No Child Left Behind?

An Analysis of Gender Bias in the American Classroom

Aniqa Raihan

Women in Global Politics

Professor Michele Clark

December 16, 2016

Executive Summary

This paper asks the question: as gender inequity decreases in the United States

and more women earn degrees, why are so many occupations still so segregated by

gender? It traces the answer back to early childhood education and in particular, gender

bias in elementary school classrooms.

The paper then break gender bias down into two main categories: bias on the part

of the teacher and bias in textbooks and classroom media. It illustrates some of the ways

in which teachers cater to boys and neglect girls, often unintentionally. It then delves into

gender bias in textbooks and other media consumed in the classroom, which plays a role

in constructing harmful misconceptions about gender roles and limitations.

Once an understanding of gender bias has been established, the paper provides an

overview of its effects and the importance of reversing the trend. Finally, it provides

several possible solutions and suggestions for making classrooms more gender equitable.

2
Table of Contents

Introduction..4

Gender Bias on the Part of the Teacher...5

Gender Bias in Textbooks and Classroom Media9

The Impact of Gender Bias in the Classroom12

Why it Matters...14

Solutions and Conclusions.15

Bibliography..19

3
Introduction

In many ways, we are living in the most gender-equitable time in American

history. Women are working more and getting married later. Women are military officers,

CEOs, lawyers, and breadwinners. For the first time ever, a woman won the popular vote

for the presidency of the United States. Women comprise half the population of the

United States but 57% of college students. 1 Yet, women account for less than 20% of the

U.S. Congress.2 They head only 4% of Fortune 500 companies. 3 They make up 48% of

the total workforce, but hold only 24% of STEM jobs. 4 In stark contrast, almost 97% of

secretaries, 92% of nurses, and 82% of elementary and middle school teachers are

women.5 So, we must ask the obvious question: as gender inequity decreases all around

and more women earn degrees, why are so many occupations still so segregated by

gender?

It is widely accepted that education, both the ability to receive one and its quality,

provides the foundation for what is possible in peoples lives. The question of gender

inequity in the workforce can be answered by analyzing gender inequity in education,

especially in the crucial stages of early childhood. Gender inequity, like all other types of

inequity, is born out of bias, sometimes conscious and sometimes not. Gender bias in the

classroom shapes people in many lasting waysit has the ability to either build or inhibit

1
Back to School Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences,
United States Department of Education, 2016, http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372.
2
Women in U.S. Congress 2015, Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University Eagleton
Institute of Politics, http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-us-congress-2015.
3
Valentina Zarya, The Percentage of Female CEOs in the Fortune 500 Drops to 4%, Fortune, June 6,
2014, http://fortune.com/2016/06/06/women-ceos-fortune-500-2016.
4
David Beede, et al, Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation, Economics and Statistics
Administration, United States Department of Commerce, August 2011,
http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/womeninstemagaptoinnovation8311.pdf.
5
20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women, 2009 Annual Averages, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
United States Department of Labor, 2009, https://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/20lead2009.htm.

4
confidence and ambition, guide interest, and establish a framework for what professional

paths are considered achievable for each student.

Gender bias is defined as behavior that shows favoritism toward one gender over

another. Most often, [it] is the act of favoring men and/or boys over women and/or

girls.6 Gender bias in the classroom takes two primary forms: differing treatment by

teachers based on gender and gendered representations in textbooks and other classroom

media, including books and classroom guests. Gender bias in the classroom, as in most

institutions, tends to favor boys. Though the question of which gender gets called on

more often in class may seem small in the grand scope of things, it has long-lasting

effects, both on individuals and on society as a whole. If left unchecked, gender bias can

harm girls confidence and self-esteem, discourage ambition, and reinforce professional

gender roles. Gender inequity in the United States in professional fields such as STEM,

politics, and business can be traced back to early childhood education, from the

distribution of leadership roles and speaking time in classrooms to representation in

textbooks, novels, and other media.

Gender Bias on the Part of the Teacher

The first and most damaging form of gender bias in the classroom can be seen in

the way teachers treat girls versus boys. This bias can manifest in several ways: some

students may get called on more or less often than others, some students may be selected

for demonstrations and leadership roles more often than others, some students may

6
Jennifer Rothchild, Gender Bias, Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2007,
http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405124331_yr2012_chunk_g9781405124331
13_ss1-11.

