Gender equality in education and learning: Children's Parliament report

Theory of Change

The Theory of Change model poses these 4 questions, each reported on here:

1. Who should be involved in the change?

2. Where do we need to start?

3. What do we need to do to change things?

4. How do we know that we're making a difference for girls and young women?

Who should be involved in the change?

'Adults need to change first.'

S1/S2 girl.

The first question posed by our Theory of Change approach helps us identify who the individuals or groups are who must be involved in change.

Teachers and adults in school

There was a consensus amongst all the children we worked with, that teachers and adults in school were the natural starting point for who should be involved in the change. Every group identified 'teachers' and 'PSAs' in their conversations. Girls further believed that there was an urgent need for all school staff to be trained in gender equality for them to be effective in change.

'Teachers – if they just speak it might not change. It needs to be actions.'

Primary girl.

Girls also highlighted a need to engage school leadership. Headteachers were named as school staff who could affect the most change in the school environment.

Coaches and playground supervisors

Sport and play were one of the biggest themes in our conversations with girls and this came to the fore from the first question with most girls identifying adults involved in sport and play as being central to solutions. The main people identified were 'sports coaches', 'after-school club staff' and 'playground supervisors.'

There were also interesting discussions around the overlap of coaches and parents that could

make it difficult to raise issues of fair treatment as football coaches could also be parents of boys on the team, and therefore might not take bullying or sexism seriously.

The Government

The government and politicians were also named by the majority of children. It was acknowledged that decision makers would need to come on board for gender equality to be realised.

'I'm going to underline the government because I think that's really important, because they have a big voice.'

Primary girl.

Children found areas such as school inspections, curriculum, and the law as places where the government could get involved. Girls suggested that school inspectors should speak to children about life in their school and ask specific questions about gender equality. Boys also recognised the need for laws to prevent sexism at the highest level.

'There should be laws… to stop girls getting treated not the same way as boys.'

Primary boy.

Nationwide campaigns such as the Covid Public Information campaign from Scottish Government or the 'Don't Be That Guy' campaign from Police Scotland, were also highlighted as great ways of raising awareness and promoting gender equality among the wider public.

Children: both girls and boys

Girls were prepared to take ownership for finding a solution to gender inequality, with every girl saying that 'girls' should be involved in the change and some feeling that 'girls should stand up for themselves.' (Primary girl). Women inspiring women was a strong suggestion with the idea that female role models and mums could come into school to inspire girls and raise their confidence.

While happy to take their place in the solution, girls were also adamant that boys needed to be part of the change, along with men and dads/ male carers.

'Men in general need to understand too because they teach their sons.'

Primary girl.

Girls also wanted to receive more support from boys in the here and now: 'encourage boys who know sexism is wrong to speak up.' S1/S2 girl.

While the girls were confident that boys could be involved and take a role in the Theory of Change, some of the boys we talked to were less enthusiastic. When talking about the lack of female role models, one boy remarked: 'That's like, that's just the girl's problem, it's not our problem, what are we going to do about that?' Primary boy.

In fact, the boys we spoke to did not recognise gender inequality as a problem in their school and so did not see themselves having a role in being part of the change.

Children's Parliament (CP) Worker: But sometimes it's things that boys do that make girls feel unsafe or sometimes it can just be society, a feeling of feeling unsafe. Primary Boy: Like anxiety?

CP Worker: Yeah, it could be anxiety. It could be.

It could be things that boys do.

Primary Boy: But that doesn't really happen. CP Worker: You don't think that happens in this school?

Primary Boy: Not in this school…

CP Worker: Is there anything that boys do to make girls feel uncomfortable? Primary Boy: No, we don't do anything.

Some of the younger boys, however, did mention that girls might be discriminated on the grounds of their gender, saying that girls could get bullied because of their looks, or they might be excluded from certain activities.

Primary Boy: 'Yeah some boys say that girls can't play with us because girls aren't allowed to play sports.'

CP worker: What do you think of that?

Primary Boy: 'I think that's a little discrimination.'

Primary Boy: 'It's some kind of abuse.'

Peer-to-peer support was a common theme throughout the work with the importance of friendship and kindness established as central. As such, friends were mentioned as people who could be involved in the change.

'Friends – they are important because if you feel insecure and your friends are with you, they can help you.'

