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Why some children become biased and the conditions behind such biases are explored in this paper. The focus is on developmental patterns associated with race and gender attitudes during the preschool period and the factors that predict bias. The study examined children who were six months old and followed them and their families (N=210) until the children reached age six. Half of the original sample were African American and half were Euro American. Results indicate that the race group of the child, together with associated differences in socialization experiences, were significant predictors of racial attitudes. White children showed more total bias, higher in-group favoritism scores, and exhibited developmental increases in bias over the preschool period. The developmental course of Black children's attitudes was more variable. Gender bias showed some parallels with racial bias. The child's gender group was a significant factor in determining young children's gender attitudes. Parental attitudes, although not directly influential, did affect children through practices such as room decor, toy choice, and same-sex models. (RJM)

Children's television programs broadcast on Saturday mornings (7:00am-12:00pm) on CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox networks were examined for gender and ethnic representation. For a sample of programs during the 1995/96 television season, raters counted the number of males and females, and the number of Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans presented in the programs. Raters then computed the amount of time each character appeared and spoke during the program. The results showed that the male to female ration was 4/1 on CBS, 4/1 on Fox, 3/1 on ABC, and 1/1 on NBC. Male characters spoke more (an average of 10 minutes and 46 seconds) than female characters (an average of 2 minutes and 55 seconds). Caucasian and ethnic minority representation was 73.6 percent and 26.4 percent respectively; these percentages are very close to the groups' actual percentages in the United States population. There was a difference in the representation of race in major roles (roles in which a character speaks and is present at least 20 percent of the total program time). ABC and Fox under-represented ethnic minorities in major roles, CBS over-represented ethnic minorities in major roles, and NBC represented both ethnic minorities and Caucasians in major roles in proportions equal to their proportions in the United States population. Ethnic minority females were not represented at all in major roles on ABC and NBC, and were represented on CBS and Fox 16 percent and 5 percent of the time, respectively. (AS)

This paper presents a brief overview of behavioral and biological research that implicates real gender differences as a basis for stereotypical behavior patterns of men and women. A commentary follows that addresses the reactions to the findings by some feminist psychologists and by those feminists who advocate women's rights in the popular press and other media. The focus is on the potentially damaging results to women's causes already losing ground in some quarters of society. The popular feminist leaderships' refusal to acknowledge the research as useful and valid adds to a growing belief in many young women that the Feminist Movement is too radical and irrational for them. The paper concludes with suggestions for mitigating the negative backlash that is occurring as a result. Contains 15 references. (EH)

This paper describes a freshman composition course which looks at racism and sexism in science, and within which the instructor uses a 1989 "Atlantic Monthly" piece by R.J. Herrnstein, co-author with Charles Murray of "The Bell Curve." In his article, Herrnstein argues that the intelligence of the nation is declining because educated young women are not having enough children. The instructor first teaches her students about logical fallacies and sophistry, since her initial pedagogical aim is to give her students the tools to critique a bad argument. The teacher reconsiders her own practices, then defending her pedagogy and her campaign against Herrnstein as a lesson in the ethics of argument, as following in a long tradition of teaching the fallacies to promote fair play. The paper considers two essays on teaching the fallacies, those of David Hitchcock and J. Anthony Blair. The paper then examines Herrnstein's article in detail, as an example of fallacious reasoning. The paper concludes that by the end of the course, Herrnstein's vision of the future is not persuasive to all her students--the instructor's pedagogical goal of planting the seeds of distrust has been accomplished. (Contains 11 references.) (NKA)

