Gender Population in Aruban Education: a preliminary analysis of the upward mobility. Are our schools failing to recognize and fulfill gender-specific needs?

Drs. Merviné Kock

Edit by Drs. Gregory Richardson

Instituto Pedagogico Arubano

 

“When educational quarantines on girls got lifted ... girls started to bloom in school……….boys didn’t become dumb. Competition revealed, however, that the language and literacy platform on which schooling is and always has been built actually favors girls”.

-Dr. Norman Johnson “Literacy and the Male Brain”-

 

“There are NO differences in what girls and boys CAN learn. But there are BIG differences in the best ways to teach them” (Sax, 2006).

 

Abstract:

This study is a preliminary analysis of the upward mobility of the gender population in Aruban education.

Methodology consists of analyzing reports from CBS and Department of Education from 1999 till 2009. Primary and secondary schools were interviewed and requested to fill out a form regarding their gender population and their upward mobility from the past school year. 

The results point out that the female population  are performing better than males on several level in our education. The male population in special education has in creased more than 100% for the last decade and will be increasing In the years to come, according the polynomia prediction trend line. At the end of  the primary  school mayority of the male population move up to EPB[1].  The mayority repeaters in the primary school in every grade are male. The percentage of repeaters is the highest in the first grade.

Conclusion:  Women have greatly increased their level of attainment in education while males are falling behind on several level in our education

 

Introduction

This paper has as its aim to present preliminary data on the upward mobility[2] of males and females in Aruban education. We analyzed the gender[3] population in primary and secondary schools between the period of 1999 and 2010. Statistics on the tertiary level where also documented but due to many inconsistencies we could not present a complete analysis hereof. The administrative system that monitors the progress of students from the secondary level onward is not optimal due to lack of time, manpower and finances according to a number of school administrators we have interviewed. Therefore it is unclear how many students choose to study abroad, drop out of school or enter the labor market on a yearly basis.
During the research period we analyzed existing documents on education at the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS, 1999 till 2009). We looked at the student population in the primary schools up until the tertiary level.  We also analyzed the yearly reports from the department of education. Here, we mainly looked at the structure of the Aruban education system as well as the male female ratio. In addition, we visited all the primary and secondary schools on the island and held open interviews with school administrators. Many schools lent their support wholeheartedly and were very interested in the outcomes. All schools were required to fill in a questionnaire concerning the influx and outflow of the gender population. Data from these different sources were analyzed comparatively. In paragraph 1 we will present the results of this inquiry via a number of statistical charts. After each chart we will give a short explanation. In paragraph 2 we will discuss the results and in paragraph 3 we will present the conclusions, challenges and recommendations for further research. 

 

Adult Education

EPB (T/E/V/As) Educacion Professional Basico (techniek/economie/verzorging/aspiranten opleiding)

Integrated system of lower level technical and vocational education

CB Intermediate (bridge) class for MAVO, HAVO and VWO

MAVO Middelbaar Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs academically oriented 4 years preparatory course to middle level professional education

HAVO (E) Hoger Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs (experimentklassen) academically oriented 5 years preparatory course to higher professional education, non-university

E-stream (3 years) for MAVO graduates

ISA International School of Aruba academically oriented 6 years preparatory course to higher education at university (high school)

VWO Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs academically oriented 6 years preparatory course to higher education at university

EPI Educacion Professional Intermedio integrated system of middle level technical and vocational education

IPA-initial Instituto Pedagogico Arubano, initiële opleiding teacher's training/education college, pre-service programs for (pre-) primary level

IPA-second degree Instituto Pedagogico Arubano, tweede graads opleidingen teacher Training/education College, pre-service programs for secondery degree level

UA-FEF Universiteit van Aruba, Financieel Economische Faculteit

University of Aruba, school of business administration (B.ec.)

UA-JF Universiteit van Aruba, Juridische Faculteit University of Aruba, school of law (mr.)

 

  

1.       Educational system of Aruba.

 

Education plays a key role in the development of the island. On a daily basis an average of 22.000 students on more than 80 schools offer the opportunity to discover their own potential, to develop and use.

For decades education in Aruba was not and still is not a priority for our governments, forgetting that education is the pillar of a community. Even more, for a small island as Aruba that depends on import on various domains.

