Sexism in Education

One of the things that I find alarming is the fact that sexism still exists in today’s classroom. Sexism is an issue that not only just occurred overnight in schools, but has been issues for has continued over the centuries. Hence, in this blog post, I will be discussing about the issue of sexism in education.

The staff in the school itself can also play a role in the issue of sexism in education. For example, there are certain subjects’ male and female teachers teach. Majority of the male teachers teach science, math and physical, and the female teachers teach English and other arts subjects. This will establish a pattern for the students. My primary school, it was all female teachers except for one male teacher. This can establish the perception that primary teachers are a job only for females due to the gender imbalance, confronting males with the constant menace of the stereotype threat.

Former Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, recently revealed the sexism she experienced during her prime ministership. This is shown through the news article, “Former PM Julia Gillard discusses sexism in politics at Sydney Opera House Talk”, dated on 30/09/13. Gillard states women and girls had “a right to an environment that treats you with respect, treats you as an equal and raising your voice about that isn't starting a war, it isn't playing the victim, it's just asking for what simply is right”. This highlights the issues of sexism in the modern society.

Sexism in a schooling environment continues to be an issue as students are afraid to speak out about their situation. In Myra and David Sadker’s essay “Higher Education: Colder by Degrees”, the authors express the vast differences and inequalities between males and females in the college system. The essay illustrates how men tend to be more social and dominant during classroom discussions. Contrastingly, women are more low-key tend to sit at the back. It can be the smallest things that initiates sexism in the classroom environment, but we don’t notice it as society is so used to that norm.

This leads to another issue of sexism in the classroom, which is the fact that professors or teachers don’t do anything to stop sexism, especially when one makes a sexist remark. Schools tend to not correct students who make sexist comments in the classroom, and due to this, the problem of sexism continues. If the student hasn’t been warned or been told about their mistakes, how would they learn to stop or correct themselves? This won’t stop the issue of sexism in the classroom, but instead allow for it to continue.

Thus, sexism is still an issue that exists in the modern day classroom. As a result, this can affect how much education a student receives, impacting their educational outcomes as they are treated unfairly in the classroom. Students may make sexist comments or actions without realizing it, and this is because they did not obtain the education on this issue. Hence, I believe school education should inform students of sexism, or sexism will continue.

 References:

News.com.au. Former PM Julia Gillard discusses sexism in politics at Sydney Opera House Talk. < http://www.news.com.au/national-news/former-pm-julia-gillard-discusses-sexism-in-politics-at-sydney-opera-house-talk/story-fncynjr2-1226730266497> Accessed on 8/10/13.

Sadker, David and Myra Sadker. “Higher Education: Colder by Degrees”.