Gender Stereotypes within Post-Secondary Institutions

Gender stereotypes within post-secondary institutions are a preeminent and continuous issue. Often overlooked, stereotypes have become an accepted ‘norm’ within educational walls of all levels; however, this study focuses on post-secondary levels in Canada. The research conducted and findings were derived from secondary sources, such as academic articles and case studies. The majority of the trends were found through academic articles and recruitment websites. Although gender stereotypes are conspicuous in university settings, the ideas are implanted at ages as young as four. Focusing on post-secondary education, gender stereotypes begin with recruitment.

It was a common trend amongst the sources that women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) are widely underrepresented due to the negative label surrounding them. The stigma against women in STEM is the focal attribution to the underrepresentation. Not only do university programs use soft attributes to attract young females, but government campaigns do as well; furthermore, a controversial government of Canadian campaign “…used kittens, fashion and selfies to entice young girls to pursue jobs in science, technology, engineering and math” (Csanady, 2017). By using what are considered ‘soft’ attributes to attract females to STEM programs sets a negative stereotype that women are only attracted to male dominated studies by showing their soft sides. These campaigns are direct examples of pink washing. They use feminine characteristics to entice young females to pursue math and science programs. Although ‘pink washing’ is a current controversial campaign strategy, it has shown to be successful in desensitizing gender stereotypes.

Additionally, women outnumber men in enrollment, however, men overrepresent science and math majors. The gender gap of women in STEM and men in programs such as nursing, are correlated with the group of people they surround themselves with. The doubt of capabilities from the people surrounding plant a negative interest in the individual pursuing a job in that field. Moreover, after obtaining a degree in STEM, companies are two times more likely to hire a man over a woman, even having identical resumes. This unfortunate reality drives women to be less interested in pursuing STEM programs.

It was found that gender stereotypes are prominent within post-secondary education and are attributed to a gap when it comes to particular fields of study. This poses the question of why there is a negative balance and underrepresentation of females in STEM programs. Due to the lack of representation, efforts are currently being made to close the gender gap. This includes designing campaigns and recruitments to attract certain groups. The designing of these recruitments, however, are still a work in progress as some of the approaches are controversial. Throughout the sources, the trends overlap greatly, supporting the research that gender stereotypes exist and persist within post-secondary institutions. Although prominent, there are efforts being made to mitigate the large gap. Gender stereotypes within post-secondary schools are a continuous issue that remains under research.

Although this research studies focal point was post-secondary institutions, it acknowledges that gender stereotypes are engrained at a much younger age. Given the time of this research and the ethics surrounding children, it was not possible to conduct research surrounding younger ages; therefore, much of the supporting evidence to the gender stereotypes is unattainable. If given a longer period for research, the exploration of all ages surrounding gender stereotypes within education as a whole could be studied.

The research conducted was presented in another form. It was targeted towards a general audience and made into an accessible brochure. The language used throughout the brochure wasnon-academic, allowing for accessibility to the general audience. The ideal audience is high school seniors, their guardians and anyone associated with post-secondary institutions; moreover, the people who the research concerns most. The brochure consisted of graphics and colors that attract attention, but not enough to take away from the information; furthermore, it uses more feminine colors as it is a topic that majorly concerns women. This is an example of catering and designing campaigns to a target audience.

The overlapping trends support the research of the existence of gender stereotypes within post-secondary institutions. Although prominent, there are current efforts being made to close the gender gap and mitigate the negative stereotypes. The recruitment videos, brochures and campaigns are adapting to target certain groups; moreover, pink washing STEM programs to attract young females. Although controversial, these approaches are showing positive outcomes. There is a lengthy way to go in terms of completely closing the gap, as well as the exclusion of negative stereotypes, however, universities are stepping in a positive direction.

References

Boietti, E., Bert, F., Gualano, M. R., Pompili, E., Rousset, S., Tibaldeo, E. F., Tatti, R., & Siliquini, R. (2021, October 20). Are 2020’s medical students still suffering from gender stereotypes? . Home Page. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.884

Boutyline, A., Arseniev-Koehler, A., & Cornell, D. J. (2023, January 27). School, Studying, and Smarts: Gender Stereotypes and Education Across 80 Years of American Print Media. Academic.oup.com. https://academic.oup.com/sf/article/102/1/263/7008118?login=true

Buchmann, C., & DiPrete, T. A. (2013). The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What it Means for American Schools. Project MUSE. https://muse-jhu-edu.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/

Burczycka, M. (2020, September 15). Students’ experiences of discrimination based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation at postsecondary schools in the Canadian provinces, 2019. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-005-x/2020001/article/00001-eng.htm

Csanady, A. (2017, Feb 16). Can kittens sell science to canadian girls? National Post Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/can-kittens-sell-science-canadian-girls/docview/1868937352/se-2

Ge, L., Brown, D., & Durst, D. (2019). Chinese International Students’ Experiences in a Canadian University. Journal of International Students. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v0i0.272

Kane, D., Rajacich, D., & Andary, C. (2020, September 3). Exploring the contextual factors surrounding the … – wiley online library. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nuf.12504

---

About The Author

Kelsey Szoke (she/her) was born in 2004 and grew up in Brooks, Alberta. She is in second year in the Bachelor of Arts program majoring in English studies at UBCO. Kelsey has an interest in gender studies and developed her research on the conspicuous gender-based stereotypes within post-secondary institutions.