The educational system of Aruba is for 95% a copy of the educational system of The Netherlands. In the beginning of the last century the Dutch colonizers impose their educational system without taken into account the differences between the Dutch culture and our Caribbean culture. Since then the language of instruction is Dutch in most of the schools, with exceptions of the kindergarten, faculty of tourism and the faculty of social science of the University of Aruba. Our native tongues are Papiamento and for an apart of the population, English, they were put aside and make way for Dutch.  In the course of the last 9 decades, every change that took place in the Dutch system will be adopted in our system without any changes or taken into account that our school culture differ from the Dutch one.  These changes were taking place also without any in-depth research, while many students couldn’t keep up with the system.

In our pre-school is Papiamento the language of instruction. These students are being prepared in Papiamento for two years. When these students are promoted to the primary school, first grade of the primary school, the instruction language becomes by night Dutch. Meaning, that their thinking, their vocabulary and their learning conditions/skills for the enrollment into the primary school has been master in Papiamento, and on the first day of school, all this learning, all the preparation in Papiamento will be put aside. One begins over new, but now in a foreign language called Dutch, that they don’t hear at home neither in their environment, in the community, but only at school. On top of that, Dutch language is only spoken in the classroom. The second blunder that we endure for years is, the chosen methods that have been used to teach our students the language of Dutch are developed for natives speaking Dutch students.

On several occasions in the last decade is tried to reform and to innovate the educational system, but till today it hasn’t succeed. Most of these reforms were not executed on research results.  Previously to reform inquiries were omitted. There is still a need to execute an in-depth research in our education to gather and analyze these data. Based on the result innovation and reformation are able to take place in our educational system. Reform on findings means that we could be able to remediate specific areas and change our education system for the better. There is a big need in reforming our education, but we need people that have the strength and the courage to do so, otherwise our community won’t be empowered and will stay behind with the rest of the world. Education is the spill to fight poverty, it will empower the quality of life and we will have a sustainable economy where our citizen is depend on.

The primary education level in 2008-2009, indicate between 14.1% repeaters in the first grade and 1.2% repeaters in the sixth grade. Department of Education indicates in the same year 692 repeaters on 9074 students in the primary school (Wal, 2011). In 2007, “drop outs” between 16 and 24 years  has been estimated on 2000 youngsters (Wal, 2008).

Since the implementing of the Dutch educational system 95 % school material are utilized that is developed in The Netherlands. Our students cannot identify themselves with the content of the books. Meaning that education is not geared to the pupils’ perception of their environment. This is one of the main reasons why so many talents are wasted. Our education doesn’t take neither into account our multi-cultural society.

During the last decade is attempted to execute some changes in the primary level, tried to implement in the two first grades Papiamento as language of instruction. This innovative change has been met with great opposition by parents. Parent’s perceptions are that their children need to master the Dutch Language for a higher level of education, while a hand full of students actually go study in the Netherlands. On top of that, a vast majority of schools on the high level of education are teaching in English while we are still enforcing and imposing the Dutch language

 

The system is constantly challenged by educators, by parents and by the hand full of intellectuals on the island. Our language problem isn’t unique. In New Guinea, the island of Malta, some cities in Canada, the Navajo Indians in the US, the Latinos & the Puerto Ricans in the US, but also the Korean, the Chinese and the Japanese in the US have a similar problem in their country or their migrant country. All the above-mentioned countries change their curriculum; pupils till 10 year will be taught in their one native language. After mastering their own language regarding writing, reading and speaking, a slowly change will take place to the “main” language (AERA, 2010).

One of the factors that affect the achievement is gender  (Eurydice, 2010, Narain 2010). The most pronounced gender difference in achievement is the advantage of girls in reading. For our student the reading needs to take place in the Dutch Language and not in their native language, this can have a big impact on the performances of the male students. Literature review indicates that male already trail behind in reading in their native language.

In the last 2 decades some minor changes took place in some of educational level.  For the low vocational level, EPB[4] a new curriculum has been developed. The curriculum is adapted to the needs of the Aruban economy and society. In 2005 the project “SHA”[5]

Compulsory Education still doesn’t exist on the island.  For years the governments are struggling to implement this amendment. For years Aruba doesn’t comply with the international law for children till 18 years regarding compulsory education (UNICEF, 2008).

Equal opportunity, regardless country of origin, culture background, sexes, is the main purpose of our education policy. On many occasions has been tried to reform our education system so that every child has an equal chance to achieve the highest of education. But still there are aspects that remain neglected, one of these aspects is however the “boy problem”, boys lagging behind girls in the education system.