Primary girl.

Other adults

All girls also identified that this was an endemic problem that reached all areas of their lives.

'It's a society-wide problem'

S1/S2 girl.

With that in mind there were a wide range of different types of adults mentioned in the girls' Theory of Change models including:

• Therapists
• Police

These further professionals were listed as people who could support girls when they experience sexism and/or sexual violence. They were seen as having the training and resources to support survivors.

• Singers
• Radio producers
• TV and Film Producers
• Advertising and magazine editors
• Female sports players
• Authors
• Influencers
• Celebrities

Within this group of people there was an underlying theme that people in the media should have a responsibility to challenge stereotypes and advocate for gender equality. There was a strong sense that we need to look outward with this work; to improve gender equality in education, gender equality in society has to be explored as well.

'Advertising, magazine editors, TV producers, film producers – show real women without make-up or editing body types.'

S1/S2 girl.

'Singers – too many love songs promote sexist inequality.'

S1/S2 girl.

There was also an acknowledgement amongst boys and girls that children would be likely to listen to a celebrity or influencer if they spoke about gender inequality.

'Celebrities and influencers are considered much cooler than teachers so a teacher could be saying the exact same thing as an influencer and people would be like what do they know? They're a teacher'

S1/S2 girl.

Where do we need to start?

'The way women are viewed – we need a big change.'

S1/S2 girl.

We framed this question as thinking about where we need to start to be able to address the issues linked to gender equality in education before they happen. This was a wide-ranging question that focused more on societal and systemic change as opposed to practical activities and steps.

Kindness and Friendship

The theme of kindness and friendship came up strongly in every group of girls. Girls spoke about the importance of mixed friendship groups so that you could play and learn together as well as sharing experiences. The girls in secondary school spoke about how it was rarer to maintain mixed friendships as you got older.

'All be kinder to each other.'

Primary girl.

Girls also felt that schools had a responsibility to promote and support mixed friendship groups: 'Encourage more healthy relationships between girls and boys in primary schools.' Primary girl.

Friendship was a theme that was reiterated throughout the work as central to addressing attitudes, sharing experiences and building confidence. It is important that across

the education system we understand the importance children place on friendship and the role adults have to support those healthy relationships.

Inclusive sport and play

Every group of girls spoke about inequality in sport and play and their experiences of being excluded by boys in the playground. There was a consensus that girls are not able to participate fully in sport in the playground or in organised teams due solely to their gender.

'Once me and [my friend] wanted to play football but when we joined the boys would stop playing… When we even play, they don't play properly. And we want to play football properly.'

Primary girl.

Girls also felt that boys physically held space within playground spaces that led to them being marginalised and being forced to play games that could fit around the edges of the playing fields.

'I would love to play basketball and football every day, but the boys just don't let us and won't give us a turn of the areas in the playground we need. They say we are irrelevant.'

Primary girl.

All girls spoke about this needing to change in order to bring about gender equality. They had lots of practical ideas for improving inclusion in sport and play which we will address in the next section. However, their message about where to start was clear: we need to value girls as equal participants in sport and play and ensure that they are included.

'Don't separate girls and boys in football. It makes it look as if girls aren't as good. You never honour their talents.'

Primary girl.

'When you think about sports your mind automatically goes to boys, obviously. I think that's because in football and other games, men's teams are more advertised than the women's teams... But see like, here's the thing, I can't even name any women's teams in Scotland because they're not advertised as much to us.'

S1/S2 girl.

Teaching and learning

'Teachers need to reinforce that boys and girls are equal.'

Primary girl.

Girls spoke about needing a safe and trusted adult to talk to and confidence that they would be able to support them if something happened. The idea of kindness came up again in this context: 'Teachers being more understanding and having more empathy.' S1/S2 girl.

Alongside this trope was the idea that teachers also need to be more fearless and proactive about addressing sexism in school: 'Teachers need to stop tolerating sexist behaviour in school and call boys out when they call us "objects" and use "just like a girl" as an insult.' S1/ S2 girl.

The girls raised the need for education for boys and girls around gender and equality from the earliest age possible. Girls felt by educating boys early they could change their attitudes and develop a more gender equal learning environment.

Girls talked a lot about their experiences with periods and the related bullying. There was a clear call to educate boys on the subject of female reproductive health to help them understand and reduce bullying.

