In the face of stubbornly persisting differences in the careers of women and men, equality has become a priority school topic. This project investigates teachers’ courses of action and how their perceptions of this urgent societal issue influence their handling of the topic.
Background
In Switzerland, gender equality education is set down in school policy documents. Thanks to the Swiss Conference of Gender Equality Delegates in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the cantons there provide resources to the schools to foster diverse ways of life and to question stereotyped role models. Nonetheless, career choice continues to be strongly influenced by gender, and women’s careers are more frequently obstructed by invisible barriers (glass ceiling).
Aim
This project examines how teachers make use of the teaching aids for gender equality education and how this is connected with their own assessments of the equality issue and with their working environment.
A sample of teachers and school principals in the French-speaking region of Switzerland will be surveyed by questionnaire. The questionnaire taps how the different education actors handle the gender equality topic and their attitudes towards it. Interviews with teachers will complement the data and provide information on the deeper associations between values, gender equality concepts and teaching practice. In addition, interviews with policy makers in education and gender equality will investigate the specific situation in each canton and identify how much importance the different cantons attach to this school topic.
Significance
The project has an action research dimension. It addresses different actors in the education system and signals to them how important gender equality education in schools is. Based on the recommendations, all of the actors involved will be able to take a more targeted and thus more efficient course of action.
Original title: Enseignement de l’égalité à l’école: pratiques et représentations enseignantes
Grant: CHF 246‘656.-
Duration: 30 months
Project leader
- Professor Farinaz Fassa Recrosio, Institut des sciences sociales (ISS), University of Lausanne