Journal of Undergraduate Psychological Research

Journal of Undergraduate Psychological Research
2007, Vol. 2

Investigating Gender Stereotypes in Elementary Education
Matthew M. Calvanese
Western Connecticut State University

Education is home to one of America’s most pervasive gender stereotypes. A disproportionately low frequency of male elementary school teachers has reinforced such stereotypes. This study was designed to investigate gender stereotypes further. Forty-three undergraduate students answered questions assessing their attitudes and views towards four different fictitious teachers. The teacher descriptions were varied by gender and competency (incompetent versus competent). Competent teachers were rated significantly higher across all measures including emotional supportiveness and subject-area competency, while teacher gender produced no significant differences on any of the measures. However, participant gender interacted with teacher competency significantly for leadership ratings. The findings do not support the bulk of previous findings on stereotypes in education. Implications and future research ideas are discussed.

Stereotypes are a common occurrence in American life. People often use stereotypes to make quick judgments, despite the fact that the stereotypes themselves and the judgments concluded from them are commonly wrong. Stereotypes pervade all avenues of life including gender, occupations, races and ethnicities, and sexual orientations. Of all the stereotypes, gender stereotypes are one of the most pervasive in American life. Throughout history,
Americans have had the belief that men should be working and that women should be at home with the family. This long held belief has trickled down over the years and is evident in the types of occupations that are stereotyped for males and for females.
Gender stereotypes are not limited to occupations by any means.
Consider the United States government and its political system, which is predominantly run by men.

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