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21 July 1995
Doc. 7366
REPORT
on gender equality in education
(Rapporteur: Baroness GOULD OF POTTERNEWTON,
United Kingdom, Socialist Group)
Summary
Education for all is a fundamental human right. So too is equality of women and men.
In the educational field, both sexes still continue to focus on traditional gender roles which strongly steer and reduce their choices of education, occupation and life concepts, thus reinforcing the male norms in society, the unequal power relationship of the sexes, the sex-segregation of the labour market, the sex-specific allocation of family responsibilities, the violence against girls and women.
Male concepts of gender and ethnic inequality and male acts of violence suggest that the equalisation process in numerous countries of Europe is stagnating or even in danger of reversing.
The present report formulates proposals for a gender sensitive approach to education. The main objective is equality in education both for pupils and students but also for teaching staff, research workers and administration.
I. Draft recommendation
1. The Assembly believes that education for all girls and boys is a fundamental human right, regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, family background or personal wealth.
2. In line with its Recommendation 1229 (1994) on equality of rights between men and women, the Assembly asserts the importance of gender equality in education and believes that it should be guaranteed by the educational systems of all states party to the European Cultural Convention.
3. It acknowledges the action already initiated by the Council of Europe on gender equality and in particular by the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education (11th session in 1979 and 14th session in 1985) on gender equality in education and by the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men on participation of women in public and political life.
4. The Assembly is however concerned that:
i. co-education has led to more equality but in many countries there continue to be institutionalised and non institutionalised forms of discrimination of girls and women;
ii. traditional gender roles in education still strongly steer and reduce the choices of both sexes as regards education, occupation and lifestyles, thus reinforcing the male norms in division of family responsibilities, in the labour market and their dominance in decision-making processes;
iii. women and girls are still subject to sexual harassment and violence in society and in education.
5. The Assembly believes therefore that strategies should be developed which create for girls and boys, women and men, de jure and de facto freedom of access to and freedom of choice in education including initial and further education, vocational training and adult education. Education should help them to develop their full potential, to preserve their personal integrity, to aim at economic independence and to participate fully in society and in political life.
6. Girls and boys should be presented with positive role models of women of the past and present as a valid educational concept for removing stereotypes. Women as principals and decision-makers within a gender-balanced educational workforce can also be considered as important role-models.
7. Childbearing and motherhood have a considerable impact on women's activities. Knowledge of this, as also the sharing of responsibilities in the home and with the raising of children, should be a basic part of the school curriculum for boys and girls.
8. Gender equality in education can only be achieved by meeting the needs of employed women, especially those working in the educational fields, and by counteracting the existing discriminations. The educational authorities of the member states should do all they can to achieve fixed and regular school timetables and provide mothers with support, such as child-oriented timetabling and provisions for child care.
9. Gender equality in education must be part of an overall strategy for a more egalitarian and democratic society, considering that women of the past and present have contributed eminently to European culture and society and it is necessary to incorporate into education the knowledge the feminists have gathered on their contribution.
10. The Assembly acknowledges the significant contribution of the women's movement and feminist researchers and activists to human rights and gender equality in the educational field as well as in the political, social, cultural and economic fields and appreciates the expertise gathered in analysing and counteracting sexism and racism.
11. It believes that democracy can only be taught in schools in a democratic setting respecting the cultural plurality in Europe, gender differences, the principle of equality, ethnicity and the cultural differences of girls and boys, women and men and their different viewpoints and experiences.
12. The Assembly, therefore, recommends that the Committee of Ministers ask the competent authorities of member states to promote education in human rights with a gender sensitive approach and to take measures to accelerate de jure and de facto equality in education, promoting actively equal rights, equal chances, equal treatment in a gender sensitive way to girls and boys, women and men, being students or belonging to the workforce in education, and in particular to:
i. create strategies for freedom of access and freedom of choice in education for girls and boys, women and men, including initial and further education, vocational training and adult education;
ii. identify and spread good practice in gender sensitive education, for example by:
a. revising teaching material and methods with a view to reinforcing non-discriminatory language and non-sexist teaching and to placing greater emphasis on equality and non violence;
b. improving choices of segregation especially in mathematics, science and technology as a way of providing equality for girls through career education and giving them more confidence;
c. revising stereotypes and role models for girls and boys, improving their self-images and providing them with positive role models while counteracting concepts of inequality and male violence;
d. better presentation of the importance of women in European history and culture;
e. placing greater consideration of the needs of girls and women and of boys and men in education in the fields of health, sex, family planning and parenthood;
f. directing attention in media education at non-sexist, non-racist and non-violent scenes, avoiding verbal and visual violence against girls and women;
iii. include gender sensitivity and the promotion of equality in all initial and in-service teacher training and in the training of vocational advisors;
iv. initiate gender sensitive research, including the participation of feminist and migrant researchers;
v. improve the gender balance of teaching and administrative staff and school management;
vi. recognise the strategic and supportive role played by teachers and parents in the removal of discrimination, for example by improving communications between schools and parents especially for migrant girls, and by the provision of support services for working parents.
13. The Assembly further recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
i. place special emphasis on activities in the field of monitoring gender equality in education and provide in due course information on the situation within the area of the European Cultural Convention;
ii. expand international consultation and exchange of experiences with regard to legislation, educational programmes, studies or debates on topical problems relating to gender equality in education;
iii. initiate exchange programmes for teachers, students and researchers and increase the possibilities for training and research in gender sensitive education, in both cases with due regard for gender balance;
iv. instruct the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance to consider the dimension of gender equality in education in its work;
v. re-establish the former joint working party of the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men and the Council for Cultural Co-operation to study the effects of co-education and to organise subsequently an international policy-making conference.
