boy and girl symbols on blue and pink background

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Tackling gender stereotypes in nurseries, schools and colleges

08 October 2019

Society

To challenge the limiting effect of gender stereotypes on the ambitions, choices and achievements of young people, King’s has co-founded the Gender Action awards programme.

Funded by the Mayor of London, the programme was established in partnership with the Institute of Physics, UCL Institute of Education and the University Council of Modern Languages.

Taking action

Rather than focusing on one-off events or subject-specific projects, Gender Action encourages a whole-school approach to achieve long-lasting change across the setting. The programme has four tiers of participation (Supporter, Initiator, Champion and Beacon levels), and is free for nurseries, schools and colleges to participate in.

Raising our own awareness of who we are, our unconscious biases and the ‘myths’ we’ve bought into is a significant part of the work that we are doing. Once we’ve examined our unconscious bias, it is no longer unconscious. We have to do something about it.– Glyn Hawke, a teacher at Gender Action Initiator School, Rye Oak Primary School

Creating change in our communities

So far, over 250 schools and nurseries across the country have registered with Gender Action, with over 100 registered as 'Supporters'. The programme is also having a significant impact on our local communities, having reached schools and nurseries in 28 of the 33 London boroughs.

More than 25 schools have submitted plans for the next level of the award, identifying areas for improvement. Goals they have set include improving staff awareness in their language, praise and reinforcement, making the curriculum as diverse as the students it is designed for and opening up possible career choices to young people through the use of positive role models.

I truly believe that challenging gender stereotypes in the classroom matters. There are so many ways the adult world is damaged by gendered expectations. If we want to improve this highly gendered world, we can start by ensuring that every child embraces their full potential and understands that boys and girls are on the same side.– Megan Perryman, a teacher at Gender Action Supporter school, London Fields Primary

Find out more about Gender Action on their website.