Magicians and assistants: how a group of high school girls and boys perceive their gendered roles in and out of school

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the climate of a high school campus to answer the questions: How do high school students perceive their school climate in terms of gender? How do students perceive the way power is exercised in and out of school based on gender? During the initial stage of this project, single-sex focus groups allowed students to voice opinions and reveal attitudes about school and the way they saw gender as a determining factor in their lives at school. The second phase brought the two groups together to participate in activities designed to delve further into gender-related issues in which they expressed keen interest. Feminist research theories guided the development of the study and the analysis of the data. Students in this study recognized that the world is divided by sex, with men holding economic, political, and social power, which women infrequently share. Environmentally, female students expressed that they felt "silenced" within the school. An absence of women, women's issues, and female role models was identified and lamented by several students in both the curriculum and the classroom environment. They seemed, however, to be experiencing a developmental struggle, a reluctance to deal with gender as related to themselves. They kept gender at an arm's length, not noticing inconsistencies or incongruities within their own lives. They saw levels of advantage and disadvantage as natural. This study illustrated that of the many institutions that maintain an unequal distribution of power, school is one of them. Sex roles are clearly defined within the overall power structure, and taken-for-granted roles remain unquestioned by students. The roots of these power differentials remain unexplored, thus preserving the current distributions of power in society. Much more work is needed in the area of feminist research and curriculum transformation, and the extensive gender-related research and discussion that was undertaken twenty years ago has dissipated. Silencing of students and the dictating of gendered norms and roles continue to hinder the success and futures of students today.