Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) UK, Theodora Ntoka says we often associate characteristics with gender and gender inclusivity, especially when data are used in tables. From male and female baby weight tables to comparisons of Science grades between girls and boys; questions and items using gender often feature in exams and promote gender stereotyping.
Moving away from gender stereotypes can be challenging. It's important to ensure that all learners are represented and that all learners feel included.
Five tips for gender inclusivity
Ntoka has five tips for bringing gender inclusivity into the classroom.
1. Avoid using male and female as nouns.
This can be dehumanising to all genders. Ntoka explains, in fields like science, use of ‘females’ has historically been used to make women appear inferior to men.
2. Introduce characters of ambiguous gender.
Choosing names with an ambiguous gender – like Alex or Charlie – is a simple change to make. Ntoka says you can also think about phrasing questions in a way that doesn’t require pronouns.
3. Remove gender binary.
This can be done by including all genders, or removing reference to gender overall. For example, instead of creating a discussion comparing women and men, you can compare adults and children.
4. Normalise the use of characteristics other than gender.
Ntoka says that, most of the time, gender is an arbitrary characteristic in that can promote stereotyping – for example, girls being worse at sports or STEM subjects, and women eating salad and men eating pizza. She suggests changing your approach: ‘For example, instead of comparing men‘s and women’s performances in a sport, compare performance in the sport between those who play at least one other sport and those who don’t.’
5. Last resort: Reverse the stereotype.
If there is a topic that is stereotypical in nature, but need to be retained, Ntoka recommends trying to reverse the stereotype in a way that isn’t contrived. “… think of the question ‘One-third of the children in a football club are girls. There are 60 children in the club. How many girls are there in the club?’ If you changed ‘girls’ to ‘boys’, you would mitigate the stereotype of fewer girls playing football than boys. This example is effective because it does not disclose the gender of the remaining children, allowing space for inclusion of genders outside the binary.”
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