The attitude of teachers, determinant in gender roles
The gender roles they are the set of social norms and behaviors that are perceived as appropriate for men or women. Its appearance depends on several factors, among which the attitude of the teachers in the classes towards their students, that can be decisive in children and adolescents, according to a recent investigation.
The study, entitled "The gender fracture in science, technology, computer science and language studies: expectations and motivations of students and secondary school teachers" and carried out at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) has revealed that the different expectations of teachers to their students, depending on whether they are boys or girls, contribute to reinforcing their image of themselves and their "gender roles".
"In the case of boys, when explaining why they are not academically as good as girls, arguments are used, for example, that they are clueless or that they are a disaster. , diligent, focused and, in general, do not deviate from the expectations deposited in them, "explained the director of the study, Milagro Sáinz.
The importance of teachers' expectations in class
The research, which has been done through interviews with professors and students, shows that educators tend to have different expectations towards some students and others, their abilities and their academic results, so this "teachers' speech" ends "justifying" trends like the one that says that boys have less interest in studies, as explained by Sáinz.
The authors of the study point out that the majority of teachers attribute the good academic results of their male students to "brilliance and intelligence", while in the case of their students tend to explain them, first, by the "effort" and in the second term by intelligence.
This makes the students themselves transmit those "gender roles". According to the research, girls "are inclined to the humanities and health sciences" and are better in subjects such as language, biology and geology, while boys are more technological studies and believe they are better than girls in mathematics, physics , chemistry and computer science.
This clashes, however, with another of the issues outlined by this research: teachers "almost do not perceive gender differences in the competences in mathematics and scientific disciplines shown in the PISA report. "
Even so, teachers do identify differences in other matters, such as school drop-out, most common among boys. According to the research, most teachers say that it is higher among students because "at these ages the girls are more mature and are more adapted to the environment and educational values".
Angela R. Bonachera
