Women working in boys schools and schools with male dominated cultures:
Are we ready for our #metoo moment? While improvements in gender equity are slowly making changes in workplaces and society in general, our education unions work with members to tackle male dominated cultures which still exist in many schools. IEU Victoria Tasmania Branch Officers, Therese O’Loughlin and Marit Clayton have specific responsibility for gender and equity issues, including training and policy development. Here they outline the key problem areas and point to ways schools can build gender equality. Issues of sexism and inequality in society are at the forefront of discussions about how to make our workplaces safe and respectful for everyone. A recent survey by the Australian Human Rights Commission revealed that two in five women and one in four men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. This is not a ‘women’s issue’, it is a societal issue and is driven by underlying inequality. Education is a key factor in initiating change and this has prompted a questioning of the culture of inequality and sexism in many boys schools and co-educational schools with a very masculine culture. Less than a year ago St Kevin’s College, a Catholic boys school in Melbourne, was at the centre of some very public scandals and allegations of a culture of sexism and misogyny which included the filming of a group of students on a tram singing a salacious chant about women. St Kevin’s is not alone. The public behaviour of these
particular boys has prompted a questioning of the continuing culture of inequality and sexism in many boys schools and co-educational schools with a very masculine culture, and an examination of what can be done to change this. The IEU has been working with members in co-education and boys schools to examine what they are experiencing, why they think this is happening, and what are the barriers to changing culture. Below are issues our members are talking about: What our members working in boys schools are experiencing • It’s a boys school – get used to it • Male colleagues stepping in to sort out the ‘issue’ and thinking they are doing you a favour • There are no women in leadership • Male voices being heard in the school – female voices overlooked • Boys feel we are nagging, mumsy • A boy lifted my skirt with a pencil when I was helping another student and had my back to him. The issues women face in these work environments arise from leadership culture, appointment practices, interactions with students, with staff, with parents and the underlying culture of the school. Underpinning all of these are gender inequality and sexism and the ways unequal attitudes toward women manifest in the workplace.
10 | independent education | issue 3 | Vol 50 | 2020
Responses from members on why this is happening • Unchallenged gender assumptions • Tendency to favour people with the same background/experience/ style as the male executive • Too many senior male staff in the school want to be liked, mates with the boys and aren’t above having a laugh with the boys at a female teacher’s expense • Desensitisation to the behaviour • Old boy culture • Parents enable/protect/defend • Disconnect between teachers and leadership. Leadership team are often unaware or unsupportive of the needs and concerns of teachers • School reflects broader societal attitudes that men are more powerful and often excused for things • We now have more females on exec but five out of six Year Level Coordinators are male so there is a very masculine perspective on all behaviour issues • A lack of leadership on these issues and insufficient consequences • An ingrained culture of misogyny and underlying hatred of women in a very military based staff • Sport is the most important thing and the rest doesn’t matter as much. It is not just in schools where these attitudes prevail. In 2018, The Australian Human Rights Commission launched a national inquiry into sexual harassment
