MLP in gender equality seminar - Gender Segregation in the Labour Market and Education - 29-30 September 2015 - Denmark

The mutual learning seminar, held in Copenhagen on the 29th and 30th September 2015, focused on the issue of gender segregation in the labour market and education with particular focus on attracting more male pedagogues to the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and promoting more women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Further to the host country Denmark and the associated countries Northern Ireland and the Netherlands, the seminar included representatives and experts from Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.

Denmark has launched a set of five pilot projects, in five different municipalities, to promote greater gender diversity in the day care sector by attracting more male pedagogues. In promoting the recruitment of male pedagogues, the activities involved challenging the language of job advertisements and unwritten practices in selecting applicants; prior contact with male students to inform them about their job possibilities in the sector and explore any barriers that they think they might face; and the construction of a professional identity for work in the sector attractive to all. The projects challenged all institutions involved to make internal changes in order to eliminate gender stereotyping, contest existing concepts of gender diversity and gender roles within their work, and evolve daily routines to reflect new learning on gender issues.

In Northern Ireland, a STEM Business Coordinator, funded by the Government, initiated a partnership with the Equality Commission to address gender segregation in STEM employment. An infrastructure to stimulate better gender balance in the STEM field was developed. Good practice guidelines emphasised the importance of role models prior to and post recruitment, supportive personnel policies, networking and career development opportunities, and mentoring. A STEM Charter for CEOs includes commitments to implement an equality policy, take appropriate positive action measures, challenge gender stereotypical attitudes, benchmark against best practice and monitor access to all policies. A STEM Employer Equality Network was convened to discuss topics such as benchmarking and needs identification, mentoring, networking, and unconscious bias.

The Netherlands has introduced policies and related projects aimed at shifting perceptions and combating stereotypes in STEM education, by informing girls about STEM possibilities and introducing role models, and training parents and teachers in gender awareness through initiatives that focus on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education. These initiatives involve students, parents, teachers, and school guidance counsellors. Activities include: ‘Talent Viewer’ lessons to eliminate stereotypes; an online database about women role models; a girls’ day to visit STEM businesses and research institutions; an in-service teacher training to promote gender aware teaching of STEM subjects; speed dating events with women STEM professionals; information for STEM students regarding follow-up programmes and professions; policy advice on handling gender diversity within education programmes; and work meetings with gender contact/monitoring staff.

The debate emphasised that in order to overcome gender segregation, organisations need to implement effective equality practices in a systematic manner, promoting diversity and addressing work life balance. At a societal level change needs to be stimulated by promoting shared care and domestic work as well as the affordability and quality of childcare services.

Participants valued the Dutch initiatives that aim to promote girls in STEM, covering the entire chain from primary education to the labour market. During the discussion the idea was put forward that messages used to attract men into female dominated sectors and women into male dominated sectors must not reproduce gender stereotypes. Language, too, can all too easily be gendered in a manner that acts as a barrier to eliminating gender segregation and gender stereotyping.