preview

Gender Stereotypes In Australia

Decent Essays

It can be argued that it is the students and academic teaching staff themselves who are forcing females into ‘female type jobs’ and males into ‘male type jobs’. Connell et al. (2013) discuss gender cannot be argued against as being irrelevant to educational outcomes and student performance. A significant factor in Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the expansion of education on a massive scale, with the result being a ‘school conceiving social class’ (Connell et al. 2013, p.106).
Kimball (1995) relates working concepts of meritocracy are closely linked to science. Science is believed to be true and objective, a more ‘meritorious’ type of knowledge that has accurate ideas, methodologies and people. Science automatically assumes that it is elevated above other forms of knowledge, becoming apparent in scientists one-way method of communication, with an attitude that there is nothing to be gained by communicating with a non-scientific person (Kimball, 1995, p.141).

Stats
Deemer et al. (2016) details considerable research has focused on women and the stereotypical belief that they are …show more content…

There is empirical evidence to show that males do not like females to be clever in areas considered male. They think there is something strange about females who want to be scientists. (Fensham 2005. p.224). Keller (2002) postulates that maintaining gender differences may not be primarily due to teacher interactions but due to the behaviour of the schoolchildren themselves. This then reinforces the argument students themselves are forcing themselves into gender roles. Tobin (cited in Kahle 2005) states there is hidden invisibility of masculinity and dominance in science, in the masculine verbal bravado present and evident in science classrooms. By contrast, females lack science

Get Access