Gender equality in education: Scottish Youth Parliament research

Findings

Question 1. Who should be involved in the change?

• Everyone should be involved in the change.

In response to this question, it was noted that change cannot happen without taking an intersectional approach where all voices and experiences are heard. Participants agreed everyone should be involved in change but many also agreed that change needs to come from young people themselves, with males having a key role due to the influence of their voice over other genders. One male participant cited that 'male privilege' must be talked about and understood and this learning should come from peers, male peers, so that the 'pressure' is taken away from females. The power imbalance where the voices of males are more respected, than those of females was also cited.

• "I agree that everyone has a role to play in the change needed. However, the pressure must be taken off young women and placed onto young men and males. Girls should have as little or as much involvement as they want, it is unfair to ask them to recount their traumas; I think this would turn them into a case study and be dehumanising."
• "The stuff that we are talking about almost happens out-with the classroom, out-with teaching – it's not that teachers don't have role, it's the same as I would feel more comfortable confronting a teacher, rather than a peer. The authority in this doesn't actually lie with the teachers, it lies with the pupils – and it needs to come from the pupils."
• "Young people are in this age and era who experience this – so young peoples' views on change are important."
• "Men and boys need to understand they are privileged for a difference to be made, so they will necessarily need to be involved. Women should be involved because they're best placed to identify the issues. To achieve a culture shift the status quo must be highlighted and criticised, and that can't be done without everyone being consulted and asked to make change. Teachers should absolutely have a role, but it should be led by a group of young people."
• "Who – we need women but also need men, men get more respected by other men and not so much women."
• "Intersectionality is so important and all voices should be considered in everything we do."
• "I feel this is framed as a teacher thing, that the teachers are imposing that – I think with what we are talking about with our peers – it's very much a product of their own environment not an individual personal thing per se –but they are the products of the system, which is no surprise."
• "I don't think this issue can be solved tomorrow, it will eventually but it will take a long time. It needs to be done right – it can't be this should happen and then that's it. It needs real actions. The way to do this is not just government it's everyone."

Participants also thought teachers should be involved in any changes but highlighted how they bring their own ideas of gender norms to the classroom, and this can be problematic.

• "Teachers should be involved but not those already in leadership positions (unless they have a keen interest) with teachers having a say (not facilitating, perhaps providing advice only). In schools currently, there is a clear hierarchy between teachers, pupils with leadership roles and everyone else, and the further up the change comes from, the more likely it is to be rejected."
• "Teachers have a role, in Modern Studies they are supposed to be unbiased by they are not. Issues about gender too they are often generalised."
• "I think not all teachers are aware of what they are saying – so if it is called out during training so they don't take these views with them into schools."
• "Teachers should be involved with pupils too. Teachers bring ideas from their own experiences with them. Young people should be able to share and speak out what they think is wrong."
• "Teachers need to understand these attitudes impact pupils – if they are saying these things, we don't want other young people to have these views –from people in this position of authority. Young people learn from others and in school this is teachers."
• "When teachers are training, they need to be aware of these ideas – I had a female science teacher, and she was really good at making sure all the girls were encouraged to do what they wanted – this helps."

Emerging theme from question 1:

The impact social and cultural norms have on gender equality in education.

A common theme that emerged from question one, 'who should be involved in any change' in relation to gender equality in education, is the impact of an individual's social and cultural norms. Participants cited that gender equality in education cannot be viewed in isolation without a consideration of societal norms and an individual's cultural norms, which are then brought into a school environment. They also expressed society's perception of women versus society's perception of men, citing that sexism, women's safety and status in society are somethings that needs to be addressed.

• "It's hard to think of gender equality in education without thinking of the issues as a societal problem."
• "I'm aware of many male dominated households – and women not really feeling comfortable teaching their boys to be feminist and teaching them ideas of how to combat sexism. I feel like a lot of the time we hear 'respect women' but what does that actually mean…"
• "Teachers can create cultural norms so they have a role to play, they are often not aware of their impact on pupils and their 'cultural norms' as an individual are naturally being brought into the classroom. But as girls and young women are impacted, they should be key players in any change. However, this inequality has a bigger and longer impact on society, so everyone needs to be involved to make a difference."
• "But teachers treat females and males differently – girls get treated harsher and boys don't. Boys get patted on the head whereas girls feel they have to mature faster. The way men get treated in a family has an impact too."
• "I definitely think males would listen to other males more. It's society's image of women as well, sometimes males don't listen when it's a female pupil talking in school and I don't know why this happens. Even promoting a school bake sale – if it was a popular male – more people would listen to them, rather than if it was a female student."
• "Women in general get treated differently we are seen as weaker or not as smart. This is in public and private life – my parents have this view – these enforced gender roles. Women get called out for being emotional – or over dramatic. For boys they struggle to show emotions."

Women's safety was raised as a concern by both male and female participants. Having conversations with men and working towards changing the way some men speak to women, so that they understand how 'trivial' comments impact women and girls was noted as a change that needs to happen.