Both boys and girls felt that there wasn't enough good quality RSHP learning happening in primary schools in P5 or under. Many of the primary-aged girls we spoke to had already started their periods in P6 and felt that learning needed to happen before puberty became reality for many girls. A P6 boy talked about one class they'd had in P5: 'But I think we had to stop because some of us were laughing at the words, so the teachers just shut it off and said we're never doing it again.' Access to good quality RSHP education should not be contingent on the comfort levels of individual teaching staff; it should be assured across the board.

A trained workforce able and willing to deliver high quality education around gender, relationships, equality and sexual health from nursery up, is an important factor in gender equality.

Sharing experiences

'Understanding other genders as central'

S1/S2 girl.

In addition to a curriculum that supports good quality RSHP, girls talked a lot about the need to share their experiences either with their peers, or with a trusted adult. There was a sense that girls hadn't been able or encouraged to share their experiences of sexism or anxieties linked to their gender before. There was also a feeling that, whenever they did share, their experiences were minimised. Both boys and girls talked about adults in their lives (including women) minimising violence and bullying by saying that "it's just because they fancy you." Children felt that this message was unhelpful and dismissive.

The experiences girls related casually were shocking depictions of sexism and sexual violence. However, in many cases they weren't reporting these instances or even recognising them as acts of sexual violence because of how pervasive and common they had come to be.

'You don't really realise they're being mean to you until you talk about it because that's what they do every day and eventually you don't even notice it.'

Primary girl.

By giving space to children to share their experiences in a safe environment children can begin to understand each other, and adults can recognise concerning attitudes and behaviours earlier.

'Girls aren't the same as boys, but they are both human beings, it's just a gender, it doesn't mean that they aren't human beings. And they should get to be treated the same as boys get to be treated.' Primary girl.

Addressing stereotypes

'I think we should stop categorising genders, no matter what it's for.' S1/S2 girl.

The girls we worked with spoke a lot about the pervasiveness of stereotypes about girls and boys and the damage that they can do. They talked about how limiting stereotypes could be and the impact they could have on boys and girls. 'We need to take the societal pressure off boys so they don't think they should act in a sexist way.' S1/S2 girl.

Girls were concerned that children and young people, whether they identify as girls, boys, non-binary or transgender, were being unfairly categorised and limited by stereotypes in the media, at home and in school. Changing these narratives around men and women was of vital importance to most of the girls we spoke with, and a lot of their activity suggestions centred around this theme. 'If we don't give young children choices then they can't decide what they like.' S1/S2 girl.

Girls talked a lot about the lack of positive female role models in school and how that impacted, not only on their own confidence but on boys' ability to see women as capable. 'I think the part where showing men that women are worthy and that women can do things by posting things online is really important. Because if men see how important women are then maybe they won't take them for granted and maybe be more welcoming.' S1/S2 girl.

What do we need to do to change things?

'Just be kind.'

S1/S2 girl.

As part of our adapted Theory of Change model, this question seeks ideas about actions that can be taken to help progress us from the defined problem, towards the intended positive outcomes. The question created the biggest response from girls - they were brimming with ideas and eager to share their thoughts on practical steps that could be taken to change things for them. Responses have been split into seven key themes. Girls were keen to find solutions that focused on kindness rather than negativity and wanted to make sure that boys were protected and included in any changes.

Training and education

A strong need for education and awareness raising was identified by all the girls we worked with. This broadly fell into two areas: training for adults in school and workshops for boys.

Girls wanted to be taught by staff who understood the issues they were facing and could respond effectively to any gender-based issues that arose. Training should be regular, mandated and be inclusive of all children, from all backgrounds, and however they identify. They also spoke of the importance of being able to trust adults in school to allow them to report issues.

'[Teachers should] get to know pupils so they feel comfortable speaking to them and trust them.'

Primary girl.

Girls wanted to see training developed for all teachers, playground supervisors and sports coaches as a matter of urgency.

Girls also strongly felt that boys needed to be educated on what it feels like to be a girl and the challenges they face day-to-day.

'Boys need to be persuaded to listen'

Primary girl.

