tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/gender-education-14257/articlesGender education – The Conversation2021-03-02T19:12:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1561192021-03-02T19:12:31Z2021-03-02T19:12:31ZWe can see the gender bias of all-boys’ schools by the books they study in English<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386833/original/file-20210228-21-1ycvnr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-school-education-children-reading-textbooks-1565838166">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“She’s more crazy than she is female.” </p>
<p>So declared a senior student in a furious critique of Sylvia Plath’s poetry. The classroom was entirely male, myself included. As the teacher, I mediated discussion but had come to expect opposition to conversations about gender in the all-boys’ Sydney private school.</p>
<p>My research into the presumptive biases of single-sex education has affirmed a culture of resistance to talking about gender in all-male schools. Comments like this one can’t be dismissed or excused as teenage bravado. They’re part of an enduring ethos that continues to protect male privilege in the private school system.</p>
<p>Single-sex schools across Sydney are reckoning with sexual violence disclosures in response to a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/rape-culture-reckoning-as-wave-of-sexual-assault-claims-unleashed-20210225-p575r2.html">heartbreaking petition</a> from more than 3,000 women. Hundreds have shared their testimony in a document created by a former Kambala schoolgirl Chanel Contos demanding better education on sexual consent.</p>
<p>Contos also calls for a change to the pervasive misogyny of single-sex male schools. And here, we need to recognise the biases that infuse all aspects of school life, including classroom teaching.</p>
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<p>My research has found the learning differences assumed by teachers and school leaders in gender-segregated schools impact both programming and practice. In an all-male context, this can marginalise women and galvanise destructive gender stereotypes.</p>
<h2>Male schools favour male texts</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-011-0037-y">Neuroscientific research</a> has shown any disparities between male and female ways of thinking are irrelevant to the psychology of learning. In spite of this, studies demonstrate how <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0233378">assumptions about gender guide the type of content selected</a> for study. </p>
<p><a href="https://research.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/152957/A-REPORT-ON-TRENDS-IN-SENIOR-ENGLISH-TEXTLISTS-BACALJA_BLISS.pdf">A report from the University of Melbourne</a> recognises the enduring misconception among teachers and school leaders that </p>
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<p>male – rather than female – authors and creators are more equipped to write about and imagine major social, political and cultural issues.</p>
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<p>For the English classroom, where my work is focused, the most visible indicator of this belief is the choice of texts to study. In a single-sex male context there is a tendency to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01596300802643124">favour fiction deemed appropriately masculine</a>, and literature <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20466644?seq=1">written by male authors</a>. The result is that gender becomes both invisible and irrelevant to classroom criticism.</p>
<p>This is contrasted in co-educational and single-sex female school settings, where text choice is less likely to be guided by “<a href="https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/lib/newcastle/reader.action?docID=1501491&ppg=538">the inevitable privileges of being a boy</a>”. In these contexts gender remains visible and valuable to classroom discussion, <a href="https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/lib/newcastle/reader.action?docID=1501491&ppg=541">but does not directly inform content selection</a> or curriculum programming.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-literary-canon-is-exhilarating-and-disturbing-and-we-need-to-read-it-56610">Friday essay: the literary canon is exhilarating and disturbing and we need to read it</a>
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<p>In 2015 and 2016 I surveyed more than 130 English teachers and curriculum leaders across public and independent schools. I wanted to investigate whether teaching practices beyond content selection were influenced by gender assumptions in all-male environments.</p>
<p>The interviews were striking in their expectations of gender and student success. There was a near unanimous assumption by teachers I spoke to across all school systems that male students should be steered away from overtly gendered literary experiences. </p>
<p>The teachers I spoke to believed male students were more likely to be successful in assessments if they avoided analyses of gender, including their own. While there is no quantifiable data to support this claim, it is almost impossible to measure student achievement separate from the acknowledged biases of practice.</p>
<p>Many teachers speculated that students in all-male schools seldom had cause to recognise or reflect on gender entitlement. As such, they were likely to be limited in their capacity for literary discussion on this aspect of identity.</p>
<h2>Female literature and male bias</h2>
<p>The issue might suggest a simple solution. By including more literature by female authors and about female experiences, we could seemingly break the silence of gender in male single-sex schools. Unfortunately, the problem is more profound.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A co-ed classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387133/original/file-20210302-19-1kh4u2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The way literature is studied in co-educational classrooms is profoundly different to how it’s done in all-male schools.</span>
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<p>The teachers I interviewed from all-male schools spoke about gender being sidelined, even in female-focused texts. They noted in these lessons, discussion shifted to favour other textual concerns, or to prioritise a male perspective of the central female experience.</p>
<p>These observations again differ from <a href="https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/docview/1728219905?pq-origsite=summon">research in all-girls schools</a> and in co-educational schools. Here <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1177/0957926595006001003">all students appear to benefit from the presence of female students</a> and the lived female experience to which they are able to give voice.</p>
<p>My research has affirmed these outcomes in Australian classroom practice. As a case study, the HSC English Advanced syllabus prescribes a comparative analysis of Sylvia Plath’s <em>Ariel</em> and Ted Hughes’s <em>Birthday Letters</em>. Responses I collected from all-male schools showed they were inclined to marginalise Plath’s womanhood, and favour Hughes’s account of their violent marriage. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/elite-boys-schools-like-st-kevins-were-set-up-to-breed-hyper-masculinity-which-can-easily-turn-toxic-132433">Elite boys' schools like St Kevin's were set up to breed hyper-masculinity, which can easily turn toxic</a>
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<p>In contrast, responses from all-female and co-educational schools more often presented extensive discussion of Plath’s feminist identity, even when those responses were composed by male students.</p>
<p>More disturbingly, several female teachers I interviewed said they felt intimidated when asked to discuss constructions of gender in all-male school environments. They said a small but vocal portion of older adolescents would become aggressively oppositional, and assert such content was only included as “tokenism” towards a “feminist agenda”.</p>
<p>One senior English teacher based in Sydney’s east recalled a close study of Ophelia’s suicide in <em>Hamlet</em>. The discussion centred on the possibility Ophelia’s death was the ultimate act of passivity. As a woman, the responsibly that burdens Ophelia is too great, and suicide is her only escape. In the all-male class, a student argued he would only write about the sexual connotations of this reading if the teacher could promise his essay would be marked by a male member of staff.</p>
<h2>It matters</h2>
<p>These accounts are troubling. Dangerous learning assumptions indicate the need for reform across curriculum programming and teaching practice. But their innate influence also hints at a clear path for improvement.</p>