The central question of this study was how gender, ethnicity, and ability influence students' participation in small cooperative groups, especially in relation to leadership. Interaction processes during cooperative group work were recorded in detail on the basis of direct observation and audio-recordings, and transcripts were analyzed by "pattern analysis." The study involved one Dutch school, two teachers, and three classes. All students followed mathematics as well as mother-tongue instruction, as specified in a specially designed curriculum for learning in cooperative groups. In all classes about a third of the students were from non-European backgrounds, mostly North-African (Moroccan). In the analysis eight patterns were distinguished. Some of these were constructive (e.g., the "accepted leadership and delegation" patterns) others were destructive (e.g., "dictatorship" and "sabotage" patterns). When the captain was a girl the boys offered resistance most of the time, while resistance by the girls was the exception. When a boy had the role of captain there was hardly any resistance. Study findings indicated that the gender of the student who takes the role of captain is very important in leadership success, although it is difficult for girls as well as boys to act as captain. The gender factor (sometimes in combination with ethnic background) seems more important than the ability factor in these processes. Although most patterns can be accommodated by the model for interaction in cooperative groups, it is recommended that a third dimension, active versus passive, be included in order to attain a more comprehensive model. (Contains 30 references.) (Author/ND)

Ideas of proper citizenship were, and remain, central to the juvenile justice system. The experiences of a particular group of delinquent and neglected children who were withdrawn or excluded from mainstream elementary education in the early 20th century and sent to reformatory schools is described in this paper. The focus is on two areas of citizenship: the promotion of citizenship as a means of social control, and children's rights as citizens. It explores the way in which citizenship was negotiated for delinquent and neglected girls at a time when traditional concepts of domesticity and femininity were being challenged. During this period, three constructions of citizenship prevailed. The first two, the teaching of formal civics and an emphasis upon social action, had developed in the 19th century, whereas welfare citizenship was a product of early 20th century social legislation. In all three constructions, the development of industrial schools and the right to be rescued were influenced by gender. Girls' training was dominated by domestic work and, subsequently, boys, who did not face such restrictions, were placed in a much wider range of jobs than were girls. The experiences of girls within the schools show how restricted notions of female citizenship were used to justify their limited training. (RJM)

Examination of textbooks for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) reveals a hidden agenda in many: globalization of a Western-styled consumer culture. Despite attempts to make textbooks more culturally inclusive, they still reflect ethnocentrism and conformity. Both sexism and heterocentrism are overt. Concurrently, among native English speakers, postmodern, feminist, and multiculturalist theories are joining to revise how we view and speak about the world: for example, generic masculine pronouns (he, his) are now commonly viewed as masculine, not neutral. It is important to eliminate sexism in the language class. A classroom experiment illustrates how gender differences affect the learning process. Students were divided into small single-gender groups to summarize an article they had read. The female groups quickly organized themselves for discussion and stayed on task, while most male groups functioned only minimally on task. Research also shows other gender differences in classroom interaction. To change sexist patterns of classroom interaction, language teachers can: ask more open-ended questions to females; allow more time for response; use exercises that develop active listening skills, productive/non-confrontational communication skills, and facilitative questioning; and promote student awareness of sexism in textbooks. Eighteen classroom activities are appended. Contains 20 references. (MSE)

The extent to which skill and competency-based systems used by work organizations in the United Kingdom may contribute to maintenance of the pay gap between men and women was examined through a review of the following: pertinent literature from the United Kingdom and United States; 15 published case studies; current Institute for Employment Studies research on assessment/measurement of competencies; and information from a workshop at which practitioners in large public and private organizations discussed issues in using skill- and competency-based pay and training systems. Among the study's main findings were the following: (1) women are more likely than men to undervalue the skill levels of their jobs; (2) although men and women managers do not differ greatly in the competencies they possess, women are consistently rated lower on leadership ability by managers; (3) the process of translating skills/competencies to individual performance criteria is complex and liable to gender bias; (4) performance appraisal remains the main method for assessing performance; and (5) skill-based pay is less likely to cover female employees. Areas for further research were also identified. (Appended are a 59-item annotated bibliography and a summary of published case studies of pay/training systems. The bibliography contains 94 references.) (MN)