Girls started developing a range of different workshops for boys, during our sessions. The outcomes of these workshops were that boys would gather an understanding of how it feels to be a girl, why they have different experiences and how boys could be better allies.^[1]

Girls were also keen to suggest that boys would benefit from workshops that helped them express their feelings and addressed negative stereotypes that boys face.

One group of girls also felt that all adults in school should be encouraged to work through the same workshops: '[These workshops] also need to be done with teachers and coaches so they realise how bad the problem is and how bad boys make us feel, so they don't tolerate those behaviours in class and boys don't get away with it.' Primary girl.

Zero tolerance approach to gender-based bullying

Hand-in-hand with the training for adults was a need for a zero-tolerance approach to gender-based bullying and sexism in general. There was a feeling that a lot of sexist incidents were minimised and even normalised by adults in school. This has led to lower reporting and

a sense of despondency among the girls we worked with.

'"Boys will be boys." "Never grew up." Just stop. Stop.'

Primary girl.

Improved training would support staff to identify and respond to sexism in school and in sports clubs.

'The teachers say they'll keep an eye on boys that frighten and hassle us, but they never do. The boys just know they can get away with it.'

Primary girl

Curriculum revision and subject choice

Girls felt that the curriculum required urgent revision to support gender equality. They felt that RSHP lessons, and PSE in secondary school, needed to improve drastically and/or be supplemented by gender studies classes for everyone. These classes would begin in early primary and would be mandatory.

One area that they were particularly passionate about was period education. All the girls we spoke to had experienced bullying on account of their periods. In some cases, this bullying was severe.

'Yeah, sometimes boys follow girls around in the playground teasing them about their periods. My friend in P7 had said she felt like killing herself because of that and her parents had to speak to the school.'

Primary girl.

Girls had a series of asks around periods in school:

Normalise discussions around periods and remove stigma.

Teach everyone about periods from early primary school.

Allow girls to go to the toilet whenever they need to.

Make sure period products are available in toilets so that girls don't have to take their bags or ask at the school office.

Make sure period products are available in accessible toilets for trans pupils.

'We need to normalise periods and teachers should allow us to go to the toilet when we ask as they often say no, then you can't say anything in front of the class. This is a big issue.'

S1/S2 girl.

These are basic changes that would uphold girls' dignity and reduce gender-based bullying. Another area of the curriculum the girls wanted to see improved was the inclusion of more female role models in all subject areas and the removal of the word 'female' when talking about them. Girls felt that using the word 'female' as a prefix undermined and othered the woman in question.

'It should be the norm to not say the gender before they say what they're doing. Yes they're women but when you're talking about a famous male scientist you wouldn't say "this male scientist…" but when you're talking about a woman you say "this female scientist…" you wouldn't say "this male scientist…" you'd just say "this scientist…"'

Primary girl.

Interestingly when we spoke to boys about this issue, they didn't recognise it as an issue for women; however, they did recognise it as an issue for people of colour: 'I think it's more of a problem with racism. When they say this black person…' Primary boy.

When we asked the younger boys if they felt there were enough female role models in school, they said there were more women than men, they then went on to list those they knew: 'Amelia Earhart… Marie Curie… There's like a woman who went to space and then Michael Jordan's wife.' Primary boy.

This example demonstrates the need for more empowered women in the curriculum: 'Teach about important women in history – it could give hope, if [it's] just men and boys you see, [you] might not think you can do it.' Primary girl.

Girls also wanted female role models in the community to come into school and give talks to demonstrate a range of positive destinations for women.

When it came to subject choice, while the secondary school girls reported that schools and teachers do not restrict their choices, they said that they feel unable to take subjects such as Engineering as they are intimidated by boys in these classes. All our S1/S2 participants reported that boys are disrespectful to girls, calling them names in these classes, saying they should not

be taking "boys'" subjects, and refusing to co-operate in joint tasks. Girls say that when this behaviour is reported, male teachers dismiss and minimise their complaints. The girls said that if this behaviour was called out, then the girls would love to take these subjects.

"I really wanted to take GDM (Graphic Design and Manufacturing), but I would have been the only girl and I couldn't take the boys treating me badly, so I just thought no."

S1/S2 girl.

The girls wanted more female teachers in these subject areas as they felt this would provide female role models in male dominated fields. Girls also felt that female teachers would be less likely to dismiss and minimise sexist attitudes.