<p>Compelling scholarship shows <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44011386">fiction affects students’ social empathy</a>. The English classroom can <a href="https://doi-org.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1177/1053451211424604">foster inclusion</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30046755">develop appreciation for gender equity</a>.</p>
<p>The need for our private school system to denounce the most conspicuous elements of misogyny is urgent, but we must also contend with the quietly profound role classroom learning plays in affirming or challenging an institutional culture of oppression.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-as-simple-as-no-means-no-what-young-people-need-to-know-about-consent-155736">Not as simple as 'no means no': what young people need to know about consent</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cody Reynolds does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>All-boys’ schools often choose texts for English study written by men. But the sexism goes beyond that. They are more likely to shy away from any exploration of gender in literature.Cody Reynolds, Researcher & Educator, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1126402019-04-22T17:47:15Z2019-04-22T17:47:15ZMen are mentors in program for adolescent boys about healthy relationships and sexuality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270058/original/file-20190418-28113-hx7u9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4486%2C2374&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Building and maintaining a safe space is critical to engaging young men in challenging conversations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Social media campaigns <a href="https://theconversation.com/metoo-campaign-brings-conversation-of-rape-to-the-mainstream-85875">such as #MeToo</a> have brought tremendous attention to the <a href="http://www.vawnet.org">issue of sexual violence</a> in North American society, <a href="http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/acssa_issues10.pdf">igniting the call for violence prevention programs that challenge traditional gender norms and promote healthy relationships</a>. </p>
<p>Given the gendered nature of sexual and dating violence, targeting boys with these programs early in adolescence <a href="https://www.csmh.uwo.ca/publications/fourth-r-research.html">may provide an opportunity to shift core beliefs about masculinity, sexuality and violence</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, there is a lack of programming for <a href="http://hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/mcs/article/view/1365">boys, particularly interventions focused on promoting healthy and positive constructs of masculinity</a>. Of those that do exist, there is limited evidence on whether they are effective. My doctoral research addresses this gap on engaging boys in masculinity issues and promoting healthy masculinity by examining the benefits of having <a href="https://www.centreforsexuality.ca/programs-workshops/wiseguyz/impact-wiseguyz/">participated in WiseGuyz, a male-only sexual health and healthy relationship program</a> in Calgary. </p>
<h2>Meet the WiseGuyz</h2>
<p>The WiseGuyz program, run by non-profit agency The Centre for Sexuality (formerly known as the Calgary Centre for Sexual Health), is a school-based healthy relationship and sexual health program that targets boys in Grade 9 (ages 13 - 15) in several schools in the Calgary area. WiseGuyz consists of four core modules — healthy relationships, sexual health, gender and media and human rights — facilitated over 15 weekly, 90-minute sessions. Issues of sexuality, gender and relationships are explored. </p>
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<p>Early in my doctoral program, I became aware of the <a href="http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/acssa_issues10.pdf">potential for comprehensive school-based sexual health education</a> as a way of <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/resources/men-masculinities-and-changing-power">engaging young men in gender equality and gender-based violence prevention efforts</a>. The challenge with this approach, however, is that traditional, <a href="https://arizona.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/invited-commentary-broadening-the-evidence-for-adolescent-sexual-">school-based sexual health education programs fail to consider ways in which gender ideologies contribute to sexual and dating violence</a>. Years of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681810600578818">research on sexual health education in schools</a> also pointed to the fact <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681810701264508">that engaging boys can be incredibly difficult</a>. Given these factors, I was curious how the WiseGuyz program managed to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681810410001678338">engage young men</a>, and whether the program was producing positive outcomes. </p>
<h2>Men as mentors</h2>
<p>Building and maintaining a safe space is critical to the program’s ability to engage young men in challenging conversations. Focus groups with the boys identify how the program structure allowed them to feel safe and explore topics regarding sexuality and masculinity without the fear of being judged. Creating a sense of safety is important, as it supports an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2018.1506914">environment whereby the boys can begin to openly discuss masculine stereotypes, pressures and expectations</a>.</p>
<p>The program is facilitated by men in their mid-20s to early 30s, whom boys in the program see as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681810802639814">mentors, role models and friends</a>. Having these kinds of facilitators <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2010.515093">is important</a>,
as young men from numerous studies <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2014.917622">say typical sex education is delivered by staff with limited credibility</a>.
By deliberately choosing young, socially relevant male facilitators, the centre has been able to engage program participants in conversations about sexuality, masculinity and relationships.</p>
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<p>Supporting boys to critically reflect about gender is an important part of the program. According to boys, once they began to examine masculine norms and stereotypes, they began to understand how they were influenced by them. Young men speak about gaining greater awareness of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1060826516661319">the ways in which language is used to police behaviour</a>. For example, one shared that “you don’t realize the destruction that it does” to be called derogatory names that challenge or question your masculinity. </p>
<h2>Empowering boys towards healthy adulthood</h2>
<p>Survey data collected in the program shows boys <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1060826516661319">agree less with traditional masculinity ideologies after the program as compared to when they started the program</a>. </p>
<p>Boys spoke about the way the program supported them to think about masculinity differently. For example, although boys may enter the program aware of the differences between themselves and other group members sometimes with negative judgment, during the program they appear to increase their respect for these differences. This can lead to a greater acceptance of a wider range of qualities and behaviours from both themselves and others.</p>
<p>My preliminary research suggests that WiseGuyz is a promising program in reducing boys’ endorsement of traditional masculinity ideologies that contribute to dating and sexual violence. </p>
<p>Providing boys with skills to address, examine and challenge beliefs around traditional masculinity ideologies allows young men to resist and re-define the highly gendered expectations they face regarding their identities and behaviours. </p>
<p>By empowering boys with the confidence and skills to resist societal constructions of masculinity, WiseGuyz is supporting the young men they work with to attain emotionally healthy adulthood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I received SSHRC Doctoral Funding. </span></em></p>MeToo has brought tremendous attention to the issue of sexual violence, and a Calgary-based male-only education and mentorship program is responding.Caroline Claussen, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1131402019-03-08T04:08:17Z2019-03-08T04:08:17ZBeyond the binary: how teaching children about gender could help reduce sexism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262787/original/file-20190307-82684-ckj72l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5426%2C3810&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research has shown that gender is not biological but a product of culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the #MeToo movement, <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12014392">addressing gender inequality in New Zealand</a> remains a challenge. As the first country to grant women the vote, we have a long way to go to until there’s <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/978-1-78714-483-520171028">genuine equality across all genders</a>. </p>
