Subtle Inequalities in the Classroom

I am a sexist pig.

The worst part is, I didn’t even know it--until I read a recent report by the American Assn. of University Women. It compares hundreds of studies, done over several decades, that show inequality in the ways that boys and girls are educated in America.

“How Schools Shortchange Girls” documents dozens of inequities that prevent many U.S. females from achieving their potential in the classroom and beyond.

The discrimination is subtle and usually unintentional.

Some of the unfair practices mentioned in the report hit home with me because I do them in my classroom. I don’t mean to, but that doesn’t lessen their effect.

Consider some of the most alarming findings:

* Teachers give more attention to boys than to girls. For example, boys are praised and called on more often. And teachers often permit boys to call out answers without raising their hands, but reprimand girls for doing the same.

In other words, boys are trained to be more assertive than girls, and the dominant-male/passive-female concept, however obsolete, is still nurtured.

* Standardized tests are frequently inaccurate measurements of students’ abilities, but they are especially unfair to female test-takers, the study found.

The reading comprehension passages and other questions are too often linked to the kinds of out-of-school knowledge that boys have. A passage about football statistics or tuning up an engine, for example, will generally favor boys.

* The individual, competitive style of learning that has dominated American classrooms hinders females. The report concludes that girls and women learn better in cooperation with (rather than competition against) their peers.

* Problems also arise from the popular myth that girls just are not as innately capable of doing math and science as boys are. The result is that girls are far less likely to choose advanced math and science classes, or scientific and technological careers.

In fact, as the university women’s study points out, girls’ and boys’ standardized test scores in math and science are generally equal upon entering junior high school. But because of subtle discouragement they tend to encounter from teachers, counselors and even parents, girls soon lose confidence and avoid such courses.

* Textbooks are not much help in sparking females’ interest in subjects and careers traditionally allotted to boys. The report discussed many examples of textbooks and other learning materials that show females in overwhelmingly stereotypical, second-class roles.

These are just a few of the examples of gender inequity in American schools--but they are the ones I have the power to do something about in my classroom tomorrow.

As part of my back-to-school custom of listing ways to improve my teaching, I am going to devote this year to fostering equality in my classroom.

I am going to start by calling on boys and girls more evenly. I’ll keep a little tally on scratch paper until it is a permanent habit.

I will encourage girls more often to answer questions and participate in discussions too.

There will be more cooperative learning activities.

And to help expand girls’ academic and career options, I am adding to the assigned-reading list some materials that feature women in non-traditional roles.

In fact, for my sophomores’ first book report, they will all read biographies of women who excelled in non-traditional fields.

Finally, I am going to work into all of my curricula some reading, writing and discussion about gender politics and the changing roles of women.