1975Liberal Feminist

2012Queer

Heather Syme Anderson

Policy Shifts Towards Justice? Tracing the Changes in Conceptualizations of Gender Equity in Canadian Educational

Policy Between 1975-2012

Purpose of presentation

Discuss findings related to the range of conceptualizations of gender equity encountered in the analysis of Ministry of Education policies related to gender equity between 1975-2012 (K-12 mostly)

This question/sliver of findings is situated within a larger study

Syme Anderson AERA 2015

Theoretical Frameworks Feminist theory (Lorber, 2001; Tong, 1989)• Liberal, Radical, Socialist feminist, Queer

Policy as text and discourse (Ball, 2006)• The texts themselves• The discourses that construct, and are constructed by, policy as text

Policy framing (Blackmore, 2000, 2006; Allan, 2008)• Involves examining the concepts and conceptualizations that underpin policy frames

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The study Annual reports 1975-2012 (4000+ pages)• secondary texts referred to in annual reports

Gender-related terms (woman, sex, gay, etc)

328 appearances of terms 128 as framed within feminist conceptualizations of gender

Methodologies: Critical Frame Analysis (Verloo, 2009) and Feminist Content Analysis (Reinharz, 1992)

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Frame AnalysisFindings

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Framing Gender Equity Four frames emerged, however only two are included for this presentation• Term specificity

Equity specific, but unrelated to gender (i.e.: diversity) Gender specific, but unrelated to gender equity(i.e.: female participant)

Gender equity specific (i.e.: positive images of women)

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Framing Gender Equity Gender equity policy mechanisms (Marshall, 2001)• Targeted supports (i.e.: policies, committees, financial aid)

• Curriculum (i.e.: development, revision/development curriculum materials)

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What were the conceptualizations of gender

equity within the policy texts?

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119 liberal feminist (93%) (LBF)5 queer3 radical1 socialist feministTwo Eras: Policy

ShiftAttention to gender equity era 1977-1990Attention to equity concerns 1990-2012

Policy shifts by the year: Gender & equity

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Gender Equity Terms

Equity Terms

How gender was conceptualized

Analysis of the annual report

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Liberal conceptualizations

(119) The policy texts framed gender along liberal feminist lines, such as:• initiatives towards gender equity, professional development opportunities for teachers to identify sex bias

• development of materials that portrayed positive female images

• the inclusion of affirmative action strategies related to a Focus on Women committee

• Etc.Syme Anderson 2015

Queer conceptualizations

Queer conceptualizations all related to sexual orientation• Examples included inclusion of framing gender around “challenging homophobia” and “sexual orientation”.

Interestingly, all of the queer findings from the 2010s related to a call for material development for educators which remains unpublished.

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Radical conceptualizations

The three radical conceptualizations related to:• the creation of a women’s studies centre

• implementation of a sexual harassment policy, and

• development of materials to prevent violence against women.

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Socialist feminist 1 finding from a socialist feminist conceptualization and it related to:

research that detailed the economic disadvantage faced by single parent families headed by women.

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Periodization of these findings

By 5 yr intevals

1975-1979

1980-1984

1985-1989

1990-1994

1995-1999

2000-2004

2005-2009

2010-2012

=

Liberal 12 28 35 17 8 11 7 1 119Queer 3 2 5Radical 1 1 1 3Socialist

1 1

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By decade 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s(10 years)

2010s(3 years)

Liberal 12 63 25 18 1Queer 3 2Radical 1 1 1Socialist 1

A closer look Liberal feminist• 53/119 related to targeted supports (policies, committees, financial aid) Program of service for girls or women (19) Policy for women/gender/bill 18 (9) Financial support for women in non-traditional PhD programs (10)

• 43/119 related to curriculum (development, revision/development curriculum materials) Development of materials (24) Related to women (7) Positive female images (6) Sex-role stereotypes (5) Gender (3) Syme Anderson 2015

What were the conceptualizations?

Predominantly Liberal feminist• Mechanisms towards gender equity focused on increasing opportunities for women

Queer on the rise• Shift in attention away from gender onto sexual orientation

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The So What?

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So what? What might this mean for gender equity policy efforts?

It means we may be on the cusp of a shift from LBF conceptualizations to queer conceptualizations.

It means that educational policy efforts towards gender equity tend to adopt LBF conceptualizations and approaches to gender equity.Syme Anderson 2015

So what? What might this mean for gender equity policy efforts?

When this ministry of education took notice of gender equity concerns, it did so through the mechanisms of providing programs or services and/or developing curriculum materials.

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So what? What might this mean for gender equity policy efforts?

Over time, the same gender equity policy mechanisms (Marshall, 2001) were repeated without evaluation of the efficacy of these mechanisms.

The underlying structures that maintain and reify gender inequality remained untouched for 37+ years.Syme Anderson 2015

Conclusions While programs, services and development of curriculum materials are positive efforts towards gender equity, they are insufficient for addressing the root causes of gender inequality – they address the symptom and not the cause.

The emerging shift away from liberal feminist conceptualizations of gender towards queer conceptualizations indicates that attention to women’s equality has ceased.

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Conclusions It’s plausible (even likely) that if attention to women’s equity ended in these policy contexts then attention to queer issues and equity might also meet an end.

In light of the social contexts of the times, it seems that educational policies include/make mention of gender equity framed within understandings of gender from those times.

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Some dilemmas Is a shift away from women’s gender equity towards a queer gender equity a shift towards justice?

Does this shift suggest that gender equity for women is achieved and that women’s issues are no longer relevant in a policy sphere?

What kind of justice can be achieved through policy efforts that leave in place the very foundations that reify these inequalities?

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