GENDER AND EDUCATION

Expert report is a review of international research evidence on the relationship between gender and education. It focuses especially on the Lisbon objectives and EU benchmarks. It provides a critical, empirically and theoretically-informed analysis of how gendered identities relate to educational processes and outcome.

The research reviewed suggests that education policy makers should ensure that gender equality is a real rather than a rhetorical priority and that change is substantively resourced in teacher education and in school practices

There is little attention given to gender equality in pre-service and in-service education in many countries. Neither is teachers evaluated on the degree to which their learning relationships contribute to gender change or social justice. Policy implications and recommendation: Teachers and trainers need to be educated systematically on both the theory and practice of gender equality in education. Evaluation of teaching practice should include evaluation of equality practices for pre-service teachers (including lecturers in higher education). Schools and colleges should be evaluated in terms of their gender equality outcomes on a systematic basis

The growing marketization and commercialization of education, particularly of higher education, has important gender implications. The highly competitive, macho culture which marketisation promotes discourages women from occupying senior managerial posts and from advancing to senior research and academic positions. The 24/7 culture of work that marketisation promotes is often premised on the assumption that one is not a primary career, and this really disadvantages women.

Policy implications and recommendation: There is a need to research the impact of the marketisation and commercialization on the career opportunities for women, and careers throughout the education sector.

Parents and peers play a crucial role in framing subject preferences and job/career preferences. Changing the attitudes of parents and peers is as crucial for challenging gender stereotypes as is changing the attitudes of teachers. Policy implications and recommendation: There needs to be a more imaginative and systematic use of adult education and new media technology to promote gender equality among parents and the wider public. 15. The gendered character of different   study and occupations operate as anticipatory forms of socialization that influence young girls’ and boys’ subject and job/career choices. Policy implications and recommendation. Education itself is a tool for challenging subject stereotypes. This involves making the theme of gender equality a core module on compulsory courses and mainstreaming critical thinking about gender matters across all subjects.

Both subjects and occupations have symbolic identities that are gendered. Consequently, many parents and peers see boys as "naturally" interested in the sciences and girls as pre-disposed to the arts. Policy implications and recommendation: Changing the culture of subjects and professions is a slow process but educating about gender is a key to change. All subjects should do should not equated to sex bases bias so long as every student can take them irrespective of his or her sex.

Across European schools and universities there is much greater awareness of gender equality as an educational issue than there was in the past. Women have greatly increased their levels of attainment in education, surpassing men in their rates of attainment in public examinations in many countries. In addition, women's participation and achievements in traditionally male-defined