Although empirical research in the area of educational administration is plentiful, often it seems to be of little practical use. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the usefulness of a framework of collective solutions, or strategies for success, for women superintendents. A single-case qualitative study of one female superintendent was used to capture her reaction to the framework, which had been developed from a previous study of 12 women superintendents. The earlier study found that although women did not appear to assign importance to the fact that they were women, they articulated and carried out gender-specific strategies. The positional power of the superintendent did not eliminate the need for gendered strategies for success. Findings of the single-case study not only altered the framework, but also enhanced understanding of the original interpretations. Three of the original seven success strategies were altered. The new strategies include: (1) there are numerous approaches to balancing a role-related and a gender-related set of expectations; (2) women superintendents need to develop the ability to remain "feminine" in the ways they communicate and are heard in a masculinized culture; and (3) women superintendents should disregard the myth that they must "act like a man" while in a male role. The unchanged strategies are: (1) women superintendents need to focus on their primary purpose, which is the care of children and strict attention to their academic achievement; (2) remove or let go of anything that blocks their success; (3) remain fearless, courageous risk takers who have a plan of retreat when faced with the impossible; and (4) share power and credit with others. (Contains 27 references.) (LMI)

The Rocky Mountain (Colorado) Teacher Education Collaborative was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to improve the preparation of science and math teachers and to recruit and retain underrepresented groups in math and science education. As part of this grant project, a survey was conducted of women science educators to assess their perceptions of their own past science learning. Two hundred copies of an 85-item survey were distributed to Colorado women science educators in Fall 1996; of these, 80 women responded. Data analysis indicated: women who have been successful in science affirm for all people an equal opportunity to learn; they like to be challenged; and they persist and try harder even when faced with hardships of initial failure; these women are creative and like to analyze things; they rely on their inner resources and describe themselves as independent thinkers and strategic planners. Based on the survey, two conclusions are advanced: (1) women succeed in science when they are able to persist in the face of hardship; and (2) women succeed in science when they try alternate strategies to increase their science learning. The survey is appended with details of item responses. (JLS)

Images of society reflect the stereotypes and the realities of gender tracking, often separating males from females. The messages of gender separation begin early, laced throughout society in many ways. This paper expresses different points of view about the relationships between males and females, the computer culture, the influence of mass media, and community. Discussion includes the neglect and omission of females from math and technology fields; biases evidences in children's games, classroom practices, educational design, advertisements, and visual messages conveyed by the entertainment industry; different types of usage and attitudes toward computers between males and females; differences in online communication styles between males and females; the role of communities in society, in helping people establish identities, and also in excluding people; establishing a common ground between male and female communities through changes in imagery portrayed to the general public; the role of parents and teachers in separating males and females; and the opportunity through World Wide Web communication for the public to shape the messages about shared space and gender stereotypes. (Contains 41 references.) (AEF)

This paper examines gender messages within advertisements and informational, technology-focused materials that are targeted toward a general population of consumers. The pattern of gender bias in visual messages and stereotyping which prevails in advertising appears to be carrying the same messages from print to television and into the newest format for advertising, the World Wide Web. An examination was conducted of a representative sample of popular magazines and promotional material about multimedia technology that were available to the general public and teachers, from direct mailings to schools, and areas of public transport. In addition, television and Internet advertisements were examined over the course of the next several months. The prevalent portrayal of gender roles in advertising says much about the society it represents. Research indicates that in both the print and video advertising marketplace, consumers see at least three times as many male as female characters associated with the products being sold. This is especially true of advertising aimed at children and teenagers. Findings indicated that in the print, televised, and Internet advertisements, women were consistently portrayed as subservient, in the background, or not using the technology in a productive way. The responsibility to change the public image and attitudes about females and technology cannot rest solely with the advertisers, but they can do a lot to help change the public image. (Contains 25 references.) (AEF)

