INEQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM

Logan LeClair Kimberly May Collene Stallings Sarah Edwards

Brainstorming Gender-Related Challenges ¨  Women are more likely to be harassed in public

¨  Men are generally more respected in the workplace as leaders

¨  Women are discriminated against in the classroom

¨  Men are taken more seriously and given more attention in group settings

¨  Male teacher tend to favor male students

¨  Women are objectified in all forms of media

¨  Women are seen as unstable and emotional while men are sensible and insensitive

Furthering Our Knowledge ¨  Articles we found pertaining to inequality

in the classroom ¤  “Sexism in the Classroom: From Grade School to Graduate School”- By Myra Sadker and David Sadker

¤  “Muted Colors: Gender and Classroom Silence”- By Elaine Frederickson

¤  “The Classroom Climate: A Chilly One for Women?”- By Roberta Hall

Source: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20403143?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104071845253

Our Problem Statement ¨  Women have been discriminated against and

men have been given the upper hand

¨  Women have been indirectly taught to listed more than they talk

¨  Many women are not fully prepared for leadership roles because they have habitually tried to stay quiet

¨  Potential career differences between males and females that trace back to inequality in school settings

Source: http://womeninequality101.blogspot.com

Intervention Ideas ¨  We decided to make a blog on the topic of women and possible

discrimination in the classroom

¨  The aim of this blog was to obtain thoughts and examples of what actually goes on in the classroom

¨  The blog would create a tangible source of true life stories of discrimination in the classroom

¨  The overall goal was to blog about acts of gender discrimination that we saw or personally experiences and invited others to do the same

Why We Chose a Blog ¨  Allowed outside participation

¨  Allowed us to update regularly to include new questions or stories

¨  Allowed to track the progress that we made throughout the semester

¨  Provided more data than a one time survey or campaign

Source: http://flatironcomm.com/2013/02/blogger-vine/

Beginning Blog Questions ¨  Have you ever been treated differently in class because of

your gender?

¨  Do you feel that females are held to a higher standard than males or do you see it as an even playing field for all?

Ending Blog Questions ¨  Have you noticed more gender inequality in the classroom since

you started paying attention to it?

¨  Have you become aware of anything that you have done to contribute to gender inequality or have you realized that you have suffered from gender inequality?

Implementation Plan ¨  Who’s involved?

¤  NCSU Students ¤  Others who wish to be involved

¨  How do we get participants? ¤  Create a blog

¤  Post thought provoking questions, videos, and articles

¤  Post surveys

¤  Put up flyers for the blog

¨  What is the time frame? ¤  Post at least once a week leading up to the end of the semester

Implementation Plan (continued) ¨  Roles of each group member:

¤  Logan LeClair- documenting our blogs progress and monitoring the results of the surveys

¤  Kimberly May- create the blog and post the background information of our intervention

¤  Collene Stallings- creating flyers and posting them around main and centennial campuses to advertise the blog

¤  Sarah Edwards- doing research to find outside examples to post on the blog and incorporating course materials

Creation of the Blog ¨  Created a title that would be eye catching when seen on a flyer or any other

advertising method

¨  Designing our blog with gender neutral colors to prevent bias

¨  Set-up the basic informative tabs: home, amount, our team, take action, and resources

¨  Included a posts and comments policy as a way to censor what was posted on the blog

Source: http://classroomprobz.blogspot.com

Our Blog

Source: http://classroomprobz.blogspot.com

Blog Viewing Statistics

Source: http://classroomprobz.blogspot.com Source: http://classroomprobz.blogspot.com

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¨  Handed out flyers

¨  Sent out emails, that included our flyer, to WISE, the Women’s Center, the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity, the Executive Director of “Feministing”, and the Deputy Editor of “Jezebel”

¨  Emily May of “Hollaback!” recommended our blog via Facebook

Findings

Beginning of Blog Survey Results

Have you posted or commented on the blog?

Are you an NC State student? Is your major or profession in a STEM Field?

Are you from North Carolina?

Yes 7 17 10 14

No 18 8 14 10

Ending of Blog Survey Results

Have you ever posted before?

Have you become more aware of gender

inequality in the classroom?

Has your opinion of gender inequality

changed?

Are you an NC State student?

Is your major or profession in a STEM

Field?

Are you from North Carolina?

Yes 9 20 18 10 16 13

No 24 13 15 23 17 20

Social Action ¨  Raised awareness ¨  Provided a safe space to

express feelings on inequality

¨  Opened up discussion topics to stimulate conversation

Source: http://freedomhunger.blogspot.com/2014/01/found-my-power.html

Conclusions ¨  Inequality to both males and females ¨  Most people have observed more discrimination since the blog

began

¨  Most people want equality for all

¨  According to our surveys, discrimination occurs in STEM and non-STEM fields

Recommendations for Improvement ¨  Increase our range of viewers ¨  Post more frequently

¨  Include more controversial questions to spark more conversation

¨  Advertise with more than just flyers

¨  Blog for a longer period of time

Relating to Course Material ¨  We were provided with the

opportunity to become activists

¨  Allowed us to explore and challenge gender related stereotypes

¨  Evaluates the roles of women in the STEM field

Source: http://www.casl.umd.umich.edu/wgst/

What We Learned ¨  A new blog is slow to start and takes time to get people to post

¨  It is somewhat intimidating at first since your material has to be perfect to create a good first impression

¨  Views are easier to get than comments

¨  A lot of people had never thought about the concept of gender inequality or really understood what it meant

¨  Both men and women strive to create equality

Works Cited ¨  Barbercheck, Mary. “Science, Sex, and Stereotypical Images in Scientific Advertising.” 118-132. <

http://130.58.92.210/Students/phys29_2013/ElectronicReadings/Week%2010/Barberchek.pdf >

¨  Berrgeron, Suzanne. "U of M Dearborn." Women's & Gender Studies: College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. < http://www.casl.umd.umich.edu/wgst/. >

¨  Frederickson, Elaine. “Muted Colors: Gender and Classroom Silence.” Language Arts. 77.4 (2000): 301-308. Web. 16 Feb. 2014 http://jstor.org/discover/10.2307/41483069?uid=2134&uid=2&uid=4&sid=211035157729683.

¨  Guthrie, Jessica. "Found my Power." Freedom Hunger. N.p., 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. < http://freedomhunger.blogspot.com/2014/01/found-my-power.html. >

¨  Hall, Roberta. The Classroom Climate: A Chilly One for Women?. Diss. Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, 1982. Washington, DC: Project on the Status of Education of Women, 1982. Web. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED215628.pdf.

¨  Himler, Peter. "Flatiron Communications LLC." Flatiron Communications LLC RSS. N.p., 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.< http://flatironcomm.com/2013/02/blogger-vine/. >

¨  Katz, J. (2012). Jackson Katz: Violence Against Women-it’s a men’s issue [Video file]. Retrieved fromhttp://ted.com/talks/jackson_katz_violence_against_women_it_s_a_men_s_issue.html.

¨  Rasmusen, Lucy. "Women Inequality." Women Inequality. N.p., 4 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://womeninequality101.blogspot.com.