Supervision and reporting

Continuing the discussion of reporting and adult responses already highlighted above, as girls spoke about their experiences of gender-based bullying we asked why they hadn't reported these incidents more. Alongside adults dismissing reports, a significant concern was that they were worried about having a 'restorative chat' with the perpetrator, which was currently the only outcome available to the secondary school children we spoke with. Girls in both primary and secondary school wanted a system that allowed for anonymous reporting and/or reporting to a safe, trusted and trained adult who would take their report seriously.

'Have a named gender equalities member of staff in each school so there was someone we could speak to who would take us seriously and record what was happening.'

Primary girl.

'I think the guidance department needs to improve as well. Add more ways

to report some things anonymously. Because when you report something, you get sat in a restorative meeting with that person… Sometimes you don't really want to be put alone in a room with that person.' S1/S2 girl

The primary-aged girls spoke about needing more supervision on the playground as this was identified as an area where a lot of sexist incidents could take place, and where girls felt excluded from activities. Boys agreed that there was not enough supervision in the playground with only a couple of PSAs covering large areas.

These playground supervisors should also be fully trained in gender equality so they could identify and respond to sexist incidents. Staff should also be aware of micro-aggressions in these spaces, for example, girls being allowed to play but then boys changing the rules or refusing to pass, and boys taking over physical spaces, pushing girls to the margins.

Campaigns

All the children we spoke with, boys and girls, felt that a national campaign, visible in all schools, would be effective in raising awareness of gender inequality. There were ideas for poster campaigns in schools alongside social media campaigns led by government and backed by celebrities and influencers.

'Pay famous influencers to spread the word that this isn't ok. They need to stop promoting this stuff.'

S1/S2 girl.

Girls wanted the campaign to focus on girls' experiences because as they said: 'If boys don't understand they will never stop being sexist.' Primary girl.

There was also a feeling that such a campaign would need to target everyone in society not just children in school: 'People might not want to change – TV campaign to reach everybody.' Primary girl. S1/S2 girls made specific reference to the 'Don't Be That Guy' campaign from Police Scotland as an impactful and effective campaign that could be adapted for boys of school age.

The boys were also enthusiastic about a campaign as being an effective way of spreading awareness, although they did suggest that it would depend on the celebrity involved:

CP worker: 'Do you think, if there is like influencers and celebrities talking about sexism? You think boys would listen to them?' Boy: 'Yeah, yes, I would.'

Boy: 'Definitely'

Boy: 'If it was a male celebrity, I'm sure they would listen. Like if it was Dwayne, 'the rock' Johnson, for 1000% they would listen to him.'

Some children mentioned that they would also like a campaign to be led by teachers and friends rather than celebrities to make it feel more immediate and relevant to them. Any national campaign should also be accompanied by resources and training for teachers to explore themes in school.

Safe spaces

Girls spoke about the value of having sessions where they can regularly talk together about these issues and have their views taken seriously regarding solutions. All the girls were grateful to have an opportunity to talk about these issues, receive peer support, and be part of a solution.

They also felt that boys might benefit from a space to share experiences together and learn from each other. Creating these spaces in the classroom on a regular basis would open discussion and create empathy and understanding between children of all genders, including trans and non-binary children.

Gender inclusion and representation

A large area for improvement was gender inclusion and how girls are represented in books and the media. Girls suggested that books or other media or materials used in schools should be reviewed to make sure content was not sexist or presented stereotypes of girls or boys.

'The problem isn't just with boys it's with everyone. We need a gender person to check for sexism in TV programmes. Netflix is so bad. These programmes make people think that sexism is okay.'

Primary girl.

Girls wanted more fiction to feature strong women who made their own decisions and had their own adventures and called for school libraries to review content and remove books that promoted an outdated view of what it means to be a girl or a woman. Culture, through fiction and the media, was seen as a powerful way to change how everyone thinks about girls and women. Girls felt strongly that schools need to make sure that the materials children are accessing promote gender equality and agency in women.

'I would like to have books/TV where girls are more adventurous.'

Primary girl.

'One of my favourite Disney films is Brave and why it's my favourite is because all the other Disney movies involve like a Princess, there's always like a Prince, there's always like a male in it even if it's about the Princess, she's still seen as like "a princess" if you know what I mean, and she needs the man to help her or to rescue her. In Brave it was her mistake and she's the one who's fixing it and she's completely capable of that.'

