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Gender Equity in Schools
Is Your Daughter Being Forced to Choose Between Pretty and Smart?
By Paul Hartwick
"I try to treat each student -- beyond male or female -- to look at the potential they have to achieve," she says.
Finter knows the challenges students face. She was one of the highest-achieving kids in a small school and the pressures to be "dumb" came from classmates -- not from adults. "I am very frank with all kids about my background," she says. "And I try to shun the glamorization of 'dumbness.'"
Some say teachers still can't avoid treating girls and boys differently, usually to the detriment of girls. "It's really unconscious," says Barbara Kerr, Arizona State University professor of psychology in education and author of Smart Girls: A New Psychology of Girls, Women and Giftedness. "We're all subtly shaped to respond more quickly to boys and men."
1. Be involved in your child's education.
You don't have to be supermom or superdad and volunteer for hours in the classroom each week. Being involved sounds obvious, but it's not always commonplace. Talk to your child about her or his school experiences, according to the Women's College Coalition in Washington, D.C. Look at what she or he is working on. Be perceptive about gender attitudes when you meet teachers. Discuss gender issues and stereotypes with your child.
2. Go against the grain at school.
