ERIC Number: EJ1192289
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Oct
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0092-055X
EISSN: N/A
Gendering Occupations: An Introductory Exercise for Teaching Reproduction of the Binary Gender System
Adkins, Angela M.
Teaching Sociology, v46 n4 p324-334 Oct 2018
This paper presents a foundational classroom exercise used to help introduce the systemic and interactional aspects of the binary gender system, using 12 occupations selected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and personality characteristics from the Bem Sex Role Inventory. This activity was conducted in an introductory Diversity course at a Midwestern community college over 13 semesters (n = 603). Collected results indicate a strong tendency for students to invisibly gender each occupation without any suggestive cues and a willingness in retrospect to examine their role in the implicit process of gendering. As such, this exercise may offer an additional strategy to help students understand that their individual agency can serve both to reproduce and challenge existing power relations.
Descriptors: Occupations, Personality Traits, Community Colleges, Two Year College Students, Sex Stereotypes, Power Structure, Sex Role, Gender Bias
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A