Factors of performance differences in school education between male and female according to theory and recent international studies.

Male and female brains are structurally different. That difference makes the boys and girls think, emote, behave and learn differently (Zundel, 2001).

Nowadays with new positron emission tomography and MRI technologies enable one to look inside the brains of boys and girls, where structural and functional differences were detected that profoundly affect human learning. New brain imaging technologies verify that genetically template brain patterning by gender plays a far larger role than we realized (Gurian & Stevens, 2004).

Gender differences become noticeable at an early age and can been seen in the different ways girls and boy learn and play. In a kindergarten classroom it isn’t unusual to find the girls working quietly at their desk or cooperatively in a group as boys are running through the classroom while tossing objects through the air, making silly faces to each other, or seemed bored, distracted and restless when seated. Gender differences are being driven by internal forces (biology and anatomy), and external forces (such as socialization and stereotypes (GreatSchools, 2008).

 

2.       Brain based differences in Girls and boys.

 

During the past decade several researches attempted to determine if any natural differences exist between male and female brains when its comes to learning. Research in neuroscience has found gender variation in human brain anatomy, chemical processes and function.

Following are a few of the most interesting differences stated by several researchers in the last decades.

 In girls, the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemisphere of the brain, is generally larger than boys.  The corpus collasum is the bundle of nerves that sends signals across the two parts of brain. This enables more “cross talk” between the hemispheres of the brain.  Because of the greater  “cross talk”, girls are able to multitask better than boys (Gurian & Stevens, 2007; Mc.bride, 2008). Girls have fewer attention span problems and can make faster transitions between lessons. They have stronger neural connectors that create better listening skills, more detailed memory storage, and better discrimination among tones of voices. Boy’s brain is structured to compartmentalize learning and girl’s brain is better integrated (Sax, 2006, Gurian & Stevens, 2007, Mc.Bride, 2008, Gurian & Stevens, 2011). The male brain is design to go into rest states in which it renews, recharges and reorients itself. Girls tend to recharge and orient neural focus without going into rest states (Moton, 2006, McBride, 2008, Gurian & Stevens, 2011). Thus, a girl can be bored with a lesson, but she will nonetheless keep her eyes open, takes notes, and perform relatively well.  Males on the other hand, can drift off without completing assignments, stop taking notes and fall asleep during a lecture. They try to stay awake by tapping with a pencil or by fidgeting   in hope to keep them awake and learning. Girls have stringer neural connectors in their temporal lobes than boys have. These connectors lead to more sensually detailed memory storage, better listening skill, and better discrimination among a range of tones of voice. This leads, among other things; to greater use of detail in writing assignments Girls have a larger hippocampus that provides greater use of sensory memory details in speaking and writing (Zundel, 2001, Gurian & Stevens, 2004, McBride, 2008). They have also more serotonin and make fewer impulsive decisions than boys. A girl’s brain experiences approximately 15% more blood flow than boys. With more cortical areas devoted to verbal functioning, girls are better at: sitting still, listening, tonality, and the complexities of reading and writing (Gurian & Stevens, 2004, McBride, 2008). Boys have more cortical area devoted to spatial-mechanical functioning and half as much to verbal-emotive functioning. Sax (2005) stated the following: ”For many tasks, brain imaging studies show that women use the most advanced areas of the brain, the cerebral cortex, whereas men doing the same task use the more primitive areas”. Boy’s brain is better suited to symbols, abstractions and pictures (Gurian & Stevens, 2004). Girl’s brain reaches its maximum thickness by the age of 11, and for the next decade or more, continues to mature. In boys this process is delayed by 18 months (Tyre, 2006).

 These theories have caused a great deal of controversy and were and are still heavy critiqued by several researchers of social science.

Newsweek (2006) posited that scientists warned that brain search doesn’t tell the whole story: temperament, family background and environment play an important key role too. They also ignore the fact that variation among both males and females often far exceeds average differences between the genders (Mead, 2008). Researchers know that the size of almost every lobe of the human brain is different in males and females, but they still don’t fully understand how this relates to cognitive ability (GreatSchools, 2008).  Dr. Jay Giedd, a preeminent neuroscientist who is studying brain development in children, including gender, warns that gender is much too crude a tool to differentiate educational approaches: variation within each gender is often larger than the average difference between genders (Mead, 2008).