<p>Inequality spans <a href="http://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/NZCASS-201602-Main-Findings-Report-Updated.pdf">gender-based violence</a> (including sexual violence, intimate partner violence and family violence), women’s participation in public life, <a href="https://women.govt.nz/sites/public_files/Realising%20the%20opportunity.pdf">women’s representation in leadership</a> roles, the continued <a href="https://women.govt.nz/work-skills/income/gender-pay-gap">gender pay gap</a>, and the deteriorating position of minority and immigrant women.</p>
<p>Research has long indicated that gender inequality exists primarily because of the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Delusions-Gender-Society-Neurosexism-Difference/dp/0393340244">idea that there are two separate and different genders</a>, with men and women thought to have different skills. </p>
<p>But gender is not biological or “naturally” tied to bodies. It is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW5YctpK7pM">product of culture</a> and has varied considerably over time. I argue that we need to teach children about gender as early as possible to prevent sexism before it becomes ingrained. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gender-equity-the-way-things-are-going-we-wont-reach-true-parity-until-the-22nd-century-112685">Gender equity. The way things are going, we won't reach true parity until the 22nd century</a>
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<h2>Sex and gender</h2>
<p>Since the enlightenment period, we’ve <a href="http://sites.middlebury.edu/sexandsociety/files/2015/01/Rubin-Thinking-Sex.pdf">assumed that women and men are different</a> but “complementary”. This model is problematic because traditional masculine traits (assertiveness, rationality, aggressiveness) are more highly valued and associated with prominent social roles. Traditional feminine traits (nurture, sensitivity, intuitiveness) are associated with submissiveness and less socially valued roles.</p>
<p>It is now accepted that sex and gender are different things. The <a href="https://www.apa.org/about/index">American Psychological Association</a> has recently <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender">stated</a>:</p>
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<p>Sex is assigned at birth, refers to one’s biological status as either male or female, and is associated primarily with physical attributes such as chromosomes, hormone prevalence, and external and internal anatomy. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact, and feel about themselves. While aspects of biological sex are similar across different cultures, aspects of gender may differ.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/parents-can-promote-gender-equality-and-help-prevent-violence-against-women-heres-how-99836">Parents can promote gender equality and help prevent violence against women. Here's how</a>
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<h2>More similar than different</h2>
<p>Multiple reviews and meta-analyses of psychological literature have consistently found <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00516.x">men and women are more similar than they are different</a> when it comes to a host of psychological traits and mental functioning. These include cognitive performance, mathematical abilities, personality traits, social behaviours, emotions, aggression and leadership. </p>
<p>There are some biological realities such as pregnancy, child birth and lactation. But social and biological <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2372732217720700">research</a> indicates that outside of these, men and women are equally equipped for parenting and caregiving. </p>
<p>The focus needs to shift from being mostly on women, to changing the nature of gender relations, debunking gender polarity and promoting softer masculinity. <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/jackson_katz_violence_against_women_it_s_a_men_s_issue">Boys and men would also benefit</a> from this, as it offers them more options for how they can be.</p>
<p>To do this, prevention strategies are needed to address the covert and overt sexisms that lead to gender inequality. </p>
<h2>Gender equality education in schools</h2>
<p>Gender equality education should begin when children enter the education system and continue throughout. This needs to address the history and nature of gender inequality and sexism. It also needs to provide students with the tools to dismantle rigid gender binaries (including sexism) and offer them more options for gender identification and expression. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-education-about-gender-and-sexuality-does-belong-in-the-classroom-102902">Why education about gender and sexuality does belong in the classroom</a>
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<p>Based on my own <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2012.724027">research</a>, the research of others and the <a href="https://sweden.se/society/gender-equality-in-sweden/">gender equality policies of the Swedish government</a>, I make the following recommendations for New Zealand policy makers and educators:</p>
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<li>gender equality education needs to start when children enter the education system and continue throughout</li>
<li>tenets of a gender equality approach (debunking rigid gender norms and gender polarity) need to be reflected in the school curriculum </li>
<li>training of teachers needs to incorporate gender theory and gender equality training<br></li>
<li>students need to be seen as more than the sum of their gender, but as complex people </li>
<li>each student needs to be approached as a sophisticated individual who is capable of embodying and desiring several changing gendered identities </li>
<li>the school curriculum needs to include lessons on the social production of gender, gender roles and gender categories </li>
<li>schools need to incorporate curricula on global citizenship, which includes an awareness and acceptance of diversity and the promotion of equality for all humans </li>
<li>schools need to include lessons on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363460705056621?journalCode=sexa">ethical sexual and relational practices</a> towards all, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation (including in online communication) </li>
<li>the education system needs to identify and interrupt hetero-normative, hetero-sexist, and patriarchal practices that are part of society and, at times, part of school culture </li>
<li>schools need to introduce the use of gender-neutral language that challenges the boy/girl binary </li>
<li>school should provide gender-inclusive bathrooms for transgender and non-gender conforming students. </li>
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<p>To address the ongoing manifestations of gender inequality in New Zealand, we need innovative thinking focused on prevention. Such an intervention would be research-based, aimed at curbing sexism and gender inequality before it occurs. </p>
<p>We know all violence is preventable. But preventing gender-based violence requires changing enduring norms and beliefs about the nature of gender and men’s and women’s roles within relationships and society. Gender equality education and teaching of ethical citizenship is a fresh direction that can redress entrenched patterns of sexism and gender inequality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Pani Farvid does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teaching young children about the history of gender and offering them more options for identity expression would help to curb gendered stereotypes and sexism.Dr Pani Farvid, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631612016-08-24T10:14:51Z2016-08-24T10:14:51ZGirls may perform better at school than boys – but their experience is much less happy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135297/original/image-20160824-30228-tu5ql0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Happiness does not come solely from better marks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-104967515/stock-photo-unhappy-schoolgirl-in-class.html?src=AVdMS7gST0rFMtFA_KzL1A-1-1">Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The usual discussions about children’s schooling experiences often focus on academic achievement, personal development and school evaluation. Ask a teacher, parent or policy maker what is the most important thing a school should offer and many will say it is education: they want children to develop the knowledge and skills that will help them build a career and grow into successful adults. </p>
