Supplementary educational material for gender-related issues

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Objectives of the Initiative

Short term objectives:
Within the framework of the project, the relevant educational material produced is mainly addressed to teachers and is intended to provide them with the resources necessary to raise awareness of gender issues among students at an earlier stage of their formative years.

It is generally meant to facilitate the efforts of teachers in helping their students to overcome stereotypes and social conditioning within the educational framework at school and University level.

Long term objectives:
The advancement of gender equality in technology and natural sciences.

Which barriers in the career stages of females does the initiative address?

Girls do not get involved with technology and natural science during their socialisation and don’t get interested in these fields. The reason is that they tend not to be engaged in gender related issues and tend not to be familiar with the concept of gender equality from a young age because these issues are not addressed within the school environment or in other formative environments such as the family.

Demonstrable success of the initiative

The participation rate was considerably high while feedback during the initiative’s implementation, such as the organisation of seminars and conferences, was highly positive.

The full set of materials is currently available on the project website for wider use and dissemination.

Motives for launching initiative

Greece, like other countries with a Mediterranean culture, may exhibit greater gender imbalances than their counterparts further north, by virtue of their traditions. The sensitisation of younger children, particularly girls, to gender issues is important to overcome old-fashioned stereotypes such as “the arts are for girls and the sciences are for boys” and thus leave them better equipped to confront any gender related issues in their social environment.

Equal opportunity measures in the organisation before the initiative

No.

Target group(s) of the initiative

Direct Target Groups:

• Teachers (by training them so that to integrate this material to their courses)

Indirect Target Groups:

• School children
• Schoolgirls

Implementation of the initiative

The project aimed to develop educational material in order to satisfy gender-specific educational / communicational demands in the contemporary Greek school.

The material offered the possibility to:

1. (re-)introduce issues on gender (in-)equalities into the everyday educational framework by featuring women scientists who have successfully overcome the systemic stereotypes to excel in their field.
2. Contribute to promoting gender equality in other education-related environments such as the family, the market, the University and the policy-making bodies.
3. Advance the positive aspects of gender equality to all visible social strata’s.

The material is presented in both printed and electronic form.

All sets of both the printed and the electronic material have been developed by a group of experts and have been applied to certain representative school units of all grades on a pilot basis.

Following the pilot applications, internal evaluation was carried out and the appropriate improvements were incorporated so that the final version could be introduced to all Greek schools.

The improved material has already been sent to the authorities of the Greek Ministry of Education and the Greek Institute of Education for its official approval. Such approval was granted and the Extended Application Phase was initiated among all Greek School Units.

The project’s activities were implemented by a group of experts on gender-related issues in the educational process and was coordinated by the University of Ioannina. The project activities were strongly supported by the Research Centre for Gender Equality (KETHI) - the governmental agency responsible for providing the necessary statistics - and the General Secretariat for Equality (GSE) - the first Agent responsible for promoting and implementing legal and substantial gender equality in political, economic, social and cultural life.

Factors of success

The implementation of project activities by a dedicated team of experts on gender-related issues in the educational process as well as the support of the implementation by both the Research Centre for Gender Equality (KETHI) and the General Secretariat for Equality (GSE).

Obstacles, barriers to implementation

The most difficult aspect during the implementation of the project’s activities was overcoming the resistance of some teachers and motivating them to adopt this material in the classroom. The bureaucracy associated with project management also acted as a disincentive.

Lessons Learned

The impact would have been greater if there had been better coordination with key initiatives implemented by organisations supervised by the General Secretariat for Equality (GSE). A coordinated effort by all relevant bodies to promote the usage of this material would help raise the profile of gender equality as a mainstream issue.

Benefit for the organisation

Through the resources of this initiative, the Department of Philosophy, Education and Psychology at Ioannina University is nurturing girls to overcome gender stereotypes and get interested in fields such as technology and natural sciences.

Sustainability of the initiative

The educational material is made available online by the University of Ioannina which is committed to supporting this initiative.

Naturally, this material will need updating as good practices change with time. Also, this initiative will need to be coordinated with similar activities in the future. These aspects will require additional resources in order to gain the fullest benefit from this initiative.

Transferability

A similar initiative was implemented in Austria.

Systematic Approach

The educational material has been promoted among, and adopted by, numerous departments and schools at national level.

The initiative is the fruit of research into gender issues on a national scale. The material generated during this initiative resides on the e-infrastructure of the University of Ioannina and provides the basis for further research on gender-equality in R&D at national level.

Innovation

The innovative aspect of this initiative is the online availability of the educational material.

Monitoring / Evaluation

Summary: This initiative is good practice because...

It was widely accepted by teachers and positively assessed by different actors at national level.

It is has had a significant impact at national level as a milestone initiative on addressing gender issues at pre-University level.

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