The social construct of gender is laced throughout society and carries stereotypes through the use of language, arts, literature, and social practices. As more women begin using computers more frequently and in new ways, stereotypes become evident in the patterns of communication in cyberspace. One of the characteristics of computer-mediated communication (CMC) is its lack of easy social contextualization. Despite the anonymity of the communication media, some women report that they are harassed and intimidated from posting and particulating in on-line conferences or via e-mail. To avoid this, some women choose gender-neutral user identifications and prefer to post in women-only conferences or mailing lists. The social implications of computer-mediated communication are vast, from its potential ability to overthrow centralized control of information to its potential ability to help people to communicate with each other with fewer prejudices and misunderstandings. Although there are increasing numbers of women who are actively using cyberspace, it remains male-dominated, and most training materials for the computer environment are written by males. An extensive review of online World Wide Web page design documents revealed that the topic of gender representation in language and general page designs was not addressed. In order to reach a balance of language and imagery in cyberspace, a neutral area is needed where stereotypes come to rest. (AEF)

Recent attention to gender equity in computer environments, as well as in print-based and televised advertising for technological products, suggests that gender bias in the computer environment continues. This study examined gender messages within World Wide Web advertisements, specifically the type and number of visual images used in Web banner advertisements, gender roles depicted within them, and whether these advertisements contribute to the established stereotypes regarding roles of computer users. The Internet sampling was done on a Power Macintosh computer using Netscape Navigator, version 2.0. Over 50 banner ads were selected from topical pages in the five search engine services available with Netscape. Most of the visual representations of women in Web advertising are a reflection of current trends used in other media. The ads tend to depict women in supportive or subordinate roles. Consistent with other commercial advertising formats, males were found in the leadership and authority roles, while females were generally portrayed in more passive roles. When women were the only individuals in the advertisement, the ad copy usually reflected a biased message toward the abilities and function of the women in their roles as professionals. Educators can play a significant role in the process of promoting gender equity in advertising by exposing the practices in society that are biased, especially those related to computers. Sixteen figures offer sample advertisements. (Contains 18 references.) (AEF)

The effects of gender and family role on college students' perception of the suitability or unsuitability of specific occupational choices were examined. Undergraduate college students (132 males and 136 females) completed a questionnaire asking them to rate on a 5-point Likert scale the suitability of 60 selected occupations for either men, women, mothers, or fathers. The 60 occupations were drawn from Holland's 6 occupational scales, with 10 occupations randomly selected from each of the 6 groups. On the realistic and enterprising occupational scales, mean suitability ratings were significantly higher for men compared to women, for men compared to mothers, and for fathers compared to mothers. On the investigative occupational scale, mean suitability scores were significantly higher for fathers compared to mothers. On the artistic occupational scale, mean suitability scores were higher for women compared to men. On the social occupational scale, mean suitability scores were higher for men compared to women, for men compared to mothers, and for fathers compared to mothers. Both men and women college students appeared to be similarly influenced by the stimulus categories of men, women, fathers, and mothers. (The questionnaire is appended.) (MN)

