You can be whatever you want to be, unless you’re a girl. Far from showing young girls that the world is full of opportunity, schools are harbouring deep seeded perceptions about gender.
Language plays a huge role in this issue and this was clear to see during an end of year awards celebration at my child’s school. The boys were given aspirational awards including Mr Mathematician, Mr Engineer and Mr Jet Fighter Pilot. While the girls were handed the likes of Little Miss Dress Up and even Little Miss Hairband for a child who appeared to have achieved nothing greater over the academic year than wearing an eye-catching hairpiece.
You could argue that these awards were harmless fun, but they could also be reinforcing a role that could stay with that child throughout their school life and beyond. Mr Mathematician was praised by his teacher and peers for his ability. Little Miss Hairband was told that her appearance elicited most praise.
Where is the aspiration?
Disturbingly, these localised perceptions are being played out on a wider scale. A far-reaching study printed in the US publication Science showed that young girls believed brilliance or talent was more of a trait in boys. This could start to answer why Maths and Science careers are more popular with boys.
Another study, produced by the Girl Guiding group showed that stereotyping was a major barrier that had an impact on how girls performed in school.
Pre-schools
In Sweden, there is a move to combat this with two gender-free preschools recently launched.
Here, stories include heroines sweeping men off their feet, while songs are re-written to include non-nuclear families, single parents and same-sex couples. They allow for a more accurate representation of our melting pot of cultures, communities and societies.
This can make a short-term impact but once those children move on to primary school, that gender equality does not follow them.
Future Changers
This is a clear barrier to progress. Who knows how many potential future changers could be suppressed by an ingrained feeling of inferiority because of their gender?
I am not asking you to ignore the biological differences between boys and girls.
What I am saying is that we don’t want another generation of young girls growing up feeling inferior. We don’t want another generation of young girls believing they aren’t good enough to achieve what they want in life. And we don’t want aspiration to be something we talk about as if it is for everyone, but actually it isn’t.
Equality
We need to de-emphasize gender; to give all children the confidence to look at themselves and understand their own strengths and weaknesses as an individual and not just as someone who may or may not have been born with an extra Y chromosome.
But this isn’t a challenge for schools alone. Nothing can change unless parents, communities, the media and society come together under the united banner of individualism.
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