Sexism in the Classroom

There are many stereotypes assigned to boys and girls, especially when it comes to education. However, how much of these stereotypes are actually true? In my opinion, the more young children are exposed to these stereotypes, the more they believe they are expected to act accordingly. If every child followed the image boys and girls are expected to be, the future of education and America would be very dim. 

What instances of sexism exist at school?

According to an article by the Teaching Resource Center, many studies have shown that teachers are "more likely to call on male students, even when female students raise their hands or when no one does, remember and use the names of male students, and wait longer for male than for female students to respond to questions." The author also explains that female students are less likely to "raise their hands immediately, demand the teacher's attention, receive feedback, and more likely to be interrupted when they speak."Another article, "Sexism in our schools: Training Girls for Failure?" by M. Conroy, states that girls are given less attention in the classroom and both male and female teachers interact more with boys because "teachers praise and criticize boys more" and because "boys and girls in grade school usually compete instead of working together as equals."

How can it be eliminated?

According to M. Conroy, teachers can promote equality by hanging pictures of both male and female athletes and politicians on the billboards. Other studies suggest having the teachers take courses against favoring one gender over the other could help as well. If teachers learned not to assign boys and girls with certain expected attributes, they would have nothing to live up to and could be recognized as individuals, rather than separate genders.