 

 

Figure 1.
 

 

3. Learning differences between boys and girls from other angles

 

One of the most often studied areas related to gender in education is the issue of sex differences, comparing male and female characteristics and performance, about 1400 research studies were reviewed in the book The Psychology of Sex Differences. They concluded that some patterns are persisted, for example, female superiority in verbal skills and male superiority in mathematical skills (Eurydice, 2010). It is difficult to untangle the influence of stereotyping on individuals’ perceptions and also behaviors towards events and objects.

A recent study executed in Europe, posited that gender is only one of the factors is that affect achievement of boys and girls (Eurydice, 2010).

Cross- cultural research shows that boys and girls are aware of gender differences and stereotypes at around 2-3 years old. By the age 4-5 children want to show mastery of their gender roles, which are more rigid and stereotyped than they will be later (Kane, 2002).

Student’s characteristics, social environment, culture aspects and school are very important aspects that have influence on learning differences between boys and girls (Kane, 2002, Narain, 2010, Eurydice, 2010). These aforementioned aspects,  determine the school record of each pupil. After all, the social cultural sphere tie-up better with the culture of the middle- and high social classes of which most of the children enjoy support that influence their school career (Narain, 2010).  Children from the lower social milieu run the risk of fallen behind in their school career. Narian (2010) posited in her latest study that some researchers have indicated that not gender but the social-economic background is the most important predictor is for succeeding in school. According to analyses from census data of several Caribbean countries environment, family income, and level if education of the mothers has a significant influence on school absenteeism and early drop outs of children (EFA Report, 2008).

Research executed in the English speaking Caribbean by Professor Bailey  (2009) indicated that fallen behind of Caribbean boys is rather a structural problem relate to social class, than an individual or collective boy problem.

Narain (2010) indicated that the explanation of inequality between boys and girls in education are often pointed to the difference between interest, motivation, and ambition. However, many other contextual factors such as upbringing, social expectation and school culture are playing an important part in the aforementioned.

At young age a difference in behavior between boys and girls is already noticeable. Boys are competitive, hyperactive, impulsive, not concentrated and show often-aggressive behavior, while girls are in general quiet, obedient, verbally and thoughtfully. Girls are being rewarded for their behavior while boys being experienced as awkward, difficult and getting in trouble with school management (Narain, 2010).  This can be also one of the reasons why boys are overrepresented in Special Education.  A vast majority of the male population relegate to Special education is based on deviant behavior

 One of the principle ways that families influence the development of learning and thinking in boys and girls are in their attitudes toward work. The work that they perform affects the amount of free time that they have, the behavioral characteristics they learn, and the energy that they have in school (Kane, 2002). Early in their lives, girls are often engaged in work that benefits the family: they prepare or help preparing food for the family, take care of their younger siblings, and help with the household chores.  Girls do different work than boys, and on top of that girls do more work.

One of the most reliable predictors of if a boy will succeed or fail in school rests on a single question: does he have a man in his life to look up to? Too often, the answer is no. High divorce rates and single motherhood have created a generation of fatherless boys no matters which kind of neighborhood, rich or poor, an increasing number of boys are being raised without their biological fathers (Tyre, 2006, Narain, 2010,  Eurydice, 2010)

 

Boys get unfairly labeled as morally defective, hyperactive, undisciplined, or problem children, when quiet often the problem is not with the boy but with the families, which do not understand their specific needs as human beings and as boys (Gurian, 2006).

It seems possible that teachers may reinforce some of the gender stereotypes in the classroom. This type of “stereotyped behavior” is not limited to just one particular gender of teacher (Christian, 2006). Both male and female may exhibits the following behaviors: Boys often get more attention from the teacher. Boys receive more attention in class but stricter punishment than girls for the same offense.

Boys get asked more complex questions in class. Although it seems that boys have an advantage in the classroom because more time is used for their instruction due to evidence that boys are falling behind girls in academic performance.

Mulrine (2001) reports that boys are making failing grades more often and labeled as having learning disabilities.

Studies conducted in the US in 2006, in Curacao 2009, in countries in Europe 2010 and in the Caribbean in 2009, show that girls perform better on reading and writing.

                 Gurian & Stevens (2011) stated that educators should take advantage of the differences between boys and girls in ways that accommodate for those differences.

Gurian & Stevens (2007) posited that the brains of boys and girls need to be taught the way that its need to learn.