This essay examines the ways in which sociology, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field, and three major contributions of feminist scholarship are presented: the introduction of women into sociological theory and research during the era of "sex role" analysis; the shift to analyzing gender as a basic axis of stratification built into social organization; and a more inclusive sociological perspective that focuses on the simultaneous operation of gender, race, and class in people's lives. The essay notes that in addition to critiques of traditional sociology, feminist scholarship has transformed the discipline by developing the study of sex and gender as a subfield of sociology. It concludes by noting that feminist sociologists are currently exploring the ways that researchers can understand gender as multifaceted, supporting, reinforcing, and intersecting with many other forms of inequality. An 89-item bibliography contains information on background readings for faculty; suggested readings for undergraduate courses; curriculum resources; and professional organizations. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which U.S. history, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field and by research on gender and sexuality. It notes that the recognition that gender matters revolutionized the thinking of scholars who forged the field of women's history. Feminist scholars have expanded the definition of historically significant topics to include the private domain of family, domesticity, reproduction, sexuality, and public activities such as voluntary social service. Studies of women, particularly working-class women and women of color, are central to reconceptualizing the actors, events, sources, chronologies, and vocabularies in U.S. history. The essay also wonders whether women have "experienced" the great events of the nation's past in the same way as men, asking whether women did in fact have an American Revolution, an Age of Jackson, or a Reconstruction. Also noted are two issues in the experiences of women that continue to be debated: the first is the question of continuity versus change; the second is that of commonality versus differences. A 71-item bibliography contains information on works cited in the essay; selected readings for faculty on frameworks and overviews, work, politics, conquest and colonization, and women and revolution; selected readings for students; electronic resources; and other resources. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which health, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that feminist scientists in the field have recognized and sought to address gender bias in traditional approaches to health research, including the androcentric bias in defining priorities for medical research, the lack of funding for clinical research on women, failure to recognize the effects of gender, and interactions between gender, ethnicity, and class in research. There is growing evidence to support the assertion that access to health care differs in accordance with gender, race, class, and age, and excessive focus on male research subjects and the definition of some diseases as "male" diseases has led to the underdiagnosis and undertreatment of these diseases in older women. It also notes that the exclusion of women of color and lesbians (and their health care needs) from clinical research has often resulted in inadequate or inappropriate theories and conclusions being drawn from the data. (Contains 110 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which psychology, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. Noting that feminist psychologists have challenged the assumption that psychological science is value-free, it cites ways in which values have affected psychological theory and method. The view that men's behavior is normative underlies the historic marginalization of research on women in psychology. The best example of androcentrism and devaluation of women is found in Freudian theory, which defines being female as both different and deficient. Many "gender effects" on behavior can be accounted for by power differences between women and men; feminist psychologists have pointed to the usefulness of descriptive research that does not seek to generalize about all human behavior. An appendix includes eight principles of feminist curriculum development that focus on diversity, egalitarianism and empowerment, self-determination, complexity, connection, social action, self-reflection, and integrative perspectives. A 129-item bibliography contains information on cognitive psychology; developmental psychology; social psychology; physical health and reproduction; mental health; women in the history of psychology; research methodologies and publication issues; gender and other forms of diversity; feminist theory; scientific theory; curriculum transformation resources; pedagogy; electronic resources; and organizational resources. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which geography, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that early feminist critiques of the discipline examined the extent to which geography had overwhelmingly dealt with the lives of men and the ways in which its theories, methods, and content reflected men's experiences. Geographers are paying increasing attention to the ways in which gender interacts with other social categories, such as race, ethnicity, class, nationality, immigrant status, and life course stage, to understand the complexities of relationships between women and men and among women. Feminist geography is pluralistic in its theoretical and methodological stances. A great deal of research has been done using in-depth interview strategies. (Contains 17 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which music, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that during the 1970s, music scholars began to recover the history of women composers and musicians, and that by the 1980s scholars such as Susan McClary had begun to explore such issues as musical semiotics and constructions of femininity and masculinity; sexual differences within the vocabulary of music theory; and aspects of desire as mapped onto tonality. Feminist scholars' rejection of the mind-body split has modified several areas of musical understanding, such as the recognition that "real" women (and men) perform music; acknowledging the physical response to music; linking musicality with sexuality or pleasure; and admitting the physical experience of performance as significant to music's meaning. Feminist musicology has challenged conventional wisdom in regard to the concept of musical greatness or genius, the primacy of Western art music in the canon, the periodization of music history, and the musical form's relation to (gender) ideology. Includes a list of electronic resources. A 195-item bibliography contains information on books and articles; special journal issues; specialized journals; and electronic resources. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which political science, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that gender politics theory and research have grown tremendously since the late 1960s, focusing not only on including women in research on political behavior and policy, but also reevaluating the theories, models, and methods of the discipline. The essay goes on to offer examples of some of the contributions of gender politics research, emphasizing questions that would be easy to integrate into the typical undergraduate political science program, including examples from the subfields of American government and politics, comparative politics, international relations, methodology, political theory and philosophy, and political behavior and political psychology. It is concluded that gender is an element of the organization of political structures and processes in most political systems that is too important to ignore. The document includes a list of related electronic resources. (Contains 225 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which philosophy, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that in the 1970s feminist philosophers introduced questions regarding personal life and sexuality as matters for philosophical analysis, and that scholars began to challenge the notions of the Western canon. Feminists argued that understanding philosophical texts required reading symbolic and metaphorical language to discover subtexts that held philosophical reasoning in place. The essay goes on to discuss the radical interpretive techniques, such as deconstruction, used by feminist philosophers, and explains that scholars have begun to question the very identity and root impulse of the discipline of philosophy. The essay concludes that the use of feminist materials in philosophy courses can lead to deep change in the way that philosophy is conceived of and taught, because women's work in philosophy has tended to be grounded in existential issues, critically self-reflective of its methodology, and open to interdisciplinary enrichment. The document includes a list of related electronic resources. (Contains 48 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which European history, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field and by research on gender and sexuality. It explains that historians continue to challenge assumptions that have long obscured women's places in the economic, social, and political histories of Europe, especially in regard to ideological and economic factors that shaped the gender division of labor. The essay goes on to report that feminist historians have been active participants in efforts to rethink European history through the lens of cultural analysis, using the tools of anthropology, literary theory, and cultural studies. It examines recent scholarship on the body, sexuality, and identity in European history, noting that the new literature on sexuality has also included many studies of homosexuality. The essay notes that feminist scholarship has led to critiques of such historical conceptual paradigms as the "golden age" of classical Athens, the Italian Renaissance, and the French Enlightenment, and that women's history has also called other standard historical categories and paradigms--class, modernity, capitalism--into question. A 175-item bibliography contains information on general surveys and collections; historiography and theory; economy, society and politics; culture and power; bodies, identities and subjectivities; Internet resources; and other resources. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which education, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that foundational studies by feminist scholars have examined sexual differences in identity and ways of knowing, and have challenged the arrogation of feminine experience and viewpoints to generalizations of male experience. The essay goes on to look at the education curriculum, focusing on access and equity, pedagogy, and narrative and identity, noting that autobiographical writing has become an important process in teacher education. It notes that feminist scholars have challenged traditional research paradigms of researcher/researched, knower/known, and subject/object, and have questioned the boundaries that separate public from private by insisting on the political nature of all inquiry. Many of the issues embroiling public education reading instruction in the early grades, the role of parents in determining curriculum, single-sex schools, and the power of teachers in relation to administrators, legislators, and parents are addressed in the thought, research, and teaching of feminist scholars. (Contains 70 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which British literature, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship and research into the areas of gender and sexuality. It reports that feminist literary criticism took definitive shape in the late 1960s as part of the women's liberation movement, and that a central concern of this first generation of feminist scholars was to expose the gendered formation of what was being presented as "the" literary tradition. The essay goes on to explain that feminist critics were the first to question the values of gender in the canon of men's writing, to investigate its configurations as historically specific products, and to study the cultural processes by which literary texts were accorded value. It reviews the influences of the "French" school of feminist literary criticism (based on deconstructive and post-structuralist theories) and Marxist-feminist ideas on the field, and notes that the standard British literature anthologies still contain relatively few women writers, though there has been significant improvement since the 1960s. The document includes an annotated bibliography and a list of related electronic resources. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which economics, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that feminist work in transforming economics began to gain ground only in the early 1990s, and that the impact of feminist or multicultural insights on the core research assumptions of the discipline has been minor. The essay notes that economics differs from most other social sciences in that it is built around a single, highly influential core paradigm. The mainstream of economics is built around the neoclassical model of human behavior which assumes that all activity is a result of rational, self-interested choices by autonomous individuals. Feminists have challenged all of the underpinnings of this model, along with traditional teaching and research methods. A less gender-biased discipline would use characteristics associated with both sides of the old dualistic thinking about gender (such as reason versus emotion and self-interested versus other-interested) to analyze the behavior of both men and women. The document includes an annotated bibliography and a list of related electronic resources. (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which anthropology, as a discipline, currently reflects ongoing scholarship on gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation. It argues that feminist anthropology since the 1970s has become an important subdiscipline, primarily within cultural anthropology, but also with a growing impact on biological (physical) anthropology. The essay goes on to explain that most anthropology departments offer courses on sex roles, gender, or women, and that an increasing number of Ph.D. dissertations are being written on topics within feminist anthropology. It notes that anthropology as a field "rediscovered" women in the 1970s, and that increasingly attention is being given to gender, reproduction and sexuality, colonialism and the state in post-colonial societies, political economy and gender, masculinity, and reexamination of the ways about which women are written. (Contains 42 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which biology, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship and research into the areas of gender and sexuality, focusing on the validity, limits, and gender bias of scientific objectivity. It explains that gender bias exists not only in who traditionally has been expected to do science (namely white males), but also in what counts as science, noting that "home economics," which started as chemistry and public health, was separated from those sciences and thus devalued primarily because the disciplines had been founded and was practiced by women. The essay goes on to note that feminist critiques document the way that beliefs in "natural" gender differences have permeated even molecular biology, distorting our understanding of how cells and organisms function in health and disease. It examines gender-based naming, which describes certain hormones as "male" and others as "female," and studies that claim that homosexuality is biologically determined from birth. The study concludes that gender bias in biology and other sciences demonstrates that the dominant group's values and interests strongly influence which models are chosen and where research funds go. (Contains 29 references.) (MDM)