5
receive more one-on-one attention when they are struggling, and some students may be

disciplined more often for the same behaviors than other students.

In writing the book Still Failing at Fairness: How Gender Bias Cheats Girls and

Boys in School and What We Can Do About It, David Sadker, Myra Sadker, and Karen

Zittleman studied hundreds of American classrooms and found consistent patterns of

gender bias, often unrealized by the teacher. They observed that male students

frequently control classroom conversation. They ask and answer more questions. They

receive more praise for the intellectual quality of their ideas. They get criticized more

publicly and harshly when they break a rule. They get help when they are confused. 7

Girls, on the other hand, receive less instructional time, less help, and fewer challenges.

Reinforced for passivity, their independence and self-esteem suffer. Girls are penalized

for following the rules.8 Zittleman and the Sadkers identified several forms of gender

bias by teachers, none of which are devastating in themselves, but the combination of

which leaves a lasting impact on both male and female students.

One manifestation of gender bias is in the way that teachers respond to students

work. There are four possible ways in which teachers can respond: praise, remediation,

criticism, and acceptance. Zittleman and the Sadkers found that praise makes up about

10% of teacher responses, criticism only 5%, remediation about 33%, and the other 52%

was mere acceptance. Acceptance, while not directly negative, does not encourage

students the same way that praise does, and it also does not help them like remediation

does. Girls are significantly more likely to receive acceptance than any other kind of

response, while boys receive more of the other three. While acceptance may seem

7
David Sadker, Myra Sadker, and Karen R. Zittleman, Still Failing at Fairness: How Gender Bias Cheats
Girls and Boys in School and What We Can Do About It (New York: Scribner, 2009), 65.
8
Ibid, 66.

6
harmless, especially as opposed to criticism, it neither fosters female students interest in

learning nor prepares them for the real world, in which criticism is inevitable. 9

Another manifestation of gender bias in the classroom is what Zittleman and the

Sadkers refer to as the bombing rate. The bombing rate is how long a teacher waits for

a student to answer a question before calling on someone else or answering it him/herself.

Waiting longer for a student to answer is one of the most powerful and positive things a

teacher can so. It is a vote of confidence, a way of saying, I have high expectations for

you, so I will wait a little longer. I know you can get it if I give you a chance, the

authors explain. On the other hand, asking a series of questions in rapid succession can

leave students confused and discouraged. Studies show that male students receive more

wait time than their female counterparts, and thus feel more valued and motivated in the

classroom.10

Male students are also more likely to be remembered by their teachers, even if not

always fondly. When asked to identify outstanding students, both teachers and classmates

are likely to think primarily of boys. Interestingly, the same is true when asked to identify

disobedient or disruptive students. Either way, male students dominate teachers time and

attention, making sure that they gain maximum benefit from each class. 11 Over time, the

idea that male students require more attention, whether because they are star students or

the opposite, can condition teachers to focus on boys and neglect girls.

Overall, studies show that teachers who believe they are treating male and female

students equally spend up to two-thirds of their time in the classroom with male students.

Boys are also more likely to be called to the front of the class for demonstrations and

9
Ibid, 70-73.
10
Ibid, 73-74.
11
Ibid, 82-87.

7
experiments. Girls, on the other hand, are more likely to be asked to perform passive

roles such as reading instructions or recording results. They are also more likely to be

interrupted, labeled bossy for displaying ambition, and more likely to be reprimanded for

calling out in class despite having a lower overall tendency to call out than boys. 12 The

statistics become even bleaker when race is brought into the question11 young black

girls are suspended for every one white girl. 13

The obvious question we should be asking before we can change these troubling

statistics is: why does it happen? How do well-meaning teachers fall prey to gender (and

racial) bias, and how can we end the trend? One hypothesis was that the problem could

be solved by employing more female teachers, but a 1989 study found that the gender of

the teacher did not make a significant difference in the way students were treated; both

male and female teachers focused on male students and largely ignored female students.

The study concluded that teachers do not appear consciously to discriminate against

female students. Teachers are a reflection of the values and expectations of society and

are themselves products of a sex-biased educational system. 14

This theory is proven by gender bias in adulthood in the form of workplace

reviews. A study conducted by Fortune magazine found that 87.9% of performance

reviews of women included negative feedback, compared to 58.9% of reviews of men.

Women were also more likely to receive negative personality criticism, while men

12
Soraya Chemaly, All Teachers Should be Trained to Overcome Their Hidden Biases, Time, February
12, 2015, http://time.com/3705454/teachers-biases-girls-education.
13
Kimberl Williams Crenshaw, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected,
African American Policy Forum, Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, Columbia Law
School, 2015,
http://www.law.columbia.edu/null/download?&exclusive=filemgr.download&file_id=613546.
14
M Gail Jones, Gender Bias in Classroom Interactions, Contemporary Education 60, no. 4 (1989):
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1291646196/fulltextPDF/9E6CD4F7F0DB4E35PQ/1?accountid=1124.

8
received mostly constructive and instructional criticism. 15 A similar discrepancy can be

found in reviews of professors. Male professors are often reviewed as knowledgeable or

awesome while women are more likely to be described as bossy or annoying. 16 Gender

bias is not only a problem in education; it pervades every aspect of our society and

silently influences every individual, including teachers, to believe that men and boys are

more ambitious and capable than women and girls.

Gender Bias in Textbooks and Classroom Media

Harmful manifestations of gender bias can also be found in the media that

children consume at school, from textbooks and novels to videos watched in class.

Textbooks are a tremendously important factor in early education; 80-95% of elementary

school lessons employ textbooks either directly or indirectly, as teachers often use

textbooks as resources when creating lesson plans. A closer examination of these books

reveals two widespread and disturbing trends: women and girls are largely

underrepresented, and gendered occupational and household roles are subtly reinforced. 17

Fortunately, sexism and gender bias in textbooks have not gone entirely unnoticed.

In 1974, shortly after the passing of Title IX, a law barring sex discrimination in public

education, feminists and activists in Texas analyzed all new textbooks being considered

by the Texas Education Agency. They found that representations of boys outnumbered

girls anywhere from 3:1 to 10:1 and noted an almost complete lack of active or working

15
Kieran Snyder, The Abrasiveness Trap: High-achieving Men and Women Are Described Differently in
Reviews, Fortune, August 26, 2014, http://fortune.com/2014/08/26/performance-review-gender-bias.
16
Claire Cain Miller, Is the Professor Bossy or Brilliant? Much Depends on Gender, New York Times,
February 6, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/upshot/is-the-professor-bossy-or-brilliant-much-
depends-on-gender.html.
17
Rae Lesser Blumberg, The Invisible Obstacle to Educational Equality: Gender Bias in Textbooks,
Prospects 38, no. 3 (2008): 345-361, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-009-9086-1.

9
roles for women, who were usually portrayed as mothers or wives. One of the many now-

appalling quotes that they cited in their research was the following, found in a teachers

guide: men will have to know about nuclear power. And girls will be needed to work

as stewardesses on the giant submarines.18

While it is uncommon to find such outright sexism in todays textbooks, second

generation research has shown that progress has been frustratingly slow in the United

States. Women comprised only 5% of the names in American history textbooks in the

1960s, 13% in the 1980s, and 16% in the 1990s. 19 A separate 2006 study of American

history textbooks used in primary and secondary education found that significantly more

males than females were found at all levels in both content and illustrations. 20

Furthermore, with the exception of traditionally female roles such as nurses and

stewardesses, most occupations are still likely to be represented in textbooks by

illustrations of men.21 Rae Lesser Blumberg summarizes the trend perfectly: All in all, it

appears that the intensity of bias is diminishing: the most blatant examples of sexism

have disappeared or been muted, although the numbers have not improved

dramatically.22

Children are also hugely affected by the other books and media they consume at

school. In 1999, Anita Davis and Thomas McDaniel repeated a 1972 study analyzing the
18
Rae Lesser Blumberg, Gender Bias in Textbooks: A Hidden Obstacle on the Road to Gender Equality in
Education, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008,
Education for All by 2015: will we make it?, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), 2007,
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.112.5597&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
19
Ibid.
20
Kay A. Chick, Gender Balance in K-12 American History Textbooks, Social Studies Research and
Practice 1, no. 3 (2006): http://www.socstrpr.org/files/Vol%201/Issue%203%20-
%20Winter,%202006/Research/1.3.1.pdf.
21
Carla Washburne Rensenbrink, All In Our Places: Feminist Challenges in Elementary School
Classrooms (Boulder: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001), 4.
22
Rae Lesser Blumberg, The Invisible Obstacle to Educational Equality: Gender Bias in Textbooks,
Prospects 38, no. 3 (2008): 345-361, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-009-9086-1.

