Schools’ ‘Glass Ceiling’ Imperils Girls, Study Says
Girls face significant obstacles in their education and are often discouraged from pursuing studies that could lead to well-paying jobs, according to a forthcoming study. The report, commissioned by the American Association of University Women, is a comprehensive review of existing research on girls in public education. It includes 40 recommendations for promoting more equitable treatment of girls in schools, ranging from stricter enforcement of laws against sex discrimination to the adoption of gender-neutral curricula. These recommendations will be discussed at a national summit of education organizations in February. The study argues that the glass ceiling for girls starts in the classroom and leads to their exclusion from lucrative careers in fields like science, technology, and engineering.
The president of the A.A.U.W. Educational Foundation, Alice McKee, stated that the construction of the glass ceiling begins early, during preschool, and continues throughout high school. By that point, girls are steered away from fields that offer high-paying jobs and towards traditional, gender-segregated roles. The report’s implications are described as significant, as the lack of proper education for girls leads to a loss of talent. Anne Bryant, the executive director of the A.A.U.W. Educational Foundation, emphasized the importance of educating girls properly to create job opportunities beyond poverty-level wages and management-level positions.
The research review, titled "The A.A.U.W. Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls," was conducted by the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women with funding from the A.A.U.W. Educational Foundation. It draws on research that reveals disparities between the treatment of boys and girls in classrooms, biased textbooks, and limited encouragement for girls to pursue certain subjects or careers. Based on these findings, the report makes several recommendations, including stricter enforcement of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. It also calls for increased teacher training on gender issues, the adoption of gender-neutral and multicultural curricula, and greater efforts to involve girls in mathematics and science studies.
The report highlights the need for gender equity in vocational-education programs, the reform of standardized tests to eliminate bias, and a decreased emphasis on test scores for determining scholarship recipients. It also emphasizes the importance of girls’ and women’s involvement in educational reform, including equitable representation on reform committees. The report recommends the implementation of national standards for data collection, ensuring accurate comparisons between states and districts. Additionally, it calls for improved programs addressing health, sexuality, and the prevention of sexual harassment.
The report notes that both the formal school curriculum and informal classroom interactions send discouraging messages to women and girls. For example, it highlights a study from 1989 that found only one book written by a woman and none by a minority group member among the most frequently assigned readings in public high school English courses.
‘Raise Your Hand’
According to the A.A.U.W. review, research has shown disparities in how teachers treat boys and girls in the classroom, as well as differences in teacher behavior towards black girls and other students. The report reveals that teachers tend to pay more attention to boys, provide them with more encouragement, and actively seek answers from them more frequently. A study cited in the report showed that boys in elementary and middle school were eight times more likely to call out answers than girls. Moreover, when boys called out, teachers listened. However, when girls called out, they were told to "raise your hand and speak." The research also indicates that black girls have less interaction with teachers compared to white girls, even though black girls make more attempts to initiate such interaction than white girls or boys of any race. Additionally, black girls receive less recognition from teachers for their academic achievements, despite often performing better than boys.
Increasing Disparity in Science
While the report acknowledges concerns about disparities between boys and girls in math and science achievements and participation, it highlights that the differences are more alarming in the field of science. In math, the report suggests that gender disparities in achievement are small and decreasing, and differences in participation are minimal and mainly exist in higher-level courses. However, in the field of science, gender differences in achievement are significant and potentially growing. The study also found that although the disparity in the number of science courses taken by boys and girls is small, the types of courses differ. Girls are more likely to enroll in advanced biology, whereas boys tend to choose advanced chemistry or physics. The report notes that boys have a greater advantage over girls in achievement in the physical sciences. Additionally, even when girls do study science and math, they do not receive the same level of encouragement to pursue careers in the scientific field. Nevertheless, the report’s findings concerning girls and math are seen as positive, indicating that efforts by educators to modify math instruction and tests to better cater to female students have been effective.
Limited Representation of Women in Testing
The report identifies standardized testing as one area of education where gender bias is most apparent. It points out that a glaring source of bias lies in the unequal representation of women and men in test items and the perpetuation of gender stereotypes. Despite efforts since the 1970s to balance references to men and women and remove items that are perceived as offensive to women, a 1984 analysis of standardized tests revealed twice as many references to men as to women. Furthermore, there were more pictures of and references to boys than girls. Similarly, a study of reading comprehension passages in multiple versions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test conducted during the 1984-1985 academic year found references to 42 men and only 3 women. Such bias undermines the test’s validity in assessing the abilities of both boys and girls and can affect the allocation of financial aid when SAT scores are the primary criterion. The report suggests that factors such as grades, portfolios of student work, and extracurricular activities should be considered alongside test scores to ensure more accurate assessments of student abilities.
For a price of $14.95 per copy for A.A.U.W. members and $16.95 per copy for nonmembers, interested individuals can obtain copies of "The A.A.U.W. Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls" from the A.A.U.W. Sales Office. The contact information is as follows: P.O. Box 251, Annapolis Junction, Md. 20701-0251; telephone (800) 225-9998, extension 91.