<p>Of course, they’re concerned with the more personal elements of school as well. No one wants a child to be bullied or put into unsafe situations. Yet, as the emphasis on qualifications, performance, school ratings and teacher accountability increases, it’s time to consider how the social elements of the schooling environment might be taken for granted, or at least overshadowed, by these educational discourses.</p>
<p>For the past three years, our research group at Cardiff University has been analysing the difference in boys’ and girls’ perceptions of their school experiences. Our study, involving approximately 1,500 pupils at 29 different primary and secondary schools across Wales has <a href="http://www.wiserd.ac.uk/wiserd-education/en/">uncovered a wealth of information</a> – not least that girls are simply less happy at school than boys.</p>
<p>How can this be? Traditionally, girls achieve better grades than boys at school, but why aren’t they as happy as their male counterparts?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135298/original/image-20160824-30238-oty65k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children learn far more than just traditional education in schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-140469271/stock-photo-unhappy-female-student-having-stress-at-school.html?src=AVdMS7gST0rFMtFA_KzL1A-1-0">Shutterstock/racorn</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>We have surveyed pupils on a number of items including the learning environment of their school and the characteristics of these institutions as sites of socialisation, personal accomplishment and subjective well-being. Overall, we have uncovered several important differences in how participants feel towards their schooling, based on their gender. </p>
<p>Female pupils were more positive about the school as an institution than the boys, for example. They felt the school staff had high expectations of them, rewarded good marks and progress, and cared about their academic achievement. However, their responses about how they <em>feel</em> at school were quite different. </p>
<p>Nearly 25% of female pupils said they felt worried at school, compared to just 16.5% of the boys; approximately 24% of girls felt like they didn’t “belong” at school, compared to only 8.8% of boys. Additionally, nearly 20% of girls disagreed that their school was a place where “my teachers know me well” compared to 12% of the boys participating. Unfortunately, our participants’ responses don’t improve as they progress in school. These questions were repeated in additional, annual sweeps and the negative responses were not only sustained, but in some cases, increased. </p>
<h2>Gender and schooling</h2>
<p>Previous studies from the <a href="http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/girls-grades.aspx">American Psychological Association</a> and <a href="https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/ucas-data-reveals-numbers-men-and-women-placed-over-150-higher">UK organisation UCAS</a> have found that, overall, girls perform better in most (or all) school subjects than boys, and that this trend has manifested in multiple countries since the early 20th century. The media often promote these findings through a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2616906/Boys-perform-worse-girls-EVERY-school-subject-100-years-claims-study.html">type of moral panic</a>, with advocate groups wringing their hands as they attempt to <a href="http://workingwithmen.org/">shape the discourse of a perceived threat</a> to the development and future success of male pupils. </p>
<p>The “gender gap” in education is often attributed to a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11668169/Why-arent-we-doing-more-to-encourage-men-to-be-primary-school-teachers.html">lack of male teachers</a>. However, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40375493?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">study</a> after <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4230120.stm">study</a> has suggested that a teacher’s gender has no measurable impact on pupils’ academic achievement. Rather, girls seem to do better because they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/03/girls-more-positive-about-university-than-boys-study-sutton-trust-oxford">have positive perceptions of education</a>, <a href="http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/653/Girls_read_more_than_boys.html">read more</a>, <a href="https://theeconomyofmeaning.com/2016/02/27/girls-do-more-homework-than-boys-by-rule/">study more</a> (an American study, but our research corroborates this claim), and <a href="http://www.bps.org.uk/news/girls-behaviour-school-helps-performance">behave better</a> than boys. </p>
<p>While boys’ lower academic achievement in school is concerning, it is time to acknowledge that though girls may be performing better at school than boys, these experiences can be fraught with heightened feelings of doubt, alienation and anxiety. </p>
<h2>Schools as social spaces</h2>
<p>Schools are much more than places to learn, they are also sophisticated sites of social activity. The same social attitudes, practices and discourses at play outside the school exist within the crucible of these micro-social environments. It is important to remember that pupils don’t shed the complexities of adolescent life when entering the halls of the school. If anything, they are intensified for some. </p>
<p>For the female pupils involved in our study, the realities of being a young woman in a patriarchally organised society remain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/31/sexism-schools-department-of-education-deny-sexist-bullying">explicitly</a> and <a href="http://file.scirp.org/pdf/CE_2013123113570537.pdf">implicitly</a> embedded in the social practices of schooling. For example, <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http:/www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_420239.pdf">body image</a> and <a href="https://www.barnardos.org.uk/final_anti_bullying_report_english_v3.pdf">social media activity</a> are hot-topics linked to <a href="http://www.ark.ac.uk/publications/updates/update73.pdf">pressures</a> that <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0415/200415-emotional-problems-girls-rose">potentially increase</a> girls’ emotional problems. Reactions to these issues often focus on their impact on girls’ lives without acknowledging how perceptions of women’s bodies in society are constructed and reproduced, <a href="http://www.academia.edu/3179419/Spice_Girls_Nice_Girls_Girlies_and_Tomboys_Gender_discourses_girls_cultures_and_femininities_in_the_primary_classroom">and schools serve as an apparatus</a> in this process. </p>
<p>Though official attempts are being made to <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/7498/1/Gender_Gap_Report_March_2008.pdf">close the “gender gap”</a>, greater effort must be made to understand and improve pupils’ (especially girls’) social experience and well-being at school. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/school-boys-skirts-uniform-gender-neutral-a7077701.html">Engaging rather than retreating</a> from <a href="https://theconversation.com/gender-fluidity-is-great-but-only-if-youre-famous-53178">concepts like gender fluidity</a> in the daily processes of school and <a href="http://flavorwire.com/518203/17-pathbreaking-non-binary-and-gender-fluid-novels">curricular materials</a> can provide authentic learning opportunities to grapple with concepts of identity and gender. </p>
<p>Organisations like the <a href="https://www.atl.org.uk/Images/Gender%20in%20education%203-19.pdf">Association of Teachers and Lecturers</a> and the <a href="http://www.genderandeducation.com/feminist-pedagogy/">Gender and Education Association</a> are already on the front lines, producing guidance for teachers to implement critical, transformative practices in the classroom. In addition to practical engagements with gender and identity – elements that affect the life of each pupil at school – the philosophical currents embedded in these new and emerging teaching practices have the potential to inform and invigorate a more inclusive educational ethos for schools, and a supportive and engaging environment for pupils.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The WISERD research mentioned in this article benefited from funding from the Higher Education Council Funding for Wales (HEFCW)</span></em></p>To close the gender gap in schools, we need to look at far more than just grades.Kevin Smith, Senior lecturer, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/548692016-02-17T15:40:33Z2016-02-17T15:40:33ZHow shift to computer-based tests could shake up PISA education rankings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111793/original/image-20160217-19250-1ez3vmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Testing times: online exams produce different results to paper ones. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NarongchaiHlaw/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world’s most important examination is moving online. Since the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development launched the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA) in 2000, it has provided an influential and timely update every three years of how 15-year-old school children’s mathematics, science and reading skills compare across the globe. </p>