• "So much again will come from issues within the home. Expectations of men too, and by society. When a girl does something it's – what they are going to be labelled as – the big issue is men need to try to be good people and having a safe environment for everyone. Even now walking home, it's really dark when school finishes, it's worrying for pupils."
• "Need to change the societal attitude towards the glorification and normalisation of violence against women. Little comments that guys give to girls, as trivial as they may be, the start of that change that needs to happen."
• "We need more public figures and celebrities supporting it, posters in male toilets, especially in night clubs where many men think it acceptable to spike girls and women."

Question 2. Where do we need to start if we want to change things?

• Change needs to start by involving young people of all genders with buy in from adults.

In response to this question, it was noted that change needs to start by involving young people. They want to be involved but need to be given the space and buy-in from the adults around them, highlighting the importance of these conversations. Peer to peer conversations were highlighted repeatedly. Young people have said all genders need to come together so they can learn together and understand each other so that there is an understanding of each other's experiences.

• "We need to have meaningful conversations with pupils and teachers, common ground to make sense of it all, teaching both to call things out and how to make changes."
• "I think 'meaningful conversations', whilst important, don't put women on the spot and make it their responsibility to educate men. In my opinion, we've had enough meaningful conversations and we need to look at more tangible ways of uprooting sexism in education and society."
• "Go into schools and talk to young people, do surveys and get their opinions, they want their views heard."
• "Tackle it at the root cause. Gender based violence is a cause and a consequence of gender inequality, so it needs cultural change to turn it around. Attitudes need to change, and those attitudes start young. Racism is still a huge issue in our society but it is now by and large morally indefensible, the same is not yet true for sexism."
• "Pupils and staff need to be educated about gender inequality and misogyny, so they at least have a basic understanding of the issue, and privilege needs to be highlighted. This could prompt a change in school rules (tackle the most obvious things first), however stamping out the root cause is also key. I think a balance needs to be struck between causes and outcomes being tackled."
• "But peer to peer through organisations would be a good thing – but this can be shrugged off too. It's just a huge web of interconnected issues and it's hard to unpick all of that and solve it."
• "I think there should be less of a separation between girls and boys – when you separate and start teaching girls about girl's issues and boys about boy's issues. When you split guys and girls and start talking about periods like it's this secretive thing – that starts hiding everything to do with the female experience and the 'wee seed' of you wanting to hide very normal things to do with the female experience, as it's been seen as this shameful thing."

Within these responses participants also expressed a concern about the authority and confidence of teachers to skillfully approach and respond to issues of gender equality. Participants also suggested updating the curriculum so that young people can learn and schools can embed the subject of gender equality.

• "I think in school these conversations are shut down. Teachers are trying to 'cushion' everyone in – they are not confident that they know how to do that and avoid it. I get where they are coming from as it's safer for them to keep the peace – but it doesn't mean that's the end of that conversation. We need to look at the training teachers are being given on how to have these debates, we need to have difficult conversations where pupils are corrected and can learn and move on. I think it's getting harder and harder to have these conversations."
• "I wonder if teachers are being given the opportunity to speak up about these issues - does the environment of teaching profession make it hard for them to say things. I think it's about skills building - pupils are a different voice to teachers and are able to straddle that peer group and authority – that puts them in a real powerful position. They can build more casual relationships because they don't have the professional authority of the teacher – this is a relationship tailored to cultivating young people and promoting growth."
• "We need to update the curriculum to include more women's voices. All the scientists you hear about are male – and makes girls think they can't go on to do something like that."
• "If we could add to the curriculum 'what is feminism' and 'what is gender equality' and give the facts. Otherwise, where do they get their ideas and learn about this! My school wanted to introduce childcare classes, but just for girls. That's not right."

One participant strongly expressed that an intersectional approach needs to be taken when considering any changes and the experiences of girls and young women from different cultures.

• We need to take an intersectional approach here – we can't just put girls and young women into the same hat, and it be all the same. I did work with Young Women Lead and BAME women. The barriers that are faced by specific cultures must be considered. As a South Asian person, I think about the different gender roles that women have in these communities and it plays a part in what subjects I'm taking, who I can socialise with and that has a ripple effect to men. Intersectional tools are needed."

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

• Teachers need to be trained and empowered to skillfully approach and respond to issues of gender inequality. This training should be threaded through their teacher training programme.
• The curriculum should be updated to include learning and understanding of gender equality.
• Peer to peer mentoring and meaningful conversations need to take place.
• A nationwide campaign about societal gender equality.

In response to this question, it was noted participants cited a range of ideas and activities that they would like to see actioned. For example, training teachers, both primary and secondary so that they have the confidence and knowledge to engage with pupils on the topic of gender equality. The curriculum should be updated to include all aspects of gender equality, this needs to include issues such as sexism, male privilege and training on how to have these conversations.

Peer to peer mentoring was cited as an action so that young people can engage, together, in conversations and learn from each other. This action needs to start at Primary level where young people are developing their own ideas of the structures of society and are already influenced by the people around them. However, it was strongly cited that these can't be one off conversations, it needs to be a broader whole school approach, to embed gender equality into school policy.

