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Cult Stud of Sci Educ (2014) 9:369376
DOI 10.1007/s11422-012-9432-0
FORUM
Christine Forde
Received: 24 February 2012 / Accepted: 25 June 2012 / Published online: 20 July 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract This article responds to Astrid Sinnes and Marianne Lkens article Gendered education in a gendered world: Looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science by exploring the idea of gender-sensitive education and its usefulness in educational policy. It draws on theoretical discussions of the concept of gender and of difference to consider ways in which gender-sensitive education might serve the task of promoting equality and justice.
Keywords Gender Gender sensitive education
Responding to Astrid Sinnes and Marianne Lken (2012) Gendered education in a gendered world: Looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science, in Cultural Studies of Science Education.
Is gender-sensitive education a useful concept for educational policy? From someone who has had a career long interest in issues relating to gender and equality, this question might seem a little odd. However, the article by Astrid Sinnes and Marianne Lken (2012) has led me to re-visit the concept of gender-sensitive and consider how it serves the task of promoting and ensuring equality and social justice in education. In their article Gendered education in a gendered world: Looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science, Sinnes and Lken (2012) examine the ideological constructions of gender underpinning a particular initiative in Norwegian educationLilywhich is designed to increase the number of girls engaging in STEM subjects in the later stages of education where gendered trends in the uptake of these subjects continue.
Lead Editors: K. Scantlebury and A. Hussnius.
Forum response to Astrid Sinnes and Marianne Lkens article Gendered education in a gendered world: Looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science.
C. Forde (&)
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK e-mail: [email protected]
Is gender-sensitive education a useful concept for educational policy?
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370 C. Forde
The systematic analysis of a key policy with regard to gender and STEM subjects is an important discussion providing a critical appraisal of current policy understandings of gender in education alongside an exploration of persistent gendered trends even in contexts where there is explicit gender equality. There is no doubt that...