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Baroness GOULD OF POTTERNEWTON
Introduction
1. The present report is a supplement to that presented on the same subject by Mrs Leni Robert (Doc 7101). This was the basis of a lengthy and largely constructive debate on 29 June 1994 to which 19 Assembly members contributed. Problems however arose over the degree of detail in the draft recommendation and for procedural reasons, which are still being investigated, no text was finally adopted.
2. The subject is however an important one. It is hoped that the Assembly will be able to adopt the text proposed here following careful consideration by the Committee on Culture and Education. No attempt has been made to depart from the detailed analysis and position advanced by Mrs Robert in her explanatory memorandum. I add here some additional points which I hope will help clarify the balance we are seeking.
Some comments
3. As should be expected in a report from the Committee on Culture and Education, our main emphasis is on education. A learning society is one that continually extends the skills and knowledge of all its people. It is one in which education has become a life-long process of the discovery and development of the talents of each and every individual; one in which the education system is dynamic and able to provide the opportunities for understanding and achievement that young people, men and women, will need in their adult lives. Education is the key to personal fulfilment for the individual, to the economic success of countries and to the creation of a more just and cohesive society. Education for all girls and boys is a fundamental human right, regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, family background or personal wealth.
4. The achievement of equality between girls and boys, women and men, of all cultural and ethnic origins, is crucial to the very functioning of democracy, its development and the realisation of human rights. Education plays a very basic role in this work.
5. Education can play a major role in the elimination of the sexual divisions in society, the unequal power relationship of the sexes, the sex-segregated labour market and the sex-specific allocation of responsibilities for children and the household.
6. The lack of knowledge, awareness and acceptance of the reality of girls and women, their different needs and competencies, leads to sex stereotyping and other hidden forms of discrimination (sexist curricula and syllabi, textbooks, teaching materials, sexist language and interactions, sex-stereotyped guidance and counselling), to gender imbalance in school employment, management, inspectorates, insufficient consideration of women's working conditions and health situation in the field of education and their need of improved compatibility between work and family responsibilities.
7. This is a matter of equality and fairness. The Assembly itself believes that the principle of equality of rights between women and men should be enshrined in an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (Recommendation 1229 (1994) on equality of rights between men and women).
8. What we are looking for with the present recommendation on gender equality in education is the establishment and maintenance of good teaching practice. As I said in the earlier debate, the situation needs constant monitoring - to bring out this good practice, but also to ensure that standards are maintained. Moreover equality in the classroom must be related to equality in the staffroom: a higher proportion of women should be allowed to take senior posts in education, decision-making and administration. Clearly this should apply to universities as well as schools.
9. Co-education has led to more equality but also to gender and cross-cultural inequality through hidden forms of discrimination reflected in many instances of continuing subject segregation into traditional "girl"/"boy" subjects.
10. There has been some concern at violence in schools. All children have a right to be educated in a safe environment. Tough measures are required to deal with the problem of violence and bullying and to prevent racial attacks and harassment. This is entirely in line with the current action plan of the Council of Europe against racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance.
11. Insufficient attention is still paid to the dominance of boys in the classroom. Studies have shown that traditional male attitudes frequently have a negative influence in a learning situation and that if these are not countered, many girls will continue to be disadvantaged. Likewise boys will continue to regard subject areas preferred by girls to be inferior in status, thereby themselves suffering deprivation in skills valuable in sustaining relationships, maintaining a home and in preparation for accepting parental responsibilities. Some educationalists believe that boys underachieve because of these entrenched "negative" attitudes.
12. There is growing evidence that girls now out-perform boys in examination attainments, except in mathematics and science, yet they still face institutional sexism in schools and receive far from equal rewards in their subsequent occupations.
Conclusion
13. What is needed is a new gender revolution, teaching both girls and boys to develop their initiative, to work in co-operation with each other, to understand and influence social processes and to be independent and able to challenge the future.
14. The imbalances that occur in the field of education and elsewhere will only be overcome when there is a realisation that women and men operating as equals at all levels of society is of equal benefit to both men and women and will enrich society as a whole.
Reporting committee: Committee on Culture and Education
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None.
Reference to committee: Doc. 7183 and Reference No. 1980 of 10 November 1994.
Draft recommendation: adopted unanimously by the committee on 29 June 1995.
Members of the committee: Mrs Fischer (Chairperson), Sir Russell Johnston, Mr de Puig (Vice-Chairpersons), MM. Alegre, Bartumeu Cassany, Bauer, Berg, Berti, Brugger, Croze, Decagny, Deniau (Alternate: Baumel), Elo, Mrs Fleeetwood, MM. Galanos (Alternate: Christodoulides), Gellért Kis, Baroness Gould of Potternewton, Mr Gül, Baroness Hooper, MM. Jurkāns (Alternate: Endziņš), Karas, Kollwelter, Konecny, Koucký, López Henares, Mrs Machaira, MM. Małachowski, Maloney, Maruflu, Mrs Mihaylova, MM. Mocioi, Monfils, Muehlemann, Mrs Naoumova, Mrs Ojuland, MM. Paunescu, Probst, Rivelli, Rizzo Naudi (Alternate: Farrugia), Mrs Robert, MM. Roseta, Seeuws, Serra, Siwiec, Školč, Slobodnik, Sofoulis, Szakál, Mrs Terborg, Ms Toernaes, Mr Verbeek, Mrs Verspaget, Mr Vogt, Mrs Wärnersson, Mr Zingeris.
NB: The names of those who took part in the vote are printed in italics.
Secretaries to the committee: MM. Grayson and Ary.