Gender Communication Education

ELIZABETH DAVIS

PROFESSOR EBBEN

CMS 498

Sociologist Patricia Yancey Martin (2004) outlines 12 characteristics of social institutions. Institutions (1) are social, (2) persist across time and space, (3) have distinct social practices that are repeated, (4) constrain and facilitate behavior, (5) designate social positions characterized by expectations and norms, (6) are constituted by people, (7) are internalized as part of people’s identities, (8) have a legitimating ideology, (9) are contradictory, (10) continually change, (11) are organized and permeated by power, and (12) are not separable into micro and macro phenomena. (pp. 1256–1258)

Gender in Institutions is Challenging

Reasons

1) Institutions are amorphous. Institutions are the practices and beliefs that link groups and organizations together.

2) Institutions are large and pervasive in society.

3) Institutions are interdependent.

4) They normalize rules and values—make them seem natural and universal.

5) Institutions change constantly and embrace contradictory values and norms.

Why It is Difficult

Institutional forces influence how people perform their gender identities.

*Institutions communicate gender and are gendered through communication.

*Studying gender/sex is complex because gender/sex is constructed at both the micro and macro levels at the same time.

References

Martin, Patricia (2004, June). Gender as social institiutions. Social Forces, 82(4), 1249-1273

Race, ethnicity, social class, and other social categories also affect a child’s learning opportunities.

Interestingly, British education scholars Becky Francis and Christine Skelton (2005) suggest the popular focus on the gender/sex of students rather than race and social class may simply be happening because it is an easier option for the government to address.

It is less political than race because it raises fewer questions about social injustices in the current educational system.

The reality is that schools are not typically expected to bring about social equality or cultural change, but rather to maintain the existing culture and its values, thus to maintain the current hegemonic relations (Stabiner, 2002).

This clip may seem comical reflecting the school of the past? But, many would argue that there are aspects that still rear their heads.

Intersectionality is key to understanding gender in education.

This means incorporating elements of race, ethnicity, sex, citizenship status, religion, and social class to better understand the complicated elements at play (DeFranciso and Palczewski, 2014).

Social class and gender 'have huge effect on the way pupils are taught'

The results are mixed as to which system is better. Should students be in same sexed classes? Do boys do better than girls when separated?

The information is inconclusive and by the time the results are in from a study, there is a new line of thought.

It continues to be difficult at best to determine what method is best and most suitable for boys and girls. We do not know!

Classroom interactions: No other social institution promotes the notion that girls and boys are different as constantly as education. Whether meaning to or not, teachers and administrators tend to make sex distinctions a central part of children’s identities (DeFranciso, Palczewski, 2014).

World Bank Gender ProjectIncorporating gender strategies to make it a better world which necessarily encompasses Education.

Communication is global and we must incorporateAnd investigate what may be a Better way of viewing and Understanding the world.

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The authors discuss this issue but apparently they do not know the answer either. At the top, Education is a male controlled profession because that is what has been socially constructed by the power elite. These are my thoughts. It is only by taking the authors suggestions of becoming more sensitive to the institutional workings and starting small and noticing the little things that become ingrained and reinforce the power structure. Each chapter, including the introduction and last chapter essentially challenges us to see the inequality and injustice that is socially constructed and to point it out when you see it and take a part in correcting harmful practices when possible. But, do not contribute to making things worse.

Gender & Education cstubbePublished December 18, 2013

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Some possible solutions: Keep Learning

Be mindful of the things you read in the course

Speak up when you notice hurtful language

Do not be a contributor to furthering injustice

Take note of institutional patterns and see where things can be adjusted for the better.

View Identity from an intersectional approach

Put your new found cultural gendered lens to good use by observing and then speaking up and then possibly changing