Gender inequality in workplaces (LS-RS-212)
This learning scenario is about the problem of gender inequality and workplace diversity in Serbia and possibly in other European countries. The main goal for students is to think of the question: is it possible for women to work in higher positions?
Introduction
Our activity is directly aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially to goal number 5. I wanted to encourage them to think and talk to people in their environment about the problems of gender inequality in the workplace. My students were thinking about the questions concerning the problem, asked them to public and justified the outcomes. They had very serious access to the problem and in cooperation with the parents conducted their own little research.
Expected results
- 14/15-year-old students should justify or consider the women’s position in being managers or members of the board of directors and they should make their own opinion on this issue.
- They should develop social, communicative and digital competences, critical thinking and also use of English, statistics and so on.
The project lasts for two weeks and the working procedure is divided into several phases:
- Search what my student’s approach towards gender equality is: students make the questionnaires concerning the topic under the teacher’s supervision.
- Ask the questions in their families and possibly in the neighbourhood.
- Visit the Water Factory in our town.
- Compare and prepare students’ research outcome in the form of Word.
- Share student’s views, ideas and thoughts with their peers from other countries via video conference.
The first stakeholders were parents, but also a few employees of Water Factory who wanted to explain the difference between male and female working places in their company. And it is just the beginning! We plan to expand our initiative to other schools, companies, partners from abroad…
Work process
Researching
I asked my student to think about the topic and to read this Europeana resource. After that, my students were discussing the problem of inequality of men and women in the field of employment in higher positions, by thinking what would be the global attitude of our population towards this issue.
Students made a questionnaire, concerning the issue, consisting of 10 questions, which they would ask their family members at home (possibly as a video or audio recording). This is the final questionnaire in English and Serbian.
Interviewing
The interview process lasted a few days and you can see what it looked like in pictures and videos.
Visiting the Water Factory
With the chemistry teacher, the students visited the Water Factory and they found out about the way of water processing. They also met with male and female working places in the water supply company.
Research outcomes
Here you can find the research outcomes in my class. The answers are numbered according to the order of questions in our questionnaire and you can find answers in total numbers and then diverse according to the respondents’ gender.
Conclusion
My students have taken a very serious and conscious approach to project work. They compiled an excellent questionnaire and implemented all the tasks related to the initiative. They worked with enthusiasm and want to continue promoting their project and speaking with other stakeholders. Thinking about this issue and discussing it with the parents, they have become more aware of the problems in society and have matured in the understanding of male-female differences in the workplace, amount of salaries, employment opportunities.
Our project was done in civil education classes, correlated with other subjects: Cross-Curricular, Ethics, Foreign Languages, Informatics, Mathematics and Social Studies.
The featured image used to illustrate this article belongs to the public domain.