<p>Poor performance has “shocked” a number of national governments into action, and they have embarked on a range of extensive <a href="https://theconversation.com/reforms-based-on-pisa-tests-alone-wont-fix-gcse-standards-25251">reforms</a> to their school systems.</p>
<p>Whereas each of the five cycles of tests completed between 2000 and 2012 were completed on paper, 58 of the 72 economies who participated in PISA 2015 between November and December last year administered the PISA test using computers – including the UK.</p>
<p>My new [research](http://johnjerrim.com/papers/](http://johnjerrim.com/papers/) starts to show that this shift is likely to influence the results of PISA 2015, which are due to be published towards the end of this year. </p>
<p>I drew upon data from 32 countries that completed both a paper and a computer mathematics test as part of PISA 2012 – the last round of this important global assessment.</p>
<p>There are some striking results. Average PISA paper and computer scores differ by more than ten test points in around a third of countries. The <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264096660-en?">OECD has previously</a> suggested that differences of such a magnitude are substantial.</p>
<h2>Shifts in results</h2>
<p>Shanghai is a particularly striking example, where average PISA scores under computer assessment fell by 50 PISA test points – equivalent to more than an entire year of schooling. In contrast, young people in the US saw their performance improve significantly – by, on average, 17 test points.</p>
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<p>There are also differences between sub-groups of students who took the test. Somewhat against my expectations, the difference in test scores between rich and poorer pupils was actually smaller by an average of around five PISA test points across countries when the PISA test was taken on computer, compared to paper. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Sweden and Russia, boys were suddenly better at mathematics than girls on the computer-based test – despite no gender differences being observed in these countries on the paper-based version of the test.</p>
<h2>Why computer tests change things</h2>
<p>There are several possible explanations for these stark differences in results. <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/">Previous research</a> has suggested that performing tasks on paper and computer require different cognitive processes. </p>
<p>Important test-taking strategies, such as leaving the most challenging questions to one side to tackle at the end, are no longer possible. Students cannot move onto the next part of a question, or the next question, until they have finished the previous one. Computer tests can also be more engaging, particularly when answering the question correctly involves the use of on-screen interactive tools. On the flip side, we have all felt the frustration of working on slow operating systems and of our computer crashing.</p>
<p>The findings highlight some issues that will be important when it comes to interpreting the results of the forthcoming PISA 2015. Will we be able to compare results to previous cycles in order to monitor trends over time? Will results between countries taking paper and computer versions of the 2015 PISA test be comparable? Should we expect to see a fall in differences in PISA test scores between socio-economic groups? And what will this mean for international comparisons of differences in educational achievement between boys and girls?</p>
<p>Although we must wait to find out the answer to these questions, it is nevertheless clear that when children take paper and computer versions of similar tests, it can lead to quite notable differences in the results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Jerrim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some countries experienced big changes when the global test of 15-year-olds moved from paper to online.John Jerrim, Lecturer in Economics and Social Statistics, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/544472016-02-11T12:59:31Z2016-02-11T12:59:31ZWhich countries must do more to help children who fall behind at school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111144/original/image-20160211-29188-9catbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Too many students are struggling to make the grade. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">bibiphoto/Shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of the world’s leading economies can do more to help struggling teenagers to get a better level of education that will equip them for later life. A <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/low-performing-students-9789264250246-en.htm">new report</a> from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), looking at why low-performing students fall behind at school, has found that much remains to be done to reduce the number of children that perform poorly in maths, reading and science skills. </p>
<p>One of the most striking aspects of the report is just how many children are low performers, even in highly-developed nations such as the UK, Australia, or the US. I find it shocking that one in six children in the UK has a low level of reading comprehension skills – 17% of those tested in both the UK and US, and 14% in Australia. </p>
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<p>The new report is based on data taken from the OECD-funded Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the world’s largest and most influential educational survey. It aims to raise educational standards by providing detailed information about successful and less successful educational systems.</p>
<p>Every three years, 15-year-old children around the world take the two-hour PISA test. It focuses on some of the most fundamental academic skills: reading comprehension, mathematics, and science literacy. The new report is based on the 2012 PISA round, in which nearly half a million children participated. </p>
<p>The average score in OECD countries for each skill is around 500 PISA points. For example, in the UK, children’s scores in reading comprehension ranged from 121 to 788 points, with a national average of 499 points. Low performance is defined as a score below (approximately) 400 PISA points. According to the OECD, a low performer does not have the skills required to participate fully in a modern society.</p>
<p>The numbers of low performers in mathematics are worse than in reading – 22% in the UK, 20% in Australia and 26% in the US. Of course, it is possible that a child is a low performer in only one of the skills, but the numbers of children performing poorly in all of the three skills is still worryingly high: 11% in the UK, 9% in Australia, 12% in the US and 13% in France. </p>
<h2>Which countries do best</h2>
<p>There are considerable differences between countries. Those that generally score highly in PISA are, unsurprisingly, also the countries with the fewest low performers. Generally, East Asian countries and economic regions <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-singapores-school-system-so-successful-and-is-it-a-model-for-the-west-22917">are successful in PISA</a> (with the Chinese cities Shanghai and Hong Kong leading the league table) and have relatively few low performers. But there are European countries that have a similar level of success. For example, Estonia has one of the highest PISA scores in Europe, and only 3% of children are low performers in all three skills, leading the European league table.</p>
<p>There are no simple explanations for why some countries do better than others – many factors play a role. These include the educational levels and income of parents, their engagement, and whether or not children live in an urban or rural area. We should not only look at the leaders of the league table, but also at countries which are culturally and geographically similar.</p>
<p>Take Ireland, for example, which has 10% low performers in reading and 17% in mathematics and has seen a considerable reduction in low performers between 2006 and 2012. In Ireland, only 7% of low-performing children skipped school at least once in the two weeks before the PISA test, compared to 27% in the UK and 45% in Australia. Ireland’s data also shows a lower level of segregation by educational achievement. Such comparisons suggest that dealing more effectively with truancy and a more equal distribution of low performers across schools might help to drive down the numbers of low performers in other countries. </p>
<h2>Gender gaps persist</h2>
<p>This new OECD report also reports gender differences among low-performers. From other research, we already know that <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289614001688">boys fall behind in education around the world</a>, and <a href="http://volition.gla.ac.uk/%7Estoet/pdf/stoet2015-boys.pdf">in the UK in A-Level and GCSE</a> exams. In particular, boys fall behind in reading, and girls, to a lesser extent, in mathematics. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111012/original/image-20160210-12178-18n7cbu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gender gaps at age 15.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933315297">OECD, PISA 2012 Database</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These gender gaps are also reflected in the new report. As the graph above shows, more boys than girls are low performers in reading and science, whereas more girls are low performers in mathematics. Policies aimed at reducing gender inequalities have so far not been effective in resolving these gaps. A new approach is needed. </p>
<p>One of the problems that the report does not address is that <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057988">countries with a larger mathematics gap often have a smaller reading gap and vice versa</a>. This is enormously challenging, because some of the countries, such as Iceland or Finland, that are able to eliminate the mathematics gap affecting girls, have a particularly large reading gap affecting boys.</p>
<h2>How to raise achievement</h2>
<p>The final chapter of the report lays out a series of policies to tackle low performance levels. It gives examples of successful approaches, which include language training for non-native speakers and improving the quality of pre-primary education, which has happened in Germany. It also suggests that schools could foster high academic expectations, and use networks of schools to disseminate best practise. </p>
<p>It concludes that the percentage of low performers in any country can be reduced within a couple of years, if government is willing to reform the education system. While the number of low-performing children in the OECD is disappointingly high, with the appropriate educational reforms, based on evidence, a lot can be done to improve the situation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gijsbert Stoet does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new OECD report has put the spotlight on countries where teenagers struggle in maths, reading and science.Gijsbert Stoet, Reader in Psychology, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/432482015-06-16T04:53:13Z2015-06-16T04:53:13ZNo means no: how resistance training for women can stop (some) rape<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85144/original/image-20150616-5807-a0jz1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australian universities don't currently do enough to prevent sexual violence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleyharrigan/5130688824/">Ashley Harrigan/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Canadian study has found that university women participating in a rape-prevention program involving “resistance training” were significantly less likely to be sexually assaulted in the next year. </p>
<p>In their <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1411131#t=articleMethods">New England Journal of Medicine</a> article, Professor Charlene Senn and her colleagues report that their program reduced women’s risk of rape by half: from one to ten for women who did not receive the program, to one in 20 for those who did. </p>
<p>It’s an impressive result. But what does it mean for preventing rape in Australia? Should we be funding women’s resistance training in Australian universities?</p>
<h2>What is resistance training?</h2>
<p>As important as knowing <em>if</em> a program works, is knowing <em>why</em> it works. And there’s a lot more to this program than teaching women “refusal skills” or how to say “no” clearly and assertively in the face of clear sexual aggression. </p>
<p>The 12-hour curriculum of the <a href="http://www.learningtoendabuse.ca/sites/default/files/Senn_Ehanced_AAA_Sexual_Assault_Resistance_Program.pdf">Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act </a> program includes interactive sessions to help women identify the tactics of sexually coercive men, reduce the emotional barriers to taking assertive action early, as well as providing skills in verbal and physical resistance.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85141/original/image-20150616-5842-19vtue4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to stop men who rape – not place the responsibility on victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tamaracraiu/8298812235/in/photolist-boxNqg-6D68y2-5pYDV4-vjLQy-auzF5q-9T5oNq-6ZrAXB-aZJV7V-dDkzKz-as2Q1d-aqF16d-as48Mm-7CtgNF-7D9iKK-7Dd7DL-7Dd7zW-7CtheB-7CtgWx-6TU8DR-9JJToH-7Dd7AY-7Cx7qf-7Cx7N5-7Dd7BW-5zBe8g">Tamara Craiu/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The program explicitly states that the number one risk factor for rape is the presence of a sexually coercive man. Nonetheless, the program explicitly encourages women to identify and reject the early warning signs of sexual coercion. </p>
<p>Importantly, it also includes a module on positive sexual communication – encouraging women to actively negotiate the kind of sex that they <em>do</em> want.</p>
<h2>Teach ‘don’t rape’, not ‘don’t get raped’</h2>
<p>Of course, teaching women to resist rape is not new advice, and it is very controversial. Not least because, as many victim-survivors, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=O2moBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA10&dq=%22framing%20sexual%20violence%20prevention%22&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=%22framing%20sexual%20violence%20prevention%22&f=false">scholars</a> and advocates rightly point out, we need to stop men who rape – not place the responsibility on victims to avoid the criminal actions of others. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="http://cjb.sagepub.com/content/34/3/411.short">many studies</a> over the years have shown that providing women with rape-avoidance strategies or resistance training can reduce their individual risk of rape victimisation. But such approaches can have only a <a href="http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jwh.2012.3973">limited effect</a> on overall rates of rape, as sexually aggressive perpetrators will simply <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/doi/10.1002/jip.117/abstract;jsessionid=AC30FA84CFD27F77B70B3D35D106ED5A.f03t04">target other victims</a>. </p>
<p>And let’s not forget that even the Canadian study’s impressive results, <em>did not stop</em> one in 20 university women who completed the program from becoming the victims of sexually violent men – regardless of their training in resistance.</p>
<p>Yet, if teaching women effective resistance can stop _some _rape, can it be at least part of the solution to a problem that affects <a href="http://www.anrows.org.au/publications/fast-facts/key-statistics-violence-against-women">one in five Australian women</a> in their lifetime?</p>
<h2>Challenging gender roles <em>can</em> prevent rape</h2>
<p>In short – yes. In a society that teaches women to be passive, compliant and avoid confrontation, there is some merit to challenging these gender roles. Just as there is merit to challenging the gender roles that teach men to be dominant, aggressive and pursuant. When put together, these gender roles create the context for <a href="http://www3.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/newsletter/n14.html#sexual">pressured, unwanted and coercive sex</a>. </p>
<p>The key to so-called “resistance” programs then, may actually be in undoing some of the learnt gendered attitudes, feelings, and behaviours that undermine women’s agency and autonomy. If that’s the case, then delivering these programs to university women may in fact be <em>too late</em> to tackle the underlying issue. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85143/original/image-20150616-5838-y5u0dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sexual violence prevention programs include components that support women’s agency and autonomy in sexual negotiations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketboom/4401338014/">Parker Knight/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What we really need are programs that encourage girls, from a young age, to maintain their sense of strength and independence. </p>
<p>It is widely acknowledged that puberty is a key time in girls’ development where societal messages of what it means to be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs">#likeagirl</a> really sink in. </p>
<p>Messages routinely tell girls and women that they are valued foremost for their appearance and sexuality – rather than for their intellectual, sporting, or entrepreneurial contributions. </p>
