Between the ages of 6-8, children’s aspirations can be influenced and shaped by gender-specific ideas about specific jobs and future pathways. This can lead to ruling out certain subjects and career routes they might successfully pursue, meaning industries and employers do not benefit from talent potentially available to them. Perceptions about careers are often carried into their decision-making teenage years so tackling them at an early age is vital.
Adapted from Robert Gordon University Challenging Gender Stereotype Lesson Plans, 3 classroom activities which raise awareness of gender stereotyping in our thinking
This resource is considers gender stereotypes by asking pupils to sort jobs into 2 categories; male and female. There is then some suggested questions for a discussion about why they have chosen to put each job in that category.
Learning Objective: To explore attitudes towards gender in different careers
Three free books which highlight women in engineering, two of them also have a recycling theme which may also link into some of your work. Each of them have activities to do and they were all created in and around Norton, Stockton on Tees. The WES Lottie Tour takes ‘Lottie’ to many different locations accompanying lots of different engineering friends who show Lottie the work they do in engineering and related careers.
Its primary aim is for Lottie to inspire and encourage young girls (and boys) to think of careers in engineering and STEM subjects to be open to everyone.
A recording of our SeeMe (previously SeeWomen) live roadshow with presenter Fran Scott from CBeebies. In the show (audience aged around year 7/8) Fran discusses STEM careers and the stereotypes people have about working in a STEM career, in a really fun, exciting and interactive way
Digital SeeMe is a series of videos and activities presented by Fran Scott and Siemens role models, again about stereotypes and STEM careers (specifically engineering and technology careers). There is an accompanying Teachers’ Guide to explain how to work through the videos and activities. The whole Digital SeeMe programme is designed to fit into a 45 minute/ hour long lesson.
“These activities aim to raise pupil awareness of gender stereotyping, and the detrimental and limiting effect it can have on someone’s behaviour, self-esteem and future aspirations. Pupils are encouraged to think about where stereotypes could be challenged, and how they can help to make changes. Each activity takes approximately 15-20 minutes to deliver, but are designed to be flexible. You may find that the discussions or other outcomes generated by an activity last up to an hour, could be fitted into a short period at the end of the day, or extend over more than one lesson. The ‘Gender walk’ in Activity 5 is likely to take longer.
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The Primary Careers Tool is a database of over 100 STEM careers sorted by National Curriculum topic in Science. By clicking on the topic a selection of careers will be randomly presented.
Each career includes a simple explanation of the job, a link that searches for counter-stereotypical images of that type of STEM worker and three attributes that are needed by people who do that job. It doesn’t take long to put this information into presentation slide that can be used in a science lesson. The slide enables discussions about the career, by asking the children if they could do that career and whether they share any of the attributes. The counter-stereotypical images also let the teacher challenge current stereotypes held in the class.
Using the Primary Careers Tool allows teachers to find out about careers that may be new to them, and introduce those careers simply in their lessons. Over time, children will come to realise that studying science opens up a whole world of possibilities to them.
The Primary Careers Tool is a database of over 100 STEM careers sorted by National Curriculum topic in Maths. By clicking on the topic a selection of careers will be randomly presented.
Each career includes a simple explanation of the job, a link that searches for counter-stereotypical images of that type of STEM worker and three attributes that are needed by people who do that job. It doesn’t take long to put this information into presentation slide that can be used in a science lesson. The slide enables discussions about the career, by asking the children if they could do that career and whether they share any of the attributes. The counter-stereotypical images also let the teacher challenge current stereotypes held in the class.
Using the Primary Careers Tool allows teachers to find out about careers that may be new to them, and introduce those careers simply in their lessons. Over time, children will come to realise that studying science opens up a whole world of possibilities to them.
Welcome to STEM Person of the Week – a STEM engagement activity that’s been shown to reduce children’s stereotypes of science and scientists by providing counter-stereotypical character attributes through a set of diverse STEM role models.
This resource aims to equip teachers with everything they need to effectively run this 5-week intervention in their school setting. The resource is simple to use and suitable for children in years 1 through 6. In fact, we recommend that you run STEM Person of the Week with your whole school; this way, children and teachers can share what they’re learning beyond the classroom and into the playground and staff room.
Here you’ll find:
Links to the resources which you can download and print
Aims, background and research
Guidance for teachers who want to deliver in their school
This is an exciting resource and competition for KS2, designed to help raise career aspirations, challenge stereotyping and put learning into context for the future.
The KS2 resources allow your pupils to explore a wide range of careers and help them better understand that all NHS careers are open to them, whatever their gender or background. See how our ready-made lesson plans and resources can fit into your schemes of work and introduce meaningful career-related learning to your pupils.
Enter the national competition
The teacher resources are made up of three parts, with the finale being an exciting competition to showcase pupil learning and celebrate the NHS. Your pupils have a chance to win a class prize and Amazon vouchers.
To enter, pupils need to create a piece of artwork to say “thank you” to the NHS and its staff
Free Women in Stem Posters.
The aim of these resources is to provide a catalyst for challenging preconceived ideas about the types of people that work in specific roles.
The aim of this resource is to provide a catalyst for challenging preconceived ideas about the world of work in order to remove barriers and raise aspiration.
Gender-Neutral T-shirt Design
A short, music-driven piece, designed to inspire and excite children about the world of work and their futures, as well as challenging some of the stereotypical thinking they might have around certain jobs. Pupils will be able to challenge preconceptions about who does certain jobs, explore a wide range of different jobs, identify stereotypes and challenge stereotypical thinking, represent different jobs in pictures and words
This resource has been developed to support schools in exploring and challenging gender stereotypes. It can link across the curriculum, for example, looking at jobs linked to STEM subjects and learning about the gender inequality there, or exploring gender inequality in history.
Ever wondered why we learn stuff in schools? Why do we need maths or English skills? In the world of work, people need these skills to do their jobs. You could be a games designer, a physiotherapist or a construction engineer or anything you want to be but practising these skills will give you more choices and help you to be better at your job. Watching these films might give you some ideas as to why the skills are important and how you might recognise them in yourself. Whether you are a school pupil, a parent or an educator, we hope these films help you to see the value in working hard and learning new things. This series of 10 short films aims to link the primary curriculum with essential employability skills in the real world of work. These are real people talking about the skills they need in their jobs. Learning about skills at school helps to prepare young people for the world of work, helping them to understand their own skills and broadening their horizons. We also hope you’ve noticed that many of the participants are female. Challenging gender stereotypes is an important part of these films – boys and girls can be anything they want to be if they work hard enough.
What do you imagine when you’re asked what a scientist looks like? Are you picturing lab coats, goggles and conical flasks? How about the person? Are they a White man with grey hair, who resembles Albert Einstein?
If that’s who you pictured – you aren’t alone. But it’s something that we want to change!
For inspiration, we’ve collected stories from individuals and teams that we hope will spark a change in perceptions of people and careers in STEM. You can find more about them via the links.
Young people should be able to be whatever they want to be. Taking action to support young people to decide what they want to be will help tackle gender stereotyping, and occupational segregation, in school, in the world of work, and in Scotland.
When gender stereotypes get attached to a job, it biases the authority that people attribute to the man or woman who happens to work in that position.
Despite the fact that women today are employed in greater numbers and in a wider range of roles and occupations than ever before, children still tend to think of particular careers as ‘male’ or ‘female’. The reality of gender stereotyping starting at a young age was bought to wide attention by a very simple two-minute film called Redraw the Balance viewed over 75 million times, shows 66 children being asked to draw a picture of a surgeon, firefighter and a pilot. 61 of the children drew a picture of a man with only five drawing a woman.
