Andrews and Ridenour (2006) assert that gender stereotyping in children is a common reality that superintendents and school principals cannot ignore. In particular, the authors argue that young learners who aspire to work as school administrators must be in a familiar learning environment whereby equality exists between both boys and girls. In the case where equitable treatment of both genders does not exist, such children may never learn how to fairly handle gender issues arising in learning environments. Journals of individual student experiences were maintained by young graduate learners. The respondents were drawn from culturally diverse courses.
A total of 122 graduate learners took part in the empirical study that was conducted by the researchers (Andrews and Ridenour, 2006). Records for the course teaching were kept by the researchers who were also the authors of this journal article. In addition, assignments that were written by the students were recorded for the sake of analyzing the research findings. The latter standards were provided by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium. The main agenda of this consortium was to champion the reform agenda in the leadership of schools. After conducting a detailed analysis of all the materials that had been written by the learners, the researchers made final conclusions.
To begin with, the results indicate that there is increased awareness of gender stereotyping among children who are exposed to the practice. In other words, children in higher learning institutions are more aware of the limiting effects of gender stereotyping (Andrews and Ridenour, 2006). Second, children in learning centers may decide to exercise gender fairness as a way of demonstrating appropriate professional practice even if they are not professionals. Third, children are quite aware of all practices related to power differences and gender discrimination that take place in learning institutions and households. Finally, the authors also found out that learners tend to acquire high level of sensitivity when it comes to the use of gender-biased language.
In order to carry out the qualitative study in the most effective manner, the gender awareness training was examined by the researchers. They found this type of training to be instrumental in the preparation program for school administrators. They also correlated the latter findings with those of students who desire to work as school leaders. Moreover, the authors used a specific research question in order to give guidance to the study. The research question posed by the authors explored the role played by gender in influencing school culture.
According to the authors, equity and fairness are required when preparing children for leadership positions in schools. One of the core gender roles of children who aspire to be school administrators is to understand the influence of gender in the process of leadership. The authors have also pointed out that the research study did not include certain perspectives and theories in compiling the final report. Some of the independent approaches that were not considered in the empirical study include gender standpoints, multi-ethnic viewpoints, and feminist theoretical perspectives (Andrews and Ridenour, 2006). In addition, the research study deliberately left out the discussion on how leadership affects class, race and gender.
In terms of the research plan, the authors employed a qualitative design in compiling the study. Hence, document analyses of field notes were carried out. The latter process assisted the researchers to correlate gender issues and the attitudes of students towards the practice of stereotyping.
Reference
Andrews, M. L., & Ridenour, C. S. (2006). Gender in schools: A qualitative study of students in educational administration. The Journal of Educational Research, 100(1), 35-43.