Two humanist, critical approaches--those of Dorothy Dinnerstein and Immanuel Kant--are summarized, compared, and employed to critique gender bias in science education. The value of Dinnerstein's approach lies in her way of seeing conventional "masculinity" and conventional "femininity" as developing in relation to each other from early childhood.…

Research has indicated that gender constancy and categorization are achieved in childhood and that autonomous sex-role integration occurs during adulthood, well after a secure sense of gender identity is established. To examine developmental sex-role identification, college students rated themselves on a "current" Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and…

Two explanations for the effects of fear of success (boundary maintenance theory and the sex-role prescription model) were investigated. Support for the study's hypotheses was not found; however, both explanations are relevant to the finding that participation in behavior perceived to be sex-role inappropriate plays a role in the fear of success…

Two studies on early gender stereotying based on a concept-learning approach were conducted. Study 1 found that both two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half year-old children showed significant and equal stereotyping of both gender-labeled infants and animals. In study 2, three- and five-year-olds stereotyped others significantly more than themselves.…

We cannot accurately speak of women and men in general. Each one of us is a human being before being 'man' or 'woman.' And each one of us, man or woman, has roles and functions to fulfill, individually, inter-individually and socially. Here is where the differences begin. These are most emphatically not differences in value, only differences in…

Differences in sex role concepts of 360 Black, Italian, and Jewish children (ages 10 through 17) from middle and working class families were examined through a modified version of the Sex Role Questionnaire, yielding descriptions of the self and the male and female stereotypes on both competence and expressive dimensions. (Author/GC)

The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule was used to examine the relation of the sex role stereotypes held by college men and women to the objective measurement of these stereotyped characteristics. Subjects perceived numerous differences between the average female and male, but very few differences between the ideal female and male. (Author/EB)

This study explored the perception of career/family conflict in adolescent girls to determine how that conflict affects their career-related decisions; how this effect changes over time; and the effect of parental attitudes and marital relationships on this process. Research and results are described. (JL)

Presents findings of an investigation of androgynous behavior across situations and within situations, and differences in sensitivity to traditional sex role stereotypes. All types of men were equally sensitive to stereotypes. Feminine women displayed the strongest gender-schema effects, and androgynous women displayed the least effects. (KH)

This study examines the sex-role perceptions that adolescents hold of fathers, mothers, ideal males, ideal females, and selves. Differences exist between male and female adolescents, and significant linkages exist between sex-role identification and academic achievement. (Author/BW)

In research on sex role attitudes, career choices, and considered appropriateness of men and women participating in 14 sex-stereotyped occupations, children demonstrated nonstereotypic attitudes toward the 14 occupations, chose traditional careers (those dominated by the subject's sex) for themselves, and gave stereotypic reasons for preferring…

Elementary school students were interviewed with the goal of determining characteristics and behavioral patterns they considered appropriate for one sex or the other in participation in sports. Children from kindergarten through the sixth grade were examined and compared by grade, sex, and race in their gender-related attitudes. The instrument…

Summarizes the development of a course on the history of masculinity which confronts historical and cultural sterotypes. Course outline, requirements, and objectives are presented. Appendices include two sample reading selections, a copy of an exam question and the answer provided, and a local newspaper story on the course. (TP)

Children's literature and school texts have reflected society's relegation of women to inferior, passive roles; while there is now an awareness that stereotypes and sexist terms should be eliminated, there is the danger that overreaction will diminish literary quality. (JD)