S1/S2 girl.

Girls also talked about the restrictions they face related to school uniform and sports kit. Wearing skirts and smart shoes can be restrictive and make it harder to join in sport and play. Girls also felt that rules requiring the wearing of skirts for team sports such as hockey were outdated and sexist.

Finally, girls talked about commercial toys and clothes and how they set expectations from a young age about what it meant to be a boy or a girl. They felt strongly that toys and clothes should just be toys and not have gender attached to them.

'I think we should stop categorising genders, no matter what it's for.'

S1/S2 girl.

Changing things for boys

Girls also spoke about the need to improve things for boys and men and talked about having strong male role models for boys. Girls recognise the pressures boys are under to live up to sexist stereotypes and think there is a need for boys to be taught that it is ok to express feelings other than anger.

'Teach boys from a young age that they don't need to live up to stereotypes.' S1/S2 girl.

They suggested that older boys and teachers could act as role models and lead change by example: promoting gender equality and calling out sexist behaviour. Although they felt that some male teachers might need training before they were able to do this effectively: 'Male teachers don't really understand. They need to be educated too.' S1/S2 girl.

How do we know that we're making a difference for girls and young women?

The final question in our adapted Theory of Change discussion with girls was to address how we know explicitly that any actions taken are impacting positively. When discussing this question girls took a holistic view, wanting to make sure that everyone was considered - not just girls and young women. Many of their answers centred around making sure that everyone in school was healthy, happy, and safe, including the boys: 'You can't have gender equality if one gender is higher than the other.' Primary girl. There was a genuine desire to create a fair and equal system that worked for everyone. Interestingly, the secondary aged girls we spoke to focused more on ideas around feeling safe in their environment while younger girls spoke more about being included.

There was also a strong sense that 'activists should be unisex.' (S1/S2 girl) meaning that everyone is implicated in these changes and should be engaged in the process.

There are no more expectations linked to gender

Stereotypes and assumptions came up a lot in discussions with both boys and girls. Both felt limited by societal expectations on them. In a gender equal system girls felt that children would be able to just be themselves, be interested in what they were interested in, show their emotions, and wear the clothes they were most comfortable in.

'Girls wouldn't feel under pressure to sexualise themselves and act older. Boys would stop getting told to "man up".'

S1/S2 girl.

'If there was gender equality in schools, boys would be less angry as there would be less peer pressure on them to be a "big guy".'

S1/S2 girl

Removing these expectations would also reduce bullying and violence as boys don't feel that pressure to be tough.

'Yeah, you see that a lot, some people try to act tough. Some of the younger kids will try and act tough'

Primary boy.

Girls are included and excel in sport and play. Sport, and football in particular, were areas where girls experienced discrimination at school. In a gender equal system girls felt that they would be included in games and could take up physical space in the playground without threat from boys.

'We will have a space in the WORLD.'

Primary girl.

'Girls would be able to play with the boys. Girls would have space to take turns on the pitch.'

Primary girl.

Some of the girls decided to draw their idea of a gender equal world on the back of their prop; they drew a mixed football world cup. The importance of sport and play cannot be underestimated.

They also spoke about how important it was that boys welcomed this change and invited them into games and into their spaces, taking the emphasis off them having to fight to join in. We asked boys how they could make girls feel more included and the P6s responded: 'You ask them if they would like to play, if they say not that's fine. Like say if I go up to a girl and ask them to play and if they'll say yes or if they say no. And ask them if they want to be included in this game.' Primary boy.

Girls feel safe

All the girls we spoke to shared experiences of feeling unsafe because of the actions of men and boys. In a gender equal system, they spoke optimistically of feeling less scared and anxious both in school and out. This speaks to a need for wider societal change to ensure that girls are safe in all aspects of their lives.

'We wouldn't be frightened when we saw groups of guys out of school, even two boys. This makes us feel filled with dread. [Our town] is a scary place. We would be able to walk to school freely.'

S1/S2 girl.

'I would love it if I could have a day without boys bullying me because I'm a girl.'

Primary girl.

With girls reporting a loss of sleep and concentration as a direct result of fear and anxiety around men and boys (see section on context) there is a strong argument that attainment could improve as girls' safety improves and they are able to concentrate on their learning.