The culture also affects the gender role, gender costume, and the gender nuances.

A properly functioning educational system needs to hold open to individuals the possibilities and the opportunities of becoming different from what they are and it is not a good idea to design an educational system for women and men to avoid their weaknesses. One outcome of education

Educators should acknowledge the differences, and tailor their teaching methods to accommodate the strength and the weaknesses inherent in boys and girls. In doing so, learning would be greatly facilitated in both genders. Developmental difficulties could be avoided (Zundel, 2001).

Educational psychologists have constantly found that girls have higher standards in the classroom, and evaluate their own performance more critically. Girls also outperform boys in school (Sax, 2006). Because girls do better in school one might think or imagine that girls would be more self-confident about their academic abilities and have a higher academic sellf-esteem. That is not the case, they more likeliy to be excessively critical in evaluating their own academic performance. Conversely, boys tend to have unrealistically high estimates of their own academic abilities and (Sax, 2006).

The rising status of the Caribbean women is through education as a result that these women are “leaving the men behind” (Reynolds, 2005).

Teachers’ perception of boys and girls as learners can be biased and built on the assumptions into the curriculum (EdQual, 2009).

 

 

4. Gender differences in our education on the island

 

Analyzing results on several levels in our education system indicate that boys are fallen behind and girls are performing much better in school. In primary school it begins to manifest oneself, and it becomes more and more noticeable in the secondary level. The higher the education level, the bigger the gender differences in participation, in favor of females.

An overrepresented of boys in our special education is observed taking into account that many boys are being referred because of their misconduct in relation with their learning disabilities or their falling behind.

We have on the island several levels of education for children with special needs, severely mentally retarded (ZMLK), mildly retarded (MLK), deaf/ hearing impaired and the three years Special Education Track EPB. In three of the four special education streams the male outnumber the female, especially in the three years Special Education Track EPB.

At the secondary level the male participation declines more and male are underrepresented in the majority of the secondary streams. At the tertiary level is the gap even bigger.
 

 

5. Analyzing of data

 

 

Chart 1.

On the level of Special Education, level severely mentally retarded, the male outnumber the female.  The polynomial trend line predicts for male students an increasing in the 3 years to come if there will be any intervention. The female student will also increase steadily. Meaning that the ZMLK population will increase in the years to come and with regard to the male it will increase with 64%.

 

Chart 2.

From 1990-2000 till 2008-2009 the male population increased with 133,33 % (Male population had doubled within 8 years). The polynomial trend line predicts that this population will keep increasing in the 3 years to come. The linear trend line predicts for female students an increasing of 64.2 % in the 3 years to come.

 

Chart 3.

Over aged population school year 2000-2001: male population outnumbered the female.

 

 Chart 4.
Repeaters in the sixth grade are very low.  Most of male students will attend EPB after the primary school
andfemale students will attend MAVO and HAVO/VWO.

                                                                                                               

 

Chart 5.

The number of repeaters is the highest in the 1^st grade and the male population 43% higher than the female. In the 2^nd grade males’ repeaters are 50% higher than females. All along the line, males repeat more often than females.

 

Chart 6.

Male outnumbered females all along the line. In 2005-2006 is a remarkable increase of male students.

 

Chart 7.

The male population shows a peak in 2006-2007. In 2003-2004 there is 3 times more boys than girls. Since then, boys are roughly twice the number of girls.

 

 

Chart. 8

In 2005-2006 is a peak of both genders that have passed their exam. More females than males finalize with success their exam. In 2007-2008 is an increasing of both genders.

 

 

 

 Chart 9.

Male and female fluctuate all along the lines, but female outnumber the males in getting their degree. In 2000-2003 and in 2007-2008 is a slightly increasing of female, but since 2007-2008 is a slightly decreasing in male and female population.

 

 

Chart 10.

The polynomial trend line predicts a decrease in the years to come. In 2008 is a peak of 160; while in 2001 the number was 118.

 

Chart 11

The youngest mother from 2006 till 2008 is eleven years old. In 2008 we have 51 mothers of 19 years old and in that same year we have 161 young mothers. In 2007 and 2008 we have the youngest father and in the category between 20 and 50 years old father we have the most in 2006. Comparing the ages of teenage mothers with teenage fathers in 2006, only 18% are teenage fathers, meaning that 82% of the fathers are between 20 and 50 years old. In 2007 and 2008 teenage fathers have increased.