10
1940-1971 winners of the Caldecott award for illustrated childrens books. From 1940-

1971, 63% of the characters were male and 37% were female. From 1972-1997, 61%

were male and 39% were female, signifying a mere 2% change. Even more disheartening,

Davis and McDaniel found that over time, illustrations actually skewed further towards

men, from 52% to 60%.23

Beyond the physical representation of women and girls, media can influence

young students through the actions that female characters take, the personality traits they

embody, and the roles that they play. This point is illustrated perhaps most clearly

through Disney films, which are a staple of the American classroom. A 2001 study of 16

Disney films found that male characters held a wide range of jobs, including miner,

governor, salesman, chef, doctor, lawyer, sailor, space ranger and musician. Only four

women in the 16 movies worked outside the home, as actress, sheep tender, thief, and

fairy.24 A separate study that included 26 of the most popular Disney films released

between 1937 and 2000 found that in 19 of those films, men were portrayed as rescuers,

often of women.

As for women, [several] themes emerged related to what it means to be a

girl/woman: (a) A womans appearance is valued more than her intellect; (b) Women are

helpless and in need of protection; (c) Women are domestic and likely to marry. In

female characters, appearance was valued more than intellect in 15 of the 26 films and

equally in another six. 10 of the 26 films portrayed women only as helpless while three

23
Anita P. Davis and Thomas R. McDaniel, Rapid Research Report: Youve Come a Long Way, Baby: Or
Have You? Research Evaluating Gender Portrayal in Recent Caldecott-Winning Books, The Reading
Teacher 52, no. 5 (1999): 532-536. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20202118?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
24
Mia Adessa Towbin, et al, Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-
Length Animated Films, Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 15, no. 4 (2004): 24,
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1300/J086v15n04_02?needAccess=true.

11
depicted them as both helpless and heroic at times. Female characters were given

domestic roles in 15 of the 26. And finally, only two of the films studied did not portray

marriage as the ultimate goal for women.25

Stereotypical depictions of gender are not unique to Disney films; they permeate

the vast majority of classroom media and are absorbed by both boys and girls as they

form crucial understandings about the world and their places in it. From a young age,

students learn that boys are aggressive and girls are passive, boys have adventures and

girls get to hear about the adventures, boys are encouraged to be independent while girls

are expected to rely on boys to help them manage difficulties. 26 This trend, while

discouraging, is not irreversible; both accurate representation in textbooks and exposure

to active, capable female characters in books and film can be used to show girls the full

realm of possibilities available to them.

The Impact of Gender Bias in the Classroom

Each of these forms of gender bias is small and subtle by itself, but the

combination of them enforced consistently over many years can have an enormous

impact on childrens conceptions of themselves, their roles, their career options, and each

other. Constantly being passed over for classroom demonstrations and leadership roles

can condition female students to believe that they are incapable or undeserving of

leadership. Receiving acceptance instead of praise or remediation can dull girls love of

learning and motivation to improve. Being reprimanded once may not leave a lasting

25
Ibid, 30-31.
26
Susan D. Witt, The Influence of School and Reading Materials on Childrens Gender Role Socialization:
An Overview of Literature forthcoming, Curriculum, and Teaching, 2001,
http://gozips.uakron.edu/~susan8/school.htm.

12
impact on a resilient child, but scolding a girl enough times for speaking out of turn can

teach her that it is best not to speak at all. Perhaps most dangerous of all, a lifetime of

unacknowledged gender bias can slowly convince both boys and girls that inequity based

on gender is natural, normal, and unchangeable.

Gender bias is the antithesis of female confidence, ambition, and empowerment.

