This document examines how gender inequalities are portrayed in media and their effect on students' educational opportunities. It discusses how gender is a social construct that influences norms through media portrayal. Gender stereotypes shape and limit educational opportunities by emphasizing different futures for boys and girls. While efforts have been made to appeal to male students, they often alienate others and have little impact. The mass media now educates youth through constant access, influencing their developing values and expectations within education systems. Further work is still needed to change social attitudes and norms influenced by media portrayals of gender.

1. GENDER
HOW DOES THE MEDIA
EXPLORE AND PORTRAY
GENDER INEQUAL ITIES WITHIN
THE EDUCATION SYSTEM? AND
WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS HAVE
O N S T U D E N T ’ S E D U C AT I O N A L
OPPORTUNITIES TODAY?
James Harte
Caitlin Rogers
Taylah Nilsson

2. GENDER IS A SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION AND REFERS TO A
RANGE OF ATTRIBUTES THAT
CHARACTERISE AND
DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN
MASCUL INITY AND FEMININITY
- J O H N M O N E Y ( A S C I T E D I N U D R Y, 1 9 9 4 )
MEDIA PLAYS AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN
PRODUCING AND REINFORCING
SOCIAL LY CONSTRUCTED GENDER
NORMS
- W O H LW E N D ( 2 0 0 9 )

3. GENDER IN THE MEDIA

4. GENDER STEREOTYPES HAVE BOTH SHAPED AND
LIMITED THE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES OF
STUDENTS
• ‘The education of girls differed significantly from that for boys
… Girls domestic futures were emphasised as were boys
occupational futures’ (Jane Kenway, 1990)
• The media portrayal of the idea of an ‘ideal’ level of
masculinity results in alienation and bullying of many
students. (Martino, 1999)
• It is this masculinity that is integrated into school curriculums
around the world in attempts to appeal to male students and
improve literacy levels. ‘boy-friendly’ material like ‘sports and
adventure stories’ is encouraged to be integrated, yet has
proved to have little effect and has potential to alienate many
students (Francis and Skelton, 2011)

5. Gender Stereotypes as Viewed by
Children
http://www.tubechop.com/watch/3799246

6. • This no longer only relates to adults but now all the way
down to very young children as they are also
constructing and internalising their own gender
expectations through media interaction
• This can be seen in the previous video

7. • The mass media are now a form of education for today’s
youth. With unlimited and continual access to all forms
of media such as newspapers, movies, television, radio
and the online platform, students are learning whether
or not they are trying or even aware of it.
• This can raise issues and challenges for schools in both
an educational and learning context as well as social
(Cortes, 2005). Expected gender values and ideas
within the education system, as well as the medias
influence on outcome is presented and described
through a firsthand experience in the video following

8. A first hand account of the media’s influence
on an all-girls boarding school

9. TOP FIVE FIELDS OF STUDY IN AUSTRALIAN
SCHOOLS FROM 2006 - 2011
Only 11% of Australian engineers are Female (Kaspura, 2012).

10. • Debbie Sterling is an engineer and founder of GoldieBlox, a
toy company out to inspire the next generation of female
engineers. Debbie presents a TED talk on how she is tackling
the gender gap on science, technology, engineering and math
with today’s younger females.
• Engineers are making some of the biggest advances in
today’s society such as medical break throughs which are
now changing our lives. With half the population being female,
you would think that it would make sense to have female
perspectives with these creations and advancements
(Sterling, 2013)

11. • Voyer and Voyer (2014) conducted a meta-analysis
study which looked at the difference between genders
and their marks from teacher-assigned tests. The
different age groups consisted of elementary, middle
school and high school students as well as at the
university level for both undergraduate and graduate
Degrees.
• Their research found that girls received better grades
than boys in all subjects, with this pattern following back
until 1914. The biggest differences between males and
females are in language and the smallest with math.

12. SUGGESTED REASONS FOR THIS:
• Boys will tend to focus more on doing well on final
exams whereas females are more likely to try
understand the material
• Parents expect for males to naturally perform better in
schooling and so will encourage and support females
more.
• Girls find it easier than boys to sit still and concentrate in
class, or at least to behave in a way that pleases
teacher.

13. • It is commonly assumed that females will start to “dumb
down” between the ages of 10 to 14, when actually their
lead in math and science is starting to develop at this
age.
• Despite this, girls will tend to start to lose an interested in
math and science around the age of 6. This study
suggests that this lack of interested is then created from
our culture.
• Girls are brought up with a social understanding of how
men and women should behave. When you walk into a
toy store and down “the pink isle”, it is very clear through
all the dolls, make up kits and tiaras the sort of image we
are presenting to our children and what they should be
interested in.

14. • In the growing world, the equality of gender roles has become a
battle. Educationally, gender role stereotypes restrict individuals
from learning certain subjects due to their lack of intellect of
physical capabilities.
• The Melinda Leves complaint to the Equal opportunity Tribunal
marked a landmark case in gendered education. Her schools
inadequate subject selection in relation to that of her brothers
school was found to be discriminatory and relying heavily on
gender stereotypes.

15. • These gender-based stereotypes believed in the high
intellectual capabilities, and typical masculinity of males.
The subject restrictions between the schools were
evident, and relied on these stereotypes to justify the
available subjects.
• This challenge the gender roles within her school was a
major milestone. It aided in changing gender stereotypes
within educational systems, and enabled the selection of
typically to a wider variety of students. However, this idea
hasn’t yet been adopted in all educational systems.

16. • Leves believes that gender equality in education requires
both sexes, not just females, to rethink those common
norms in which we learn to see within educational
curriculums. A way in order to do this can be through
dropping the gender-based classifications of certain
subjects and allow them to try and achieve things for
themselves.
• The media’s influence over their audience that portrays
what should be expected within today’s society. However,
there is still much to be done in order to change the current
social attitudes that are developing and turn them into a
more liberal sense.

17. REFERENCES
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Top five fields of study in 2011. Retrieved from:
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Cortes, C.E. (2005). How the media teach. The Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of
Education, 1, 55-73.
Disney Princess play. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(1), 57–83
Kaspura, A. (2012). The engineering profession: A statistical overview. Institution of Engineers Australia,
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http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/shado/Representation/Stats/statistical_overview_2
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Kenway, J. (1990). Gender and Education Policy: a Call for New Directions. Geelong, Vic: Deakin
University.

18. REFERENCES
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