Below are some direct quotes in response to what can be done to change things.

• "My recommendation is embedding anti-sexism in every area of education. Reading books by female authors in English, using girls' names in math problems, studying gender inequality in modern studies, talking about FGM in PSE, using case studies of female scientists in physics, etc. I think it's important to frame it in (as much as possible) a positive way to get more people involved."
• "Change needs to start at Primary level education as this is where attitudes and ideas of gender roles begin. Society genders things and this impacts everyone."
• "This issue needs to be discussed in teacher training. Not just a PowerPoint talking about gender equality but in-depth discussions on the topic and how teacher own attitudes and assumptions impact the views of the pupils they teach."
• "This is a really broad question. The starting point is to identify a few of the big issues and tackle them individually – the solutions need to be adopted by schools, not just spoken to, and they need to be practiced, not just like a workshop and then that's it. Unions should be involved too – when they are together on something they can be very powerful. It needs to be a flagship not just a workshop and move on."

Some participants noted an important part of making a change is teaching men how to have conversations about gender inequality and understand what it really means. The need for these conversations to happen where all genders are learning together was emphasised.

• "Teaching men how to have conversations with other men – I think that's the thing that's really tricky for guys. So, I think standard training on how to have those conversations – especially when there's that toxic masculinity that means that these guys are not used to taking criticism and not expecting to get it from their peers."
• "Get people to understand privilege. Most people see gender inequality as being in pay gaps, subject choice etc, but the issues run deeper. Train staff or (ideally) a mixture of boys and girls as peer mentors to deliver sessions/assemblies on privilege. People generally don't want to be seen as promoting inequality, so making them understand privilege (and notably making sure people know their peers understand it) should promote a desire to combat it. I think educating boys and girls independently won't work, as there will be less pressure from peers to accept the material if they are separated."

The question of 'what do we need to do to change things' was cited by some participants as difficult to answer due to the systemic issue of gender equality in society. For that reason, participants suggested there should be a nationwide campaign, so that the issue is brought to the attention of everyone.

• "A nationwide campaign. The recent campaign from Police Scotland 'That Guy' I think it's such an amazing campaign, it highlights it is on men's shoulders – that safety net – the onus is not on women to protect themselves rather on the perpetrator, which is mainly men and men calling each other out."
• "It needs to involve both levels of government, local level too, everyone needs to chip in. Co-operation of everyone is needed. It's not just about pupils, it's teachers, SQA and addressing all parts of education. But the tricky part is society, you can change everything – but it's the reality. Religion has an impact too, people have individual beliefs where a level of tolerance is needed. When you really think about this issue, it's absolutely massive and there is not one single way to tackle it."

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

• When boys and young men take a stand and speak out.
• When more women are in traditionally male dominated spaces.
• By collecting data.

In response to this question, many participants cited that we'll know a difference has been made for girls and young women when boys and young men take a stand, call out and speak out, when they are witness to any sexism or attitudes that perpetrates gender inequality. The presence of more women in traditionally male dominated spaces was also cited as a way of knowing some difference is being made.

It was also highlighted that schools need to collect data on young women's experiences of harassment as many negative experiences are taking place that feed into behaviours becoming accepted social norms.

• "The presence of women, whether that's physical presence or verbal presence. When I think about the problem – I think about the lack of women in STEM and it's something that keeps coming up – if we start to see a lot more women in those spaces, I think we see a lot more difference. Also contributing to conversations – think about what is the problem, again, we need women coming into more male dominated spaces."
• "I think schools need an effective and anonymous process for reporting behaviour. I've walked home from school and boys are like – oh my friend wants to marry you, and it's not cat calling but it's still behaviour that makes girls feel uncomfortable."
• "To know a change has been made – talk to women and girls to find out if these opportunities have been made available to them."
• "By looking at the stats of GBV (gender-based violence) and seeing if women and girls feel more comfortable speaking up."
• "It would be easy to say when girls and young women feel safer and more confident, but a key point will be when boys and young men stand up and speak out when they hear sexist or degrading comments."
• "Seeing an increase or decline of female harassment. We need data to be collected."
• "I think schools need to collect data on gender equality. Women don't count things that happen to them, like this. Unless it's extreme – we need more visible things to say this is not acceptable. It's not 'boys will be boys' it's damaging behaviour for men in the long run."

There was a strong sense in response to this question where some participants felt that the narrative needs to change from 'girls and young women don't speak up' to "girls and young women are given the space to speak up." Participants felt that it is about space being made for girls and young women to talk and speak out. Many female participants shared experiences of the backlash they received when in these spaces and the damaging impact this has on young women and their potential future career choices.

• "A part of how we know we're making a difference is – just watching a classroom, observing the behaviour – the different ways girls give feedback. I think it would be interesting to see one group girls and one mixed to see any difference."
• "A friend tweeted something about women and girls being scared of being public figures – that's been my experience. I've had food thrown at me –because I had been running workshops about rights respecting schools and freedom of expression – I'm outspoken and some would not carry on due to that. This experience has made me reconsider being involved in politics in the future."