In the face of ongoing attempts to achieve gender equality, there is increasing focus on the need to address outdated and detrimental gendered stereotypes and norms, to support societal and cultural change through individual attitudinal and behaviour change. This article systematically reviews interventions aiming to address gendered stereotypes and norms across several outcomes of gender inequality such as violence against women and sexual and reproductive health, to draw out common theory and practice and identify success factors. Three databases were searched; ProQuest Central, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Articles were included if they used established public health interventions types (direct participation programs, community mobilisation or strengthening, organisational or workforce development, communications, social marketing and social media, advocacy, legislative or policy reform) to shift attitudes and/or behaviour in relation to rigid gender stereotypes and norms. A total of 71 studies were included addressing norms and/or stereotypes across a range of intervention types and gender inequality outcomes, 55 of which reported statistically significant or mixed outcomes. The implicit theory of change in most studies was to change participants' attitudes by increasing their knowledge/ awareness of gendered stereotypes or norms. Five additional strategies were identified that appear to strengthen intervention impact; peer engagement, addressing multiple levels of the ecological framework, developing agents of change, modelling/role models and co-design of interventions with participants or target populations. Consideration of cohort sex, length of intervention (multi-session vs single-session) and need for follow up data collection were all identified as factors influencing success. When it comes to engaging men and boys in particular, interventions with greater success include interactive learning, co-design and peer leadership. Several recommendations are made for program design, including that practitioners need to be cognisant of breaking down stereotypes amongst men (not just between genders) and the avoidance of reinforcing outdated stereotypes and norms inadvertently.

Because bullying is a serious problem in Canadian schools, antibullying programs have been widely implemented to redress the problem. School principals in Ontario (N=395) completed a questionnaire to document the severity of bullying, the amount of anti bullying resources, and the variety of antibullying activities in their schools. Results reveal that reductions in bullying in previous years, sufficiency of resources for resolving bullying, and amounts of antibullying programming were all positively associated antibullying program outcomes. These data suggest that the investment of time, effort, and money in school based antibullying initiatives can lead to safer and more peaceful schools environments.

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Programs working with men and boys in relation to gender equality are increasing. Little is known, however, about how these programs go beyond raising awareness, to supporting attitude and behaviour change in their participants. In response, 17 facilitators from eight Australian organisations were interviewed to identify program design and delivery strategies that increase male participants’ engagement. Analysis of interview data revealed three themes and seven subthemes, which were crosschecked against survey data from 79 program participants. The themes were the provision of a safe, judgement-free environment; encouraging and supporting growth in participants; and the central role of the facilitators in the success of the first two themes, and in the delivery of programs more generally. Facilitator and participants held mostly consistent perspectives, which were comparable with the existing literature; variations from the literature were noted, however, regarding the lack of efficacy of single-session programs and the relevance of facilitator gender.

This article explores how the design and delivery of programs challenging gendered norms amongst men and boys can support attitude and behaviour change through more conscious and deliberate engagement with program content. Sixty-seven past participants of programs delivered by five Australian organisations completed an online survey based on their experiences. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) was used to explore participants' perspectives regarding motivation and ability to elaborate on program content, evidence of elaboration occurring, and experiences of attitude and behaviour change post-program. Program strengths included highlighting the personal relevance of program content, eliminating distractions and message comprehensibility. Opportunities for improvement included increasing message repetition and the number of message sources. Evidence of elaboration was present across all program types, including single-session programs, and included reflections on social and emotional learnings. The findings demonstrate how program design and delivery can support processing program material at a deeper and more conscious level, including when dealing with resource and time constraints.