Gender-specific teacher expectations in reading—The role of teachers’ gender stereotypes

Muntoni, Francesca; Retelsdorf, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.06.012

Cited by 115 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Therefore, it is not surprising that teachers' gender stereotypes relate to their students' academic self-concepts. For example, boys have lower academic self-concepts and performance in reading if their teachers have gender stereotypical expectations regarding reading skills (Retelsdorf et al, 2015;Wolter et al, 2015;Muntoni and Retelsdorf, 2018). Similar relationships have been found between teachers' gender stereotypes and girls' academic selfconcept and performance in mathematics (Tiedemann, 2000;Steinmayr et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

REFLECT – A Teacher Training Program to Promote Gender Equality in Schools

et al. 2020

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Despite formally equal educational opportunities for women and men, educational and occupational careers are still characterized by gender disparities rather than gender equality. Men are overrepresented in STEM fields and higher positions, while women are frequently working in low-status jobs in the health and social sector. These differences already emerge during school time, when girls report lower academic self-concepts in STEM subjects than boys even after achievement is controlled for while the same is true for boys' self-concepts in reading and languages. Gender stereotypes that are conveyed by socializing agents are assumed to play an important role in maintaining gender differences in education. Teachers are important starting points for promoting gender equality in education as their attitudes and instructional practices are known to influence students' motivation and performance substantially. To promote girls and boys equally in coeducational settings, teachers have to reflect on their own gender stereotypes. Moreover, they require knowledge about gender differences in education and about teaching methods to foster the motivation of all students regardless of their gender. However, gender stereotypes are rarely dealt with in general teacher education and training programs that build teachers' competences for reflective coeducation are sparse. Against this backdrop, we present the teacher training program REFLECT that was developed to foster secondary school teachers' competences for supporting students in developing their individual potentials without being restricted by gender stereotypes. REFLECT is theoretically based on the systemic actiotope model and aims to expand teachers' objective action repertoire (knowledge, teaching methods) as well as their subjective action space (self-efficacy beliefs, implicit theories). The results of a pilot study show the effectiveness of REFLECT. Teachers' objective action repertoire and subjective action space for promoting boys and girls equally increased, as did students' knowledge of gender differences and perception of diversity fairness in the classroom. Implementing the contents of REFLECT in general teacher education could contribute to sustainably achieving gender equality in education.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

REFLECT – A Teacher Training Program to Promote Gender Equality in Schools

et al. 2020

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“…These stereotypes do not just affect the students who are subject to them; they are also prescriptive and therefore lead people to hold biases that reinforce and perpetuate them. Educators and teachers in Europe have been shown to have biases that reinforce stereotypical beliefs about the lower performance of students from some ethnic groups, from lower social classes, and, within certain subjects, of certain genders (Autin, Batruch, & Butera, 2019; Batruch, Autin, & Butera, 2017, 2018; Burgess & Greaves, 2013; Muntoni & Retelsdorf, 2018). For example, evaluators of an identical dictation test spotted more errors when they were led to believe it was written by a low‐ compared to high‐SES student (Autin et al., 2019), and teachers were harshest in their assessments of tests that were supposedly completed by high‐achieving low‐SES students (Batruch et al., 2017), thereby helping to reestablish the expected social order.…”

Section: The Identities In Context Model: Linking Contextual Variatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, students’ academic tracks are usually reviewed annually, whereas in others, such as the Netherlands, academic tracks are set on entry to high school and subsequently reviewed only on entry to postgraduate study. Students who are expected to do poorly because they are subjected to descriptive and prescriptive negative stereotypes are more likely to get placed in lower sets than their ability warrants (Autin, Batruch, & Butera, 2015; Batruch et al., 2017; Connolly et al., 2019; Francis, Hodgen, Craig, Taylor, Archer, Mazenod, Tereshchenko, & Connolly, 2019a; Muntoni & Retelsdorf, 2018). It seems likely that these students will perceive this as a stark indication that they are not expected to do well or that they cannot trust the school to treat them as individuals rather than as a member of a stereotyped group (Yeager, Purdie‐Vaughns, Hooper, & Cohen, 2017), particularly because some stereotyped groups tend to be overrepresented in lower sets (specifically, lower class students, girls, and some ethnic minorities; Connolly et al., 2019).…”

Section: The Identities In Context Model: Linking Contextual Variatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Tackling Educational Inequalities with Social Psychology: Identities, Contexts, and Interventions

Easterbrook

Hadden

2020

Social Issues Policy Review

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Some groups of students-typically those who have suffered because of historical inequality in society-disproportionately experience psychological barriers to educational success. These psychological barriers-feelings of threat to their social identity and the sense that their identity is incompatible with educational success-make substantial contributions to inequalities in educational outcomes between groups, even beyond economic, historical, and structural inequalities. A range of wise psychological interventions can help remove these barriers by targeting students' subjective interpretation of their local educational context. In this review, we outline the Identities in Context model of educational inequalities, which proposes that interactions between students' social identities and features of the local educational context-expectations about a group's academic performance, a group's representation in positions associated with academic success, and a group's orientation towards education-can trigger social identity threat and identity incompatibility in ways that vary considerably across contexts. We present an implementation process, based on the Identities in Context model, that academic researchers, policymakers, and practitioners can follow to help them choose and tailor wise interventions that are effective in reducing educational inequalities in their local context. Throughout the review, we make policy recommendations regarding how educational practices can be altered to help remove psychological barriers for underperforming groups of students and so reduce educational inequalities. Some groups of students-such as some ethnic minorities or those from lower class backgrounds-on average achieve much lower academic grades and

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“…Beliefs of significant others predict students' own beliefs, motivation, and performance, with research on gender stereotypes particularly supporting the role of teachers (Gunderson et al, 2012;Muntoni & Retelsdorf, 2018;Retelsdorf, Schwartz, & Asbrock, 2015;Tiedemann, 2002;Wolter, Braun, & Hannover, 2015) as well as the role of parents (Muntoni & Retelsdorf, 2019). Gender stereotypes of classmates as another relevant group of significant others have been rather neglected in previous research.…”

Section: The Influence Of Classmates On Students' Academic Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beware of Stereotypes: Are Classmates’ Stereotypes Associated With Students’ Reading Outcomes?

2020

Self Cite

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This study examined the associations between classmates’ reading‐related gender stereotypes and students’ reading self‐efficacy, self‐concept, motivation, and achievement. Our sample consisted of 1,508 fifth‐grade students (49% girls; age: 10.89 years); data were collected at two time points. Multilevel analyses yielded two main results: First, there was a relation between students’ individual reading‐related gender stereotypes and their reading self‐concept, self‐efficacy, and motivation with boys experiencing negative and girls experiencing positive effects. Second, a contextual effect was found: after controlling for students’ individual reading‐related gender stereotypes, classmates’ gender stereotypes were negatively related to all of the boys’ reading outcomes. The results provide evidence for the assumption that classmates are important communicators of gender stereotypes and that they reinforce conforming behaviors.

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Gender-specific teacher expectations in reading—The role of teachers’ gender stereotypes

Cited by 115 publications

References 63 publications

REFLECT – A Teacher Training Program to Promote Gender Equality in Schools

REFLECT – A Teacher Training Program to Promote Gender Equality in Schools

Tackling Educational Inequalities with Social Psychology: Identities, Contexts, and Interventions

Beware of Stereotypes: Are Classmates’ Stereotypes Associated With Students’ Reading Outcomes?

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