Review of Strategies to Address Gender Inequalities in Scottish ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIntroductionThe Review of Strategies to Address Gender Inequalities in Scottish Schools had two mainaims. The first was to analyse pertinent literature on gender-related inequalities in order toestablish current views on underlying causes and to identify strategies put forward to addressthem. The second was to gather evidence from local authorities and schools across Scotlandon policy and practice with regard to gender, in order that these might be evaluated againstthe findings of the literature review. As the literature on gender-related issues is veryextensive, an abbreviated literature review has been included in this final report of the study,while a fuller version is available as a separate document from the Scottish Executive website(www.scotland.gov.uk) as well as the websites of the Universities of Strathclyde(www.strath.ac.uk) and Glasgow (www.gla.ac.uk).This executive summary has been organised around the key themes identified in the literatureand draws on both the messages from other studies and the findings of the case studiesundertaken as part of this project.1. Methodology2. Equal Opportunities Policy3. Stage-specific issues4. Learning and teaching5. Classroom organisation6. Management and whole school perspectives7. Vocational education8. Conclusions and recommendations1. MethodologyThe study was carried out in three phases. Firstly, a review of the literature on genderissues in school education was undertaken. This provided the context for the fieldwork which followed in the second stage. The second phase, and first step in thefield work, involved key local authority personnel who completed questionnairesdesigned to gather information on policy and practice with regard to gender issues inthe authorities’ schools. In addition, they were asked to identify examples of goodpractice in pre-five, primary and secondary establishments within the authority. Fromthe list of examples provided by the local authorities, a number of case study schoolswere identified and investigated further using qualitative methods (the third phase).Representatives of key groups of stakeholders were interviewed, includingmanagement teams, teachers, parents and children. The evidence gathered was thenanalysed, providing the basis for the conclusions drawn and the recommendationsgenerated.__________________________________________________________________________________Review of Strategies to ii University of StrathclydeAddress Gender Inequalitiesand University of Glasgow