This essay examines the ways in which art and art history, as disciplines, have been influenced by feminist scholarship and research into the areas of gender, sexuality, and race. It explains that before the interventions of feminist art historians and theorists of art, beginning in the 1970s, the history of art was conceived of and taught as a chronological sequence of masters and monuments in Western art. The essay goes on to note that a feminist history of art emerged in the 1970s, led by the publication of Linda Nochlin's essay "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" It explains that feminism, art, and arts activism have gone hand in hand since the early days of the contemporary women's movement. In 1980s feminist art history continued to investigate women's achievements, as well as focusing on challenging the traditional assumptions of art history itself; in the 1990s authors and publishers were attempting to include women artists in survey texts. The feminist perspective has also influenced pedagogy, leading to more interaction and collaboration between teachers and students. (Contains 125 references.) (MDM)

The highest levels of dissatisfaction registered by practicing rural teachers in Australia about their training were toward distinctly rural components: multi-grade teaching, rural living, and school-community relationships. School-community relationships are important, especially so in rural areas because most rural schools are the center of their community. The teacher preparation course at the University of Ballarat (Victoria, Australia) includes a semester-long unit titled "Rural Australia," which examines the sociology of rural communities and schools and promotes student understanding of how a teacher's behavior can win or lose community acceptance and esteem. The course is offered to second-year primary trainees and has been offered to practicing teachers on weekends or school vacations. Students are made aware that rural Australians are class conscious and their society is highly stratified. Status differentiation on the basis of gender exists, and is studied. Other topics studied are strategies for teacher acceptance or rejection, teaching Aboriginal children, distance education, telematics, and problems associated with rural unemployment. An important aspect of the unit is the case study that students must conduct and present to the class. Each student selects a rural community and investigates aspects of stratification and the requirements for a young teacher to fit in socially. Excerpts from one case study are included, along with comments from students about how the unit would assist them in the future. Contains 35 references. (TD)

The role of male teachers in early childhood education can be examined from many perspectives, including the need for male teachers, advantages and disadvantages of being a male in the profession, or why there are not more of them. In order to find out what male teachers think about teaching at the early childhood level, a survey consisting of 26 multiple choice and objective questions probing these 3 areas was completed by 20 male educators. Results showed that most reported working in the field because they love working with children. There was no real consensus on whether the image male teachers present is different from that presented by women, but the majority felt they projected a gentle and fatherly image. Nearly all agreed that teachers could be just as, or even more, influential than a child's parents, but for different reasons. Half felt that a teacher's gender has no effect on how much a child learns; about 25 percent said gender was not an issue in their role as early childhood educators, while 25 percent said there were certain trust issues raised because of gender. Forty-five percent agreed that neