Gender stereotyping causes ‘lifelong harm’ - study

Three quarters (74 percent) of the 1,030 parents who took part in the research said that boys and girls were treated differently from an early age, and six in 10 (60 per cent) said that this had negative impacts, causing problems such as lower self-esteem in girls and poorer reading skills in boys.

From ‘boys will be boys’ attitudes in nursery or school, to ‘jobs for boys’ and ‘jobs for girls’, these stereotypes can cause a ‘lifetime of harm’, the Commission, established by the Fawcett Society, finds.

Among the 1,027 education practitioners working with babies and children up to the age of seven who were surveyed, more than half said they heard other staff say ‘boys will be boys’ when boys misbehave.

Six in ten said they ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ see other staff assume that boys and girls want to do different activities.

The study also found that four in ten education practitioners had either had negligible training, or none at all, on challenging gender stereotypes before starting their role.

BAME practitioners were more likely to perceive differential treatment of children based on race alongside gender, with 55 per cent seeing this for Black boys and 49 per cent for Asian girls, compared with 29 each among white practitioners.

An audit of 141 high street shops and 44 online retailers found that children’s clothes, cards and stationery are often sold using explicit gender segregation, and toys are still sold using gender stereotyped colours and grouping of ‘boys’ toys’ and ‘girls’ toys’.

'Jobs for the boys'

More than half of mothers (58 per cent) and half of fathers said that gender stereotyping limits the jobs girls feel able to do when they are older.

Asked what work they could see their children doing when they grow up, seven times as many could see their sons working in construction (22 per cent) compared to just three per cent for their daughters, while almost three times as many could see their daughters in nursing or care work (22 per cent), compared to eight per cent of their sons.

Seventy per cent of mothers and 60 per cent of fathers agreed that this ‘unequal treatment’ affects how able boys are to talk about their emotions.
And the report warns that stereotypes contribute towards the mental health crisis among children and young people, and are at the root of girls’ problems with body image and eating disorders; higher male suicide rates and violence against women and girls.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said, ‘Gender stereotyping is everywhere and causes serious, long lasting harm – that’s the clear message from the research for the Commission. From “boys will be boys” attitudes in nursery or school, to jobs for boys and jobs for girls views among some parents, these stereotypes are deeply embedded and they last a lifetime.

‘We need to end the ‘princessification’ of girls and the toxification of boys. The commercial sector too often uses gender stereotypes and segregates boys and girls simply to sell more products. But this is not about making everything gender neutral. We also have to make women and girls visible when, because of pre-existing bias, the default male will still be the prevailing assumption. So for example, routinely showing children women leaders or scientists is important.’

She added, ‘The majority of parents recognise that there is a problem and increasingly they want something different. They want to see real change coming from Government and companies and need practical help to make changes themselves.’