Gender Bias in Education

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Gender Biases in Education A child’s gender schema begins as young as two years of age. By age seven, a child is capable of stereotyping and applying particular sex roles to genders. In V.S. Sumi’s, Education and Gender Discrimination, Sumi explains how society, as well as our educational system, shapes the biased minds of our being. Students, teachers and administrators are unaware of gender inequalities in education impacting women’s careers, lifestyle and well-being according to Susan Klein’s Handbook for Achieving Sex Equity through Education. If girls were given the confidence to accelerate in education, Norah, in Carol Shield’s Unless would have given herself the chance in achieving a successful future. Intelligent women such as Daisy Flett in Carol Shield’s The Stone Diaries would not have lost their jobs to unqualified men if people were aware of gender inequities present in the educational system. Although a gender gap is present, with aggrandized awareness of the controversy through empathizing with female history and literature and education prevalent to both genders, girls will achieve greater success in their individual futures. In creating a gender-friendly educational environment for students, gender biases within the workforce will decrease in effect. Society has shaped the way educators, teachers and students perceive women. People have preconceived notions that women are incapable of achieving the same educational success as men. Teachers, once students, teach students how they were taught. Teachers are generally unaware of their own biased teaching behavior and the subtle gender inequities in teaching material that is often overlooked. “Over the course of years the uneven distribution of teacher time, energy, attention, and talent with getting the lion’s share, takes its toll boys getting the lion’s share, and takes its toll on girls” (Sumi,

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