By the time they are just nine years old, girls in the United States begin to experience

negative self-esteem as a result of gender-based socialization.27 Girls (and boys) want to

be liked and valued by their peers. Because most of their social interactions take place at

school, girls may alter their behavior in the classroom for social status or male attention.

Through years of subtle socialization, girls learn that boys are praised for their ambition

and leadership while they are rewarded for passivity and politeness. Is it any surprise,

then, that many 14-year-old girls feel the need to play down their own intelligence so as

not to intimidate boys?28

The effects of gender bias reach far past confidence and self-esteem; over time,

gender bias leads to gender-based divergence of interests and a measurable achievement

gap. At the elementary school level, boys and girls have equal rates of success in math

and science classes.29 66% of girls in the fourth grade indicate an interest in science but

by eighth grade, boys are twice as likely as girls to be interested in pursuing a career in

27
Biwei Vivian Huang, Gender Bias Faced by Girls and What We Can Do: One Students Perspective and
Appended Information from the Center, Center for Mental Health in Schools, University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA), http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/genderbias.pdf.
28
Girls Feel They Must Play Dumb to Please Boys, Study Shows, ScienceDaily, August 5, 2014,
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140805090947.htm.
29
Catherine Hill, et al, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics,
American Association of University Women (AAUW), 2010, https://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/Why-So-
Few-Women-in-Science-Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics.pdf.

13
STEM fields.30 By the time students graduate high school and enter college, the gap

grows even further. Women earn only 18% of computer science and 19% of engineering

bachelors degrees.31 The gap continues to widen at the graduate level and then again in

the workplace, where women comprise less than 20% of computer hardware, industrial,

chemical, civil, aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineers. 32

Why it Matters

Women have been responsible for some of the most important innovations in

human history: Marie Curie pioneered groundbreaking research on radioactivity, Grace

Hopper co-designed the worlds first computer, Katharine Blodgett invented non-

reflecting glass, Maria Telke built the first solar powered house, and Stephanie Kwolek

invented the bulletproof material Kevlar.33 When women are excludedfrom business,

from STEM fields, or from politicswe lose half of our species talent and intellect.

Simply put, efficiency is the price we pay for continuing gender bias.

As the United States has become more gender equitable, the most outright and

extreme forms of sexism have become less commonplace. First-wave feminism brought

women property and voting rights. Second-wave feminism focused on a broader range of

issues including reproductive rights, hiring practices, divorce law, and domestic

30
Back to School: Five Myths about Girls and Science, National Science Foundation, August 7, 2007,
https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=109939.
31
Lorelle L. Espinosa, Where are the Women in STEM?, Higher Education Today, American Council on
Education, March 3, 2015, https://higheredtoday.org/2015/03/03/where-are-the-women-in-stem.
32
Catherine Hill, et al, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics,
American Association of University Women (AAUW), 2010, https://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/Why-So-
Few-Women-in-Science-Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics.pdf.
33
Clea Guy-Allen, 10 Female Inventors You Should Know About, One, May 27, 2015,
https://www.one.org/us/2015/05/27/10-female-inventors-you-should-know-about.

14
violence.34 Today, many of the remains of sexism are much more insidious and difficult

to identify, resulting in a thriving anti-feminist movement that denies the existence of

such phenomena as rape culture and implicit gender bias. These subtle, lingering

manifestations of misogyny are difficult to combat through conventional means like

legislation. For example, Title IX, which barred gender-based discrimination in public

schools under the Education Amendments Act of 1972, was passed over 40 years ago and

has led to significant changes in education, but has not been able to undo the social

conditioning that causes even well-meaning teachers to treat male and female students

differently.35 In order to reach true gender equity, as with any other form of equity,

progress must be purposeful and strategic. Acknowledging, researching, and then taking

deliberate action against gender bias is the only way to eradicate it.

Solutions and Conclusions

Fortunately, socially conscious educators and scholars have been studying the

causes and effects of gender bias for many years, and have introduced a variety of

suggested solutions. One way to combat gender bias in education is by gradually

overturning the implicit biases that cause even the most well-meaning of teachers to

distribute their time and attention unevenly. The American Association of University

Women proposes a simple solution: talk more about the accomplishments of women. 36

The impact of such a simple measure is two-fold; it counters the pervasive and incorrect

34
Elle Covington, On Womens Equality Day, A Very Brief Timeline of Feminist History in America,
Bustle, August 26, 2015, https://www.bustle.com/articles/106524-on-womens-equality-day-a-very-brief-
timeline-of-feminist-history-in-america.
35
Title IX Frequently Asked Questions, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA),
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/inclusion/title-ix-frequently-asked-questions.
36
Catherine Hill, et al, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics,
American Association of University Women (AAUW), 2010, https://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/Why-So-
Few-Women-in-Science-Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics.pdf.