'They wouldn't need to watch around them, they can just be more concentrated. They would be able to concentrate more on their work.'

S1/S2 girl.

Girls have more confidence

With improved safety for girls, they would feel more confident and able to express themselves. Girls spoke about being able to find their voice and share their ideas more freely in a gender equal system.

'They would understand their worth.'

Primary girl.

Everyone deserves a voice.'

Primary girl.

'Everyone deserves space in the world.'

Primary girl.

Linking in with the idea of improved safety, girls also spoke about how attendance would improve if girls felt safe: 'Girls would feel more confident, actually happy to go to school.' Primary girl.

Teachers care, are trained and proactive

Girls and boys spoke about the importance of kind teachers who they could trust and speak to. In a gender equal system, they believed that teachers would take more time to interact with children and get to know them, rather than just teaching from the front.

Girls also believed that training for teachers would result in them taking sexism and sexual violence more seriously with stronger consequences for perpetrators. As a result, boys would be less violent and corridors and communal spaces would be calmer: '[There would be] calmer corridors. I wouldn't have to leave 5 minutes earlier so it wouldn't cut into education.' S1/S2 girl.

Proactive, aware adults in school would also mean a reduction in sexist and inappropriate comments as they would respond quickly and effectively to any incidents. Use of derogatory comments such as calling girls 'objects' would cease. 'The boys refer to us as just objects, that's used as an insult.' S1/S2 girl.

Boys and girls also felt it was important to have male and female teachers in both primary and secondary schools and across subject areas.

For girls there was a need for female teachers in male dominated subjects to make them feel safe and welcome in those subject areas. Indicators include more male primary teachers and more female teachers in STEM subjects.

Female reproductive health is a priority for schools from Primary upwards

Sanitary products would be available in all toilets (including accessible toilets) to allow girls to use them without stigma^[2]. Additionally, teachers would be trained appropriately and would allow girls to use the toilet whenever they asked, again without stigma. Teachers would also feel confident to talk about and teach reproductive health in the context of the Health and Wellbeing/RSHP curriculum from early primary level to remove the taboo of periods and the resultant bullying .

'Periods would be accepted and discussed as a normal thing. Not disgusting and unclean. There would be better sex education to teach respect.'

S1/S2 girl.

Friendship groups

Girls and boys mix and form friendships Younger girls especially placed a lot of importance on being able to feel included by boys and part of mixed friendship groups. There was an emphasis on the importance of kindness for everyone and how that would help change a lot of attitudes to women and girls.

'Friendships won't be weird between genders; it can be considered the normal.'

Primary girl.

Girls wanted to share space and experiences with boys, the majority didn't want to feel separate or apart and they felt that a good indicator that gender equality was improving would be that girls and boys would see each other as humans and be friends together.

Everyone feels included

Children have different experiences of being a boy and being a girl, everyone has a different background and different experience that they are bringing to bear. The children we worked with came from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures and were happy to speak from their personal experience. In doing so children identified that we would know we are making a difference when we acknowledge and gather the experiences of a wider sample of girls and young women. They demonstrated concern that all children should be included and equal as a result of this work. Conversations arose around particular identities that need to be considered in this work, both in responses to experiences and in training for adults.

There were wide-ranging conversations about transgender identities initiated by both the older and younger girls who all said that they had transgender friends and gender inequality affected them. All the girls reported that transgender pupils are not treated equally. The girls questioned why pupils are told to split into gender groups at all and said they thought it was wrong that they were forced to choose a partner of the opposite sex for dancing.

"If you are nonbinary and the class is split into boys and girls for activities, where do you go?"

Primary girl.

Girls wanted to learn more about transgender identities and felt that teachers should also learn and understand more to make sure everyone is included, safe and equal in school.

Some of the girls we worked with were neurodivergent. They reported that there were widely held gender misconceptions amongst teachers about neurodiversity that resulted in autistic and dyslexic girls being dismissed, misunderstood and not receiving appropriate support.

"There is a lot of misunderstanding amongst teachers that girls can't even be autistic and that dyslexia is only a boys' thing".

S2 girl.

The girls said that teachers needed training in understanding dyslexic and autistic people and that all the positives of being neurodivergent should be explained to pupils. They believe that these misconceptions sometimes prevent girls from getting appropriate support and contributes to anxiety in telling other pupils and adults about their needs.

