DISCUSSION 1
(PAGE 1) ANSWER THE QUESTIONS INDIVIDUALLY
In this week’s reading and lecture you learned about gender and educational inequality.
1) Thinking about your own educational experiences, major, and career goals, what role do you think gender socialization has played in shaping them.
2) There are number of different factors that contribute to gender differences and gender-based inequalities such as hidden curriculum, formal curriculum, peer relations, and teacher interactions. Pick two factors and explain how they contribute to gender differences and gender inequalities.
3)OTHER STUDENTS WORK (WRITE 3-5 SENTENCES BRIEF RESPONDED TO THESE 2 STUDENTS WORK) RESPOND INDIVIDUALLY. YOU CAN ALSO HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW TO WRITE THE DISCUSSION FROM THE 2 DISCUSSION BELOW
STUDENT 1
1. I think gender socialization played a significant role in my early educational experiences. I played sports and was taught to “be tough” and competitive. This type of socialization led me to not focus on my schoolwork. It was not important to me. Sports were important. As the book and lecture both stated, I think I was conditioned to believe that doing homework and studying was something that was more common among the opposite sex. Males, where I am from, were supposed to be tough and play sports. This caused me to do poorly in high school. Coincidentally, much like the book suggests, I also did well on standardized testing. I approached these tests like they were a sporting event, though, and was very competitive while taking them.
I am not sure how socialization shaped my major and career goals. I am an English major and hope to be a speech pathologist. Both my major and hopeful career are mainly women. I think it is possible that as I have grown older (I am currently 30), I have been able to recognize the ridiculousness of gender norms and expectations.
2. The hidden curriculum refers to the rules and routines that take place within a school. When teachers interact with boys, they are more likely to call on them for discussions or give them more time to answer if they “cold call” them. Teachers are more likely to ask boys to expand on their thoughts when they give an answer. Girls get less time to answer questions when they are “cold called”, and they are encouraged to be right with their answers but also safe when they give answers. By doing this, teachers are conditioning boys to think that their opinions and thoughts are more valuable than girls. Boys are learning crucial critical thinking skills that typically lead to better-paying jobs. Conversely, docile are being conditioned to be more docile than boys. They are being taught that they should be safe when thinking critically and to not take risks. This can have an adverse effect on these girls when they are job-seeking adults because a lot of high-paying jobs are looking for confident individuals with critical thinking skills.
Peer relations also play a role in gender differences. Peer groups among adolescent boys and girls look very different. To be popular, boys typically need to athletic, funny, or daring. Most athletic or daring boys tend to safeguard masculinity. To fit in the group and maintain their social status, one must be extremely masculine. If a young man does anything considered to be feminine, they can by ostricized by their peers. Unfortutanetely, this can lead to young men being mysogistic and homophobic.
Adoloscent girls achieve popularity differently than adolescent boys. While girls do join groups, like cheerleading, to gain popularity, the most common way a girl get popular is through her physical appearance. The prettier a girl is, the more popular she will be. This has a terrible effect on these young women. It conditions them to believe that their physical appearance is the most important aspect of life. This can lead to extreme loss of self-confidence for young women, and it could also lead to body dysmorphia that they carry with them for the rest of their lives.
STUDENT 2
1. Gender socialization has played a huge role in my life in terms of education and career goals. Gender socialization is the process in which a child is learning about the social expectations, behaviors, and roles that are implemented into our society at such a young age. Growing up, I remember constantly seeing the boys in my grade be excused with their behaviors–“boys will be boys” was said a lot in my school. I felt as though they were favored in school as well, teachers were always willing to pick on a boy rather than a girl who was raising her hand. Furthermore, I’d like to touch on how there are more female teachers than male. I’ve always known I wanted to be a teacher, therefore seeing so many women fulfill this occupation at such a young age made me believe this was a “girls only” job. Lastly, we are taught gender roles at the beginning of our education career with things such as: uniform, bathrooms, dress codes, sports, etc. These all have gender inequalities underlying them. A prime example of gender socialization shaping our education is when we learn different languages such as Spanish. A lot of Spanish words end in “a” or “o”–giving these words female or male qualities, when in reality they are just words.
2. Teacher interactions play a factor in gender-based inequalities because there could be times where, for example, a male teacher favors the boys more and a female teacher favors the girls more. Teachers can implement these bias’ within their teaching styles without even realizing how this is contributing to a gender-based inequality within the classroom. Furthermore, the hidden curriculum can include the gender differences and promote them. By teaching the hidden curriculum, teachers are educating their students about the social norms, behaviors, and values that we “all share”–although there are times where a student can disagree. By teaching these societal norms to students, they are showing them that these beliefs are what we should stand by in order to fit in and function in society.
DISCUSSION 2
(PAGE 2) ANSWER THE QUESTIONS INDIVIDUALLY
Today, black girls in the U.S. are one of the fastest growing populations in the juvenile justice system. The film “Pushout” is based on the book by Dr. Morris. It examines how girls of color, especially black girls are often criminalized in our school system.
How are schools and society contributing to this process? How can schools, society, as well as students themselves change this course of event? Use specific examples of cases used in the film and studies/theories cited in the textbook of this module to explain.
VIDEOS
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0wYKDv77k_H94Gwa7AN-BQ