15
belief that men and boys are naturally more capable than girls and women, and it

provides girls with positive, competent role models. Over time, the belief that women and

girls are capable will spread just as silently into classrooms as gender bias already has.

For educators and individuals, the American Association of University Women

suggests learning about and recognizing implicit bias.37 There are many ways to learn

about implicit biasreading papers and article such as this one, taking implicit bias tests

that can be found online, talking to people who are impacted by bias, usually women or

people of colorand recognition is the first step towards resolution. For educators,

simply knowing that gender bias exists can help combat it, by making individual teachers

think more critically about power and gender dynamics in their own classrooms. For

individuals not employed in education, it can spark important conversations that lead to

change.

There are plenty of other small but significant changes that teachers can

implement in the classroom to work toward gender equity. One such change is being

aware of gendered language. For example, actively choosing to use the word

community instead of brotherhood or ancestor instead of forefather can go a

long way toward creating an inclusive classroom. 38 Inclusive language can also mean

deliberately using an equal ratio of male to female names in examples or using a female

name when explaining what a scientist does. Another recommendation is to slow the

37
Ibid.
38
Susan D. Witt, The Influence of School and Reading Materials on Childrens Gender Role Socialization:
An Overview of Literature forthcoming, Curriculum, and Teaching, 2001,
http://gozips.uakron.edu/~susan8/school.htm.

16
bombing rate by waiting three to five seconds after a question is asked before providing

the answer, which would give students more time to formulate a response. 39

Other recommendations are more difficult to implement, but can yield enormous

results. Integrating gender into elementary school curricula by openly discussing gender

bias can help both male and female students think more critically about their everyday

interactions for the rest of their lives. In fact, frank and honest discussions about gender

bias and the ways in which in inhibits girls may be the fastest and most direct way to end

the cycle of bias.

And of course, we cannot ignore the most controversial proposed solution to

gender bias: single-sex schooling. Single-sex schooling, while not reflective of the real

world, has been proven to benefit girls. It provides them a place to thrive the way that

boys do in coeducational classes and schools. David and Myra Sadker found that

graduates from womens colleges attain more degrees in nontraditional fields than

women who attended coed colleges. They were also more likely than their coeducational

peers to enter medical school; and, as advocates of womens colleges are quick to point

out, their graduates are well represented in Fortune 500 companies and at the highest

levels of government.40 However, in their exploration of single-sex schools, they found

that success had more to do with smaller classes, dedicated teachers, and increased

exposure to successful women than with the lack of coeducation. This should be good

news to educators everywhere; girls can succeed in coeducational environments too, as

39
Gender Bias, Delaware State Education Association, 2010,
http://www.ccctc.k12.oh.us/Downloads/Gender%20Bias%20in%20the%20Classroom2.pdf.
40
David Sadker, Myra Sadker, and Karen R. Zittleman, Still Failing at Fairness: How Gender Bias Cheats
Girls and Boys in School and What We Can Do About It (New York: Scribner, 2009), 254.

17
long as schools make an effort to expose their students to successful women and focus on

fostering curiosity and ambition in girls.

Gender bias has been the way of the world for many years, but it is not

irreversible. Women and girls have made incredible strides toward equity in the United

States and will continue to do so. Girls are creative, ambitious, curious, competent, and

capable. When that ambition is nurtured and fostered, they become engineers, economists,

nurses, educators, lawyers, politicians, CEOs, and breadwinners. The biggest favor we

can do for the next generation of American women is to begin the reversal by recognizing

and challenging gender bias at every level.

18
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Girls Feel They Must Play Dumb to Please Boys, Study Shows. Science Daily.
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5, 2014. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140805090947.htm.

Title IX Frequently Asked Questions. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/inclusion/title-ix-frequently-asked-questions.

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