for somewhat older children. If the results of an earlier review (Saario et al, 1973) are any indication, the portrayal of interpersonal behaviors in children's readers may become progressively more sex-role stereotyped during the early elementary school years. Finally, although exposure to sex-role stereotyped books has an immediate influence on young children's play behavior (Ashton, 1983), the effects of long-term exposure to sex-biased reading materials on children's attitudes and behaviors has yet to be established.…”