Recognizing the Hidden

Curriculum of Gender RolesThe Relationship Between Reading and Gender

A Master’s Research Project by

Catherine HollandSt. Mary’s College of Maryland

Introduction

• Schools: tools for socialization

• Stated curriculum vs. “hidden

curriculum” (Giroux, 1988)

• Reinforcing traditional gender roles

The Problem

• Researchers report gender inequalities

– On standardized tests (Lietz, 2006;

Marks, 2008)

– Increasing over time (Klecker, 2006)

– Influencing educational policies (Martino &

Kehler 2007)

The Problem

• Gender Similarities Hypothesis (Hyde, 2005)

• Gender isn’t a predictor of causal thinking abilities (Berkant, 2009)

• Gender isn’t related to preferred learning style (Younger & Warrington, 2005 as cited in Watson, Kehler, & Martino, 2010)

The Problem

Differences between

genders are socially

created, not biologically

innate.

Research Questions

• Do boys consider reading to be a

gendered activity? Do girls?

• Is it primarily teachers or their students

who replicate and encourage these

gender-specific behaviors and opinions?

Population

• AP English Literature students; grade 12

• English teachers

• Public high school in Southern Maryland

Methods

• Affective survey

– Questionnaire

– Open-ended question

– Book descriptions

• Student interviews

• Teacher interviews

Findings

Q7 –

I like to read.

Q8 –I would

rather read a

book

than play a

sport in my free time.*

Q9 -

I like the

books that I

read in English class.

AVG Male 3.8 2.067 3.27

AVG Female 4.17 3.31 3.46

*p < .05

Findings

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

120.00

% Boys Who Would Like to Read This Book

% Girls Who Would Like to Read This Book

Findings

“Depends on the text. A lot of the stories

that we’re doing are not geared toward

young men…They’re definitely reluctant.”

“Um, if it’s about things that they like

to read about. We did The Contender

and it was about boy-things, they don’t like to

read about love stories. It has a little bit of boy

violence or things that they could relate to.”

“No. They’re a harder sell.”

“No.”

Findings

• Teacher responses to: “Do you find that

the girls in your class like reading?”

• All four responded yes:

– Compared to boys in the class

– More obedient

Findings

“Not a particular genre, but I like really

descriptive books. I’m trying to think of

particular books…realistic that I could see

happening somewhere to someone real.”

“Favorite genre – anything that twists

reality. Anything that messes with your

perception and then gives you a shock.

Thriller is too broad. You could go with a

thriller but that’s too broad.”

“Love stories.”

“Fiction novels in general.

No specific genre.”

“Anything funny”

Implications

• Teachers are noticing reluctant male

readers

– They are more resistant

– Underlying assumption that males don’t like

reading

– Adjust text choice to appeal to males

Girls may not like the texts they read in

class, but they are more willing to try new ones

Conclusions

• Teachers choose “boy-friendly”

texts, focus attention on males, but they

still don’t like reading

– These texts describe “masculine” males

– Make males even more resistant to reading

Based on the interviews, students’ text

preferences are idiosyncratic.

Yet students tend to choose texts with

same-sex protagonists

Recommendations

• Provide text choices whenever possible

• Encourage students to cross gender-

boundaries in reading; reading is a human

activity

References

Berkant, H. G. (2009). An investigation of students' meaningful causal thinking abilities in terms of academic achievement, reading comprehension and gender. Educational Sciences:Theory and Practice, 9(3), 1149-1165.

Giroux, H. A. (1988). Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Learning. Bergin & Garvey Paperback.

Hyde, J. S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-592.

Klecker, B. M. (2006). The gender gap in NAEP fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade reading scores across years. Reading Improvement, 43(1), 50-56.

Lietz, P. (2006). Issues in the change in gender differences in reading achievement in crossnational research studies since 1992: a meta-analytic view. International Education Journal, 7(2), 127-149.

Marks, G. N. (2008). Accounting for the gender gaps in student performance in reading and mathematics: evidence from 31 countries. Oxford Review of Education, 34(1), 89-109.

Martino, W., & Kehler, M. (2007). Gender-based literacy reform: a question of challenging or recuperating gender binaries. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(2), 406-431.

Watson, A., Kehler, M., & Martino, W. (2010). The problem of boys' literacy underachievement: raising some questions. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(5), 356-361.

Questions?