When working with girls from different faiths, one girl spoke about her experiences and how her faith might make it difficult to take part in mixed activities: '[Muslim girls] are allowed to do everything basically the same, but they're not allowed to be as close to the boys.' Primary girl. Adults in school should have the knowledge and training needed to support children of different faiths and cultural backgrounds in school, ensuring both respect and equal participation for all.

Female Teachers are supported

Girls expressed concern for their female teachers during our conversations. They think there needs to be support in place for female teachers as women who are also subjected to sexism in a work context. They reported that their teachers often seem resigned to sexism in school and powerless to change things.

'There should be a place for teachers to call out sexist things as they must experience this too as boys grow into men.'

S1/S2 girl

The girls noted several examples of teachers agreeing with girls that a male teacher's behaviour was sexist, and then just sighing in a resigned way. They reported witnessing sexist incidents involving female teachers with no repercussions, such as female teachers being praised for their looks by male colleagues. The girls said we would know a positive impact was being made when female teachers felt empowered.

Challenges and barriers to progress

The Theory of Change model allows for creative, positive thinking. It is about pursuing solutions. However, it is also used to acknowledge and 'plot' challenges or potential barriers; acknowledging these means being realistic but not allowing the process to get stuck in what can seem intractable problems. With this in mind the conversations with children identified the following challenges or barriers to progress.

A sense of despondency

While all the girls we worked with were excited to take part and were passionate about this area, there was also a strong sense of despondency among them. Many of the girls talked about how big the problem was and how long it would take to fix. The girls had already been discussing these issues with each other and came with many clearly defined solutions, they just thought that no one would listen to them or take them seriously.

'Sexism is so normalised and such a societal problem I don't have much hope that we can fix it.'

S1/S2 girl.

'We are basically the clean-up team for the mistakes of past generations of gender inequality.'

S1/S2 girl.

The Taskforce could seek to address these concerns by setting and publishing clear, time-limited goals that demonstrate the commitment to change and by committing to an ongoing age-appropriate engagement with girls and young women.

Working with boys

One of the main challenges we faced in our work was in our engagement with boys. None of the boys we worked with initially recognised the issues identified in the Theory of Change as problems in their school despite girls in their schools reporting that sexism was a daily occurrence in their classes.

CP staff member: 'So you don't think, there are times where girls don't get to do the same things [as boys].'

P7 boy: 'Not around here'.

P7 Boy: 'Probably in like Afghanistan or something.'

P7 Boy: 'Yeah, girls don't get treated the same ways there.'

CP staff member: 'Basically this investigation has been done because there are statistics around this, and girls are feeling unsafe. And these are problems that have been identified.' P7 Boy: 'But not at this school'

This lack of acknowledgement of the issues was persistent and, in some cases, forceful. The P7 boys in particular did not recognise the importance of the work or see how it was relevant to them. The younger boys we worked with were much more receptive to the themes of the discussion, they were far more open, and expressed a willingness to listen and learn.

However, there was a belief among boys that girls receive preferential treatment in school. It was difficult at times to move past that as the boys felt that it was the most pressing issue to be dealt with when it came to gender equality.

'So sometimes girls get off with more things than like boys do'

Primary boy.

We appreciate the honesty and perspectives the boys bring to this work but the sessions with the boys were challenging and clearly demonstrate a need for improved education around gender equality for boys from a young age.

Language and Tone

An unexpected finding from our work was the disparity between boys and girls in how they understood and related to the language we were using. Our male staff member felt that the boys sometimes lacked the vocabulary to be able to discuss the issues with confidence. He needed to work a lot with them on understanding concepts such as 'inequality', 'stereotypes' and 'role models'. In contrast the girls we worked with were a lot more knowledgeable about these concepts and could talk about them from personal experience.

It was also interesting to note that the speech patterns for the boys and girls were quite different. Boys tended to express their ideas with more authority, even if it was to say that they didn't know or they didn't think it was a problem. The girls, while they had more to say and from a place of lived experience and authenticity, tended to qualify answers. They were more hesitant and were keen to reinforce that their views were just theirs and may not be shared.

"It feels like girls are made tiny by the boys thinking they are huge and more important."

S1/S2 girl.