Because of the importance of gender role attitudes (GRA) for both academic and social outcomes, it is crucial to understand how GRA is constructed and changes over time. A systematic literature review was conducted to look into the relationship between youngsters' GRA and individual, home, and school characteristics. Thirty-five international studies were identified through searches in different databases. The review reveals that the studies mostly apply a deterministic view to studying the construction of GRA, focusing predominantly on parent-child transmission. Effects of the school environment and individuals' own life experiences are under-studied. Also, data are mostly cross-sectional and leave little room for investigating evolutions of GRA over time. Suggestions for future research are formulated focusing on (a) a life-course approach that considers GRA as situated, experience-related, and therefore changing over time and (b) an intersectionality-informed approach investigating GRA at the intersects of multiple diversity dimensions.

No abstract

No abstract

Teacher-student interactions have received increasing attention as a predictor of student educational outcomes. With regards to the underachievement of boys, observational studies have shown that boys receive more negative attention from their teachers than girls. In this mixed-method study, the relationship between teacher-student classroom interactions, students’ perception of equity in the classroom, initial ability, and grade retention were analysed. Questionnaires and standardised ability tests for math and reading were administered to 6380 first-year secondary students. For a subsample of 129 students, fifteen-minute fragments of video-recorded lessons were coded. Information was gathered about students’ certification (grade retention). Logistic regression analyses provide evidence for the higher likelihood of students with a lower sense of equity to receive a certificate forcing them to repeat the current year. The odds to repeat a year were also significantly higher in students that are more off task. Gender was no significant predictor and, based on the regression results of multiple models, it is hypothesised that gender effects might be mediated through sense of equity. The interaction of gender and socio-economic background (SES) was a significant predictor. High SES girls are less likely than high SES boys to repeat a year. No gender difference exists in students from low SES. Finally, lower mathematical ability was a significant predictor of grade retention.

Research into the construction of individuals’ gender role attitudes (GRA) has primarily focused on the effects of socio-demographic characteristics and primary socialisation. Despite the school environment being recognised as a critical context of socialisation for adolescents’ GRA, quantitative research focusing on the dynamics of gender attitudes during adolescence remains conspicuously understudied. This study investigates the interplay between individual characteristics, the family context, and school peer gender culture on adolescents’ GRA in Flanders (Belgium). A longitudinal survey was administered (Npupil = 4063; Nschool = 57) and multilevel regression analysis confirms that pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds as well as boys express traditional GRA. It also indicates the importance of religion, rather than religious affiliation, in the construction of traditional GRA. Furthermore, primary socialisation via parental GRA remains an important predictor, although GRA socialisation also takes place within schools through the prevailing school peer gender culture.