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Todd Gunzenhauser

Professor Wray

UWRT 1103

April 18, 2017

Gender Bias in the Classroom

Some people consider gender bias to be a major issue in todays society while others

believe it is a problem of the past. Previously men and women had distinct roles in society such

as women becoming teachers or secretaries while men pursued any career of their choosing. In

the modern day it would be difficult to argue that people of any sex are completely restricted

from specific careers, both subtle and not so subtle gaps appear in particular fields of study. This

can be shown no where better than within the college setting. However, gender bias is not simply

an issue we must live with; it can be combatted and with the proper treatment eliminated. I

believe that gender bias is an issue in the classroom and it can be overcome by educating

teachers and students about the issue.

The first article dealing with gender bias is titled A Scientific Diversity Intervention to

Reduce Gender Bias in a Sample of Life Scientists. The authors of this article are Moss-Racusin,

Corinne A., Jojanneke Van Der Toorn, John F. Dovidio, Victoria L. Brescoll, Mark J. Graham,

and Jo Handelsman. The purpose of this article was to establish if gender bias does indeed occur

in a classroom setting. It also studied how to reduce the gender gap that is experienced within

STEM fields. The process taken by this study was examining different workshops across the

nation, handing out surveys before and after the workshop and comparing the results. These

workshops focused on the issue of gender bias within the STEM field and the attendees were

both men and women that are currently employed in a STEM field. The end result of the study
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concluded that lingering gender biases can undermine the representation of women in STEM,

ultimately restricting access to talented professionals (Moss-Racusin et al., 2012). This

conclusion shows that gender bias clearly is an issue and does not exist only in a classroom

setting or isolated areas but instead is persistent throughout who fields of study. Another part of

the article discusses ways of eliminating gender bias in these fields. By examining the results of

surveys 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the workshop they were able to find that, before the

intervention, male participants displayed higher levels of modern sexism (Moss-Racusin et al.,

2012). This shows that in order to combat gender bias and sexism, especially in the STEM fields,

it is required to educate those working and teaching within those fields. The earlier we can teach

students to overcome gender the bias the easier it will be to overcome this issue.

The next article by Kaylene Mae Stevens and Christopher C. Martell titled, An Avenue

for Challenging Sexism: Examining the High School Sociology Classroom focuses on how to

combat sexism not just in the classroom but in the real world too. This article investigates six

different high school sociology teachers and looks at how the way they teach their classes and

how it affects the students views on sexism. According to Kaylene Mae Stevens and Christopher

C. Martell, the study found that by spending more time on gender and womens issues, the

gender-focused teachers were able to use the sociology classroom as a place to reduce sexism.

This shows that by focusing on the issue inside of classes can shift the way people view gender

bias in the classroom and in the outside world. Furthermore within the article, one teacher shows

a compilation of clips in the media that displays clips of sexism towards female politicians. One

male student even states that when you compile these clips altogether you can clearly see the

gender bias and understand why we have so few women politicians (. This direct quote from a

student within one of these classes really shows how peoples views can be changed with even
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something as one video. Simply by looking at real world examples it is clear why certain fields

are male dominated rather than equal. Overall this article really shows how teaching students

about gender bias can help eliminate the issue because it allows them to realize the extent of

sexism especially in male dominated fields.

While it is nearly impossible to say gender bias does not occur in STEM fields, some argue that
females simply do not find STEM fields as interesting as men do on average. This logic would
also reason that having such a large gender gap in specific fields is simply natural and nothing
wrong however this is a dangerous way to view the issue. One fully comprehensive study on this
topic by the University of Washington found that, the gender gap in STEM interest is smaller
among high school seniors at schools with stronger math and science offerings, the researchers
note. But courses in computer science, engineering and physics are less likely to be offered and
required in U.S. high schools than courses in biology, chemistry and mathematics (Bach, 2016).
This shows that many women simply are never introduced to the topic and still have the view
that it is a mans job because they never get the chance to see if they enjoy these topics. If
nothing is done about the gender gap found in various fields then there will never be a solution
because the problem would never be solved. In order to combat this issue there needs to be a
shift in teaching about gender bias so people are aware of the situation and can act on it on their
own.
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Works Cited

Bach, Deborah. "Why do some STEM fields have fewer women than others?" UW

Today. University of Washington, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Kaylene Mae Stevens, and Christopher C. Martell. "An Avenue for Challenging Sexism:

Examining the High School Sociology Classroom." Journal of Social Science Education

15.1 (2016): 63-73. ERIC. ERIC, 2016. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Moss-Racusin, Corinne A., Jojanneke Van Der Toorn, John F. Dovidio, Victoria L. Brescoll,

Mark J. Graham, and Jo Handelsman. "A Scientific Diversity Intervention to Reduce

Gender Bias in a Sample of Life Scientists." Life Sciences Education. CBE, 5 Sept. 2015.

Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

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