Gender equality in education: Scottish Youth Parliament research

Key Messages and Actions

• Teachers – all teachers should receive training on the issue of gender equality, both for primary and secondary education.
• Education - Work with young people to develop a toolkit where they can deliver peer to peer learning in school. Engage with young people and involve them in the process. PSE and Modern Studies classes to be utilised as a place where discussions on issues such as sexism and harassment can be had. Ensure all genders are working alongside each other in these discussions, to fully understand each other.
• Curriculum – the curriculum should be updated to ensure all pupils are learning about and fully understanding gender equality and its impact for pupils in education and for society.
• Intersectional approach – an intersectional approach needs to be taken whereby the social and cultural experiences of seldom heard groups can be heard.
• Campaign – a campaign within and wider than education to have an impact. Use high profile influencers or something like Police Scotland's Campaign 'Don't be That Guy'.
• Reporting - mechanisms within schools and to ensure incidents are recorded and useful for data collection purposes.
• Leadership – meaningful engagement from teachers and championing gender equality within the school environment.