Removing Early Barriers to Achievement

Study reveals effects gender stereotyping has on children, and suggests path to a better future.

submitted by the Fawcett Society

Harmful gender stereotypes significantly limit children’s potential, warns a report from the Commission on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood. The commission was established by gender equality campaigning charity the Fawcett Society, and calls for changes in education, parenting and the commercial sector.

If government, companies, educators and parents take action, we can challenge stereotypes and change lives, making it possible for our children to live with fewer limitations.” — becky francis, chief executive of the education endowment foundation

“Unlimited Potential,” the final report of the commission, sets out how gender expectations significantly limit children, causing problems such as lower self-esteem in girls and poorer reading skills in boys. The report finds that stereotypes contribute to the mental health crisis among children and young people. Stereotyped assumptions also significantly limit career choices, contributing to the gender pay gap. The report also evidences that parents want to see change, and sets out a number of practical solutions.

The commission found that a majority of parents recognise there is a problem. Additional findings include:

• 74% say boys and girls are treated differently, and six in 10 (60%) say this has negative impacts.
• Asked what work they could see their kids doing when they grow up, seven times as many could see their sons working in construction (22%) compared to just 3% for their daughters, while almost three times as many could see their daughters in nursing or care work (22%), compared to 8% in relation to their sons.

The report finds that gender stereotyping persists in parenting, education and the commercial sector:

• Among education practitioners working with children ages 0 to 7, six in 10 say they often or sometimes see other staff assume boys and girls want to do different activities.
• Four in 10 (38%) education practitioners had either negligible or zero training on challenging gender stereotypes before starting their roles.
• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic practitioners were more likely to perceive differential treatment of children based on race, alongside gender, with 55% seeing this for Black boys and 49% for Asian girls, compared with 29% each among white practitioners.
• 58% of mothers and half (50%) of fathers say [gender stereotyping] limits the jobs girls feel able to do when they are older.
• An audit of 141 high street shops and 44 online retailers found that children’s clothes, cards and stationery are often sold using explicit gender segregation, and toys are still sold using gender stereotyped colours and grouping of boys’ toys and girls’ toys.
• It also finds there is significant support for change:
• 66% of parents want to see companies voluntarily advertise toys to boys and girls in the same way.
• 80% say they want to see their child’s school or nursery treat boys and girls the same, with the same expectations and opportunities.
• On the impact of racial bias alongside gender stereotypes, 67% of parents agree that treating children differently on the basis of race from an early age has negative consequences.
• 65% of education practitioners believe parents would be supportive if they challenged gender stereotypes in their work, including 73% of those who work in schools or settings with a religious character.
• 74% of education practitioners want challenging gender stereotypes to be covered in initial training for their profession, while 70% want it to be assessed by education regulators like the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

The report sets out the changes that need to happen. The commissioners call on the Department for Education to make challenging gender stereotypes a priority all the way through teaching and childcare — from initial training to curriculum to inspection frameworks. They want to see toy companies drop “toys for boys” and “toys for girls” in their advertising and product design, designers to end stereotypical imagery and slogans on clothes and improve the representation of female characters in books, TV and online content. They also want to see more support for parents to help them challenge gender stereotyping.

Sam Smethers, Fawcett Society Chief Executive, said:

“Gender stereotyping is everywhere and causes serious, long-lasting harm – that’s the clear message from the research. From ‘boys will be boys’ attitudes in nursery school [onward] to ‘jobs for boys and jobs for girls’ views among some parents, these stereotypes are deeply embedded, and they last a lifetime.”

Change is needed, Smethers said, but the endgame is “not about making everything gender neutral.” Efforts such as routinely showing young children women as leaders, scientists [and engineers] is important. Parents recognise there is a problem, he said, but want to see real change on the part of the government and corporations.

Francis said:

“What every parent hopes for their child, and what educators hope for children in their class, is that they will be free to achieve their potential, yet what the evidence shows is that we still limit our children based on harmful, tired gender stereotypes. That adds up to real harm. From boys’ underachievement in reading to the gender pay gap, the evidence is clear that the stereotypes we impart in early childhood cause significant damage to our children.

“But this is also a message of hope. If government, companies, educators and parents take action, we can challenge stereotypes and change lives, making it possible for our children to live with fewer limitations.”

Case For Change

Existing research analysed for the commission shows the harm that stereotypes do, but also offers a positive case for change if we challenge gender stereotypes:

• Gender stereotypes result in girls, by the age of 6, avoiding subjects they view as requiring them to be “really, really smart,” which results in lower take-up of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in later life.
• Gender stereotypes intersect with stereotypes about race to cause harm, such as school exclusion of Black boys.
• Role modelling: Evidence gathered by the commission also shows how parents divide up tasks impacts children’s perceptions of gender stereotypes, and getting fathers more involved can help challenge stereotypes.
• The commission explored how online content on outlets such as YouTube can perpetuate gender stereotypes. They found women were underrepresented among the top 10 kids’ channels on YouTube, making up just 38% of characters represented. They also point out that, because the algorithms behind video platforms play “more of the same,” if kids start off watching stereotyped material they are unlikely to see anything that challenges it.

Recommendations

The report sets out key recommendations for action on the part of the government to help parents challenge stereotypes. The government should:

• Equalise parental leave and create a longer, better paid period of non-transferable leave reserved for dads and “second” careers. Evidence shows that parents’ role modelling of equality has a big impact on children’s perceptions of what women and men can do. Enabling fathers to be more involved is key.
• Embed an understanding of gender stereotypes in antenatal and health practice. The Department of Health and Social Care should issue guidance to support NHS midwives who deliver antenatal classes, and health visitors, to enable their practice to challenges gender stereotypes and make space for parent-centred discussions about them.
• Take meaningful steps to support practitioners and companies to challenge gender stereotypes in their work.
• Issue new teacher training guidance. We recommend that the Department for Education (DfE) extend the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework to include knowledge and understanding of gender stereotypes, and stereotypes relating to race.
• Make actively challenging gender stereotypes integral to good early years practice. It is positive that the new Development Matters document makes reference to challenging gender stereotypes.

The DfE must go further. At its next review and the next Early Years Foundation Stage review, work must be done to make active challenge of gender stereotyping a feature of good practice. This can be framed within the context of the EYFS (early years foundation stage) guidance that asks practitioners to consider each child as a “unique learner.”

For the full published report, visit fawcettsociety.org.uk/the-commission-on-gender-stereotypes-in-early-childhood.