<p>Such cultural programming of how “good” and “proper” girls and women should behave runs so deep that it affects how we <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AQLH00u06Z4C&lpg=PR9&ots=7onF8klLZC&dq=throw%20like%20a%20girl&lr&pg=PR9#v=onepage&q=throw%20like%20a%20girl&f=false">use our bodies</a>, how <a href="http://www.citymetric.com/transport/new-yorks-transit-authority-has-launched-campaign-against-manspreading-632">women and men</a> occupy public space, and how we <a href="http://sex.sagepub.com/content/15/7/815.short">negotiate sexual encounters</a>.</p>
<h2>We can and need to do better</h2>
<p>There’s no doubt that Australian universities <em>do not do enough</em> to prevent sexual violence. In Australia, we lack a government policy and funding framework to support sexual violence prevention in our universities, despite the rates of sexual violence being <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4906.0Media%20Release12012?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4906.0&issue=2012&num=&view=">particularly high</a> for young women aged 18 to 24 – and most often at the hands of their male peers. </p>
<p>We <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/survey-of-sex-assaults-on-university-campuses-shelved-20141115-11na07.html">do not even collate statistics</a> on the rates of sexual assault in our universities. (Though a survey by the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/civilian-universities-have-higher-rate-of-sexual-harassment-sex-attacks-than-the-australian-defence-force-academy/story-fncynjr2-1226687736760">National Union of Students (NUS)</a> suggests the rates may be as high as 17% of female students experiencing rape, and a further 31% experiencing sex without giving consent.)</p>
<p>We should follow Canada and the <a href="https://www.notalone.gov/assets/report.pdf">United States</a>, and invest in sexual violence prevention programming in our universities. Such programs might include components that support women’s agency and autonomy in sexual negotiations.</p>
<p>But let’s be clear. Prevention programs that <em>only</em> focus on victims might lower the odds for some individual women – but they will not stop rape from happening. </p>
<p>Rape prevention must also focus on <a href="http://www.theviolencestopshere.ca/dbtg.php">potential offenders</a>, encouraging <a href="http://www3.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/i17/index.html">bystanders to intervene</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-culture-why-our-community-attitudes-to-sexual-violence-matter-31750">challenging the culture</a> that condones, minimises and tolerates rape. Only by addressing sexual violence in all its elements, can we ultimately create a society where women do not live under the shadow of rape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anastasia Powell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>A Canadian study has found that university women participating in a rape-prevention program involving “resistance training” were significantly less likely to be sexually assaulted in the next year.Anastasia Powell, Senior Lecturer, Justice and Legal Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/383452015-03-05T10:07:44Z2015-03-05T10:07:44ZPitting boys vs girls at school won’t close the gender gap<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73823/original/image-20150304-15255-1wvgib3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C100%2C995%2C733&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gender in schools isn't just about boys vs girls.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Man & Woman via Imagentle/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New gaps are opening up in educational achievement between teenage boys and girls, according to a <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-gender.htm">comprehensive new report</a> from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).</p>
<p>Analysis of its 2012 <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA) tests of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science across countries, shows that unfortunately, patterns between the performance of girls and boys have not changed much over time, although some of the gaps have closed a little. </p>
<p>Girls are still doing better in reading. Boys still do better in maths and there is not much difference between the two in science. Boys are still generally labelled as “low-achieving” and over-represented among teenagers who don’t achieve basic education levels. Girls are generally labelled as high-achieving but still lack confidence in the areas of science and maths, and unable to “think like scientists”.</p>
<p>There is too much déjà vu here. It would seem that <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_SAGE_Handbook_of_Gender_and_Educatio.html?id=wsMIuGkvYMEC">all the work</a> that has been done within the field of gender and achievement to improve our understanding of this complex area has been ignored by the OECD.</p>
<p>So <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4618625?sid=21105530467191&uid=3738032&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=2129">too have the debates</a> that tests like PISA may actually create the differences observed. If we are looking for solutions as to why differences between teenage boys and girls occur, we should not only be looking into the students themselves, but into the tests and surveys that create the data in the first place.</p>
<h2>Differences over similarities</h2>
<p>Such analyses of “boys vs girls” focus on differences between them, often accentuating differences that are small or of little significance. An <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2005-11115-001">alternative view</a> is that there are actually far more similarities between boys’ and girls’ performances than differences and presenting them as opposites and rivals is not helpful. </p>
<p>Bigger differences (and variations in performance) occur within groups of girls and within groups of boys. There are other variables such as ethnicity, social class, disability, sexual identity and religion that need to be considered too. </p>
<p>Some of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02671522.2013.767370#.VPc5puE2Wmc">these have considerable impact</a> – much more in some cases than gender – on the outcomes of boys and girls than their sex. It is regrettable that with the sophistication of the data available to OECD’s researchers, we still only get “male vs female” analyses that show only one story.</p>
<h2>Ticking the sex box</h2>
<p>This is because reports like this continue to define gender as “sex group” that considers males and females as having defined and associated characteristics that are considered as fixed and unchanging. We know that much research, like this report, continues to use sex group as an unproblematic and straightforward category through which to investigate differences in achievement. </p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/262576562_How_gender_became_sex_mapping_the_gendered_effects_of_sex-group_categorisation_onto_pedagogy_policy_and_practice">research</a> shows the limitations of using such a definition. The allocation of boys and girls to these groups through self-reporting questionnaires or through ticking a box on a test paper (such as PISA), means that stereotypes are reinforced. Researchers use these categories to look for “causes” of gender differences.</p>
<p>In contrast, <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/9981/">others</a> see gender as socially constructed and argue that differences in performances observed by girls and boys are created by social and cultural practices that influence how men or boys and women or girls come to be and act. So, any differences observed between the genders are not fixed, but open to change in relationship to the social, cultural and historical contexts in which people live and learn. </p>
<p>Such positions about gender allow for complexities to emerge as well as enabling considerations of how gender interacts with the other factors of diversity that I mentioned above. More nuanced, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131881.2014.898913">qualitative studies</a> focus on investigating how gender manifests itself in everyday classrooms and schools and in complex interactions between students and teachers. This includes looking at how gender is in the world, how it is played out by girls and boys and its impact on their achievements – and under-achievements.</p>
<h2>Not a blueprint for reform</h2>
<p>The OECD and its PISA project are <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-education-rankings-are-a-problem-that-cant-be-solved-24933">very powerful drivers</a> in the global educational space. So powerful, that associated outcomes have become significant and symbolic levers able to change nations’ education policy directions world-wide. Part of the concern with this report is that the emerging messages will be taken as “truth” – that this is how it is for girls and boys. As a result, nations will look to follow the “what works” approach detailed within to “fix” their boys’ and girls’ achievements. </p>
<p>But we have been here before, with <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/9094/1/00601-2009BKT-EN.pdf">technical solutions</a> to problems of gender and achievement without real success. The response to this report should be a rallying cry to start taking “gender” – not “sex of test taker” – seriously and investigate its interaction with educational achievement and other social dimensions in more intricate ways than an ABC approach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jannette Elwood has received funding from various educational charities and government departments, recently the Schools Examination Commission, Ireland.</span></em></p>A new report by the OECD on achievement gaps between boys and girls ignores much previous research on gender.Jannette Elwood, Professor of Education, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/335052015-01-06T05:55:07Z2015-01-06T05:55:07ZGender stereotypes make teenagers more accepting of violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68200/original/image-20150105-13830-1l2j4q8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Break up the fights early. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-165447947/stock-photo-teenage-fight.html?src=uzqdvbp5zTgHZQKadTXNiw-3-35">Teenage fight via Olly/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teenagers’ opinions about when violence is acceptable or not can be influenced by the way they perceive men and women and the relationships between them. Simply telling young people that violence is wrong won’t stop it happening. Schools need to teach children about gender and sexuality first in order to prevent violence becoming seen as acceptable in certain situations. </p>
<p>Throughout their adolescence, young people can be exposed to high levels of violence. Physical abuse was reported by a quarter of girls and 18% of boys in <a href="http://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/partner-exploitation-violence-teenage-intimate-relationships-report.pdf">a 2009 survey</a> of 13 to 21-year olds. In the same survey, sexual abuse was reported by more than a third of girls and 16% of boys. </p>
<p>Young teenagers were <a href="http://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/partner-exploitation-violence-teenage-intimate-relationships-report.pdf">just as likely</a> to report violence by a partner as older teenagers were. </p>
<h2>Blaming women</h2>
<p>Many young people tolerate violence in teenage relationships. A <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1621774/Young_people_s_attitudes_toward_violence">landmark 1998 study</a> by the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust found that nearly half of young people surveyed thought that it was acceptable for a boyfriend to act aggressively towards his partner in certain circumstances. In addition, three quarters of young men and more than half of young women surveyed thought the woman was “often” or “sometimes” to blame for violence enacted against her by her partner. </p>
<p>More recent research also suggests that <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09540250902749083">young people can grow</a> accepting of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09540253.2013.858110">violence</a> in certain circumstances. Other research has found there <a href="http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/22/4/424.long">may be a link</a> between conservative gender attitudes and acceptance of violence. While the knowledge that young people accept violence is becoming well-established, our understanding of why they do is less developed.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/preventing-youth-violence-vanita-sundaram/?K=9781137365682">own research</a> with 14 and 15-year-olds in the north of England revealed that young people have nuanced understandings of what behaviour constitutes violence and when it is unacceptable. </p>
<p>Young people readily and articulately characterise violence as encompassing a range of behaviour, including physical, verbal, sexual and emotional abuse. Pushing, shouting, jealousy, name-calling, rape and child abuse were all named by young people as examples of violent behaviour. </p>
<p>The majority of young people in my study also seemed aware that the majority of violence is perpetrated by young men. Some participants offered more detailed descriptions of perpetrators of violence which included class-based or racial characteristics. A small minority of the teenagers said women were perpetrators of violence. </p>
<h2>Not always a problem</h2>
<p>The young people I interviewed were less consistent in their views on whether violence is a problem. Not all violence is seen as “bad” and some violence is even seen as acceptable or as deserved. Their views varied according to the description of the violence, but most importantly, according to their understandings of how men and women behave in different circumstances. </p>
<p>Violence between men was primarily viewed as natural, innate and driven by a specifically “male” biology. This type of violence was not always viewed positively but was most often seen as necessary or understandable in its use to resolve a dispute, such as to protect a female loved-one or to display manhood.</p>
<p>Young people drew on fairly traditional ideas about male behaviour to justify violence between men. In other words, violence was accepted because it was being used to enact or reinforce expected gender behaviour. </p>
<h2>Plain wrong, or merely trivial?</h2>
<p>Violence by men towards women was seen as “wrong” by the vast majority of young people. Yet when specific scenarios were discussed, young people began to offer justifications. They viewed it as acceptable and even deserved in some cases, particularly in circumstances where women were not seen to be conforming to expected behaviour within relationships. For example, when they may have lied to their partner or been unfaithful. </p>
<p>In one scenario where violence was seen as acceptable by some, Steve is playing around with his girlfriend’s phone and sees that she has received many texts from another boy in their year. When Steve asks his girlfriend about this, she says she should be allowed to have male friends and he should stop getting upset about nothing. Steve pushes his girlfriend and calls her a “slut”.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68201/original/image-20150105-13820-1ptumhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Get equality into the classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-64027255/stock-photo-gender-symbols-or-signs-for-the-male-and-female-sex-drawn-on-a-blackboard.html?src=jwO6SJbdbfEyCowW8IBdhw-1-60">Gender symbols via Thinglass/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Violence by women towards men was also seen as unproblematic. It was often seen as an understandable response for a girl, if also undesirable behaviour. The young people I interviewed saw women as being more emotional and fragile than men. They were also viewed as physically weaker and their potential to hurt or cause harm when they used violence was therefore not viewed as significant.</p>
<h2>Views on gender are the key</h2>
<p>All this suggests that simply telling young people that violence is wrong will not prevent them from accepting it. Young people have more nuanced understandings of violence that are greatly influenced by their views on gender – what is normal, expected and appropriate for men and women to do, both in and outside relationships. </p>
<p>This distinction between different forms of violence makes wholesale prevention difficult. Given that gender appears to be a primary influence on young people’s views on violence, schools should prioritise teaching about equality between the genders in order to effectively challenge the acceptance and justification of some forms of violent behaviour. </p>
<p>This could include cross-curricular teaching about gender stereotypes, sexism, sexual and gender pressures and gender-based harassment and violence. Recent <a href="http://www.nus.org.uk/Global/NUS_hidden_marks_report_2nd_edition_web.pdf">research evidence</a> suggests that <a href="http://www.nus.org.uk/Global/Campaigns/That%27s%20what%20she%20said%20full%20report%20Final%20web.pdf">sexualised and physical violence</a> are prevalent in higher education too, indicating a need for preventative work to be done early on in the education cycle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanita Sundaram has received funding from the Society for Educational Studies and the Society for Research into Higher Education.</span></em></p>Teenagers’ opinions about when violence is acceptable or not can be influenced by the way they perceive men and women and the relationships between them. Simply telling young people that violence is wrong…Vanita Sundaram, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.