Gender equity - secondary education in the ACT

Gender equity - secondary education in the ACT - Report from the Public Policy Assessment Society Inc.

The meaning of "gender equity"

The document entitled Gender Equity Curriculum Support Paper, published in 1997 by the ACT Department of Education and Training, states "Gender Equity is about excellence in schooling outcomes for both girls and boys." The section on evaluation of the success of the gender equity program includes the following:

Evaluation of the delivery of the curriculum, with a view to judging its relevance to both girls and boys, may involve:

noting the comparative achievement of girls and boys

noting the comparative participation rates of girls and boys (where applicable)

noting comparative withdrawals of girls and boys (where applicable) and reasons for these

[then some other dot points on surveys, etc.].

The degree of gender inequity

The Society has evaluated the success of the gender equity program in the ACT secondary education system on the basis of the two principal criteria listed above. Data relating to the third criterion (comparative withdrawals) were not available. The following information was obtained.

Participation rates

The document entitled Year 12 Study 1996, published by the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies, shows (in Table 1) that 68% of females and 52% of males in the relevant population cohort were awarded Tertiary Entrance (TE) scores in the ACT.

Scores for individual courses

Table 12.2 in the Year 12 Study 1996 gives the average course scores by sex for T-classified courses in the ACT college system. For almost all courses, females obtained higher scores than males. Even in the highest level basic sciences, in which it is often stated that females are at a disadvantage, the females did better, course scores being as follows:

Subject	Female	Male

Advanced maths extended	179.4	174.2

Physics	165.9	159.3

Chemistry	164.3	162.3

General biology	149.7	139.7

TE scores

The 1996 average TE scores for each sex, provided by the BSSS, were:

Female students: 63.866

Male students: 58.307

Result of evaluation

The large difference between the sexes in almost all individual courses and in overall outcomes, and the fact that the higher average is observed in the group with the higher participation rate, put beyond doubt that there is a real gender equity problem in the ACT secondary education system.

Certainly, judged against the aim stated in the Gender Equity Curriculum Support Paper, and using the main evaluation criteria listed in that paper, any current efforts to promote gender equity must be rated a dismal failure.

Comment

Measures which are aggravating gender inequity

One factor responsible for the continuing high level of gender inequity in the education system is likely to be the systemic and entrenched bias in favour of the gender which has the lesser need.

Such inappropriate bias is evident in the Gender Equity Curriculum Support Paper. The whole thrust of the document is that extra attention must be given to females, to ensure both their participation and their success in all courses. Rather than presenting a detailed critique of the document, I offer the following objective observations regarding its gender bias.

The document contains 21 instances in which either the special interests of females are mentioned (other than where both sexes are given equal emphasis), or males are mentioned pejoratively. In contrast, there is only one instance in which the special interests of males are mentioned (other than where both sexes are given equal emphasis), and females are never mentioned pejoratively.

The phrase "girls as well as boys" or "women as well as men" or the like (ie, indicating a need to specially consider females) occurs six times. The reverse order is never used.

The list of resources on which the document was based contains 11 whose titles are female specific. Three titles in the list are male specific, but one of these (a publication produced by "Men Against Sexual Assault") is about boys as problems.

Action required

Objective data show that males in the ACT secondary education system suffer grave disadvantage. Yet the Gender Equity Curriculum Support Paper reveals that for some reason this is being ignored in favour of an agreed fiction that females are the disadvantaged group. The ACT Government must take action to correct this situation.

December 1997. The Public Policy Assessment Society Inc.
Box 395 WODEN ACT 2606 Australia.