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

are issues, not just in relation to the under-achievement of some boys, but to theexperiences of pupils – both boys and girls – where they are in a significant minorityposition in a class.4.7 SummaryThe case studies included in the project ranged from small, focused initiatives toauthority-wide developments targeting specific sections of the education system andpopulations more generally. Looking across the reports, the key features to successappear to be that:• gender is only one of a number of factors recognised by schools as having animpact on pupils’ educational opportunities and achievement as well as futurecareer possibilities;• the initiative has a number of strands designed to address motivation, self-esteemand confidence and to challenge stereotypical ideas with regard to roles, choicesand behaviour;• there are sound educational reasons, that can be communicated to parents, foradopting new strategies and approaches (which were often grounded in anunderstanding of theory and/or research);• there is a buy-in across staff, pupils and parents, with all three involved in theconsultation, decision-making and the on-going monitoring and furtherdevelopment of the initiative;• deliberate steps are taken to build the initiative into the day-to-day practice of theschools/authority; and• there is ongoing monitoring that allows modifications and adjustments to bemade as practices develop.In addition, while some funding and the existence of a ‘champion’ in the initial stageswere important, if not essential, these factors were not, of themselves, sufficient tosustain long-term development and success. Nor was it realistic to expect to turn aroundachievement levels, for example, in a short period of time – those strategies that showedthe greatest return had been in place for a number of years.______________________________________________________________________________________Review of Strategies to 44 University of StrathclydeAddress Gender Inequalitiesand University of Glasgow