 

 

Conclusion

 

The gender gap in education has increased for the last ten years. Findings indicate that girls are doing better than boys in all elementary schools, and also in the majority of secondary schools on the island. This gap in the primary schools is primarily driven by performance differentials in language and mathematic. This gap does not relate what kind of school pupils attended or whether the school is performing well or badly.

Most Remarkable of the findings regarding the primary school is the amount of male repeaters in the first grade and second.

In special education we have a higher percentage of males attending this stream of education than females. According the polynomial prediction trend line, the male population will increased in the years to come, and the ZMLK stream of special education will have a slightly increase of the female population too. The special education track of EPB the male population have increased in 2006 -2007 with 250%.  

At the secondary level the majority that is referred to MAVO, HAVO and VWO are girls, and the majority of boys are being referred to EPB.

In spite of female doing well in school, our teenage pregnancy rates are one of the highest in the region. Remarkable is the amount of teenage fathers; in proportion of teenage mothers, the percentage is very low.

What does this analyzing means for our island? Is it the time to think about changing the education system that did not work and will not in the years to come? Or is it the Dutch language that is a barrier for our children in education? Why male are the ones that are doing badly in school? Is it a social problem, is it because both parent needs to work because of the high standard of living on the island? Is it the generation gap? Is the world outside school developing to fast and the adjustments that are needed to take place are omitted?

  

 

 Recommendations

In-depth researches to explain the gender gap need to be conducted on the following domains:

·         Why male population repeats at large in the first and second grade in the primary school?

·         Why are the majority of students that has been referenced to special education and EPB are male? What are or could be the reasons?

·         The context in and of school needs a paradigm shift, so that the children on the island can identify them self in the subjects presented by the teachers.

·         Is social environment one of the factors that cause underachievement of our male population?

·         The dropouts rates on the island is unknown, because of the debate what is the meaning of “dropouts”. The definition needs to be sorted out, because dropout’s rates can indicate the causes, on which level students “dropouts” the most, and to come to grips with the problem.

Interference to close the gap between male and female in education is necessary because it will has its impact on relationships between men and women, their children and labor market. It will also have impact on men in their role as role models for our boys

Campaigns to attract more men into the teaching profession, especially at the pre-primary and primary education levels. Attracting also more female into the school management.

It is not only education for boys needs to be emphasized on to narrow down the gap, but also the upbringing between boys and girl needs to shed lights on. Still we have a culture that boys are allowed of doing whatever they want, while girls need to behave nicely. And men are “protected”: when relationship goes wrong, education, women get the blame from both genders.

Simply being educated is not the solution to increase females’ income and reducing wage gap between genders, there are more action needs to be taken on several levels. Regardless of this, education is a powerful instrument in changing attitudes and behavior. Education systems need to play an important role in fostering equal chances for male and female and in combating stereotypes that are still imbedded in our community. Schools have a duty to provide all children regardless their race, gender, ethnicity, and traditional gender expectations with the opportunity to discover their own identity and interests.

Stimulate the new generation female in their choices of academic discipline; choose different discipline instead of the traditional professions.

Support of parents is crucial to the promotion of gender equality in schools. Participation in general work of schools and or specific gender projects and help in developing a more equity-oriented school culture. Because of our multicultural society it is also important to create spaces and opportunities where these parents and less privileged parents have voice and representation. Its important because parents are the link to our society, which does not essentially provide gender equal opportunities.

The Aruban government must have education as their priority portfolio and invests in our teachers, what is not the case for centuries. Teachers play a crucial role in developing young people’s understanding of gender roles. During the course of their work, teachers have the opportunity to encourage both critical thinking and to question gender stereotypes. Because of this you are able to ensure that future and serving teachers receive training on these issues and have access to information on gender topics. The understanding of their own gender role is influential and can contribute to maintaining or breaking gender stereotypes within schools.

 

 

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[1] EPB: Educacion Profesional Basico

[2] How students advance in several levels of the Aruban Education

[3] Gender is determined socially; it is a societal meaning assigned to male and female. Each society emphasizes particular roles that each sex should play, although there is wide latitude in acceptable behaviors for each gender (Hesse-Biber, S. & Carger, G. (2000)

[4] EPB: Education Profesional Basico

[5] SHA: Stuurgroep Herstructurering AVO