Sexism in education

Sexual stereotyping accounts for much of the discrimination faced by women across all educational fields, and it is especially apparent in those areas predominantly held by men. What kinds of opportunities have been denied to female students solely on the basis of sex? What significant knowledge have women been denied by a patriarchal educational system that has sought to relegate them to their "natural" status as nurturers of men rather than as equals? If the intellectual abilities of over half of the world's population are not allowed to develop equally with those of men, then surely the human society is poorer as a result.

De Castell asserts, "too many successful women threaten the (covert) ideology of male superiority" (233). In a patriarchal society, women will be attempting to counter an educational system which may pronounce the liberal ideology, but renounce an influx of too many women into traditional male fields.

Over the past several decades, schools have become accustomed to more women entering rigorously analytical fields such as law, engineering, and the physical sciences. Women are not seen as a potent force for change in these areas, however, because their number rem

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e of discourse" (138), and carefully avoid being considered collaborative or nurturing toward other women on the way up. Thus, patriarchal sexism becomes doubly harmful to women as they, too, become barriers to other women desiring room at the top of the academic pyramid. The loss for scholarship as a whole is felt as a result of 51 percent of the population not fulfilling their potential. Women could bring differences, not deficiencies, to the workplace or academic world, suggesting possibilities yet to be explored. However, many women feel a self-doubt, fostered by many years of public school socialization, which impedes their progress in the world of higher academics. As Pepper Schwartz and Janet Lever assert in "Women in the Male World of Higher Education," a woman brings with her 'a history of self-doubt, conflicting motivations, and anxieties about her social success, and these factors constitute psychological barriers to academic success" (57). According to Schwartz and Lever, "women are socialized to prefer such feminine majors as social work, primary and secondary education, or nursing--fields compatible with the maternal role, which also pose little threat to the man in her life" (59). The authors note that, by this
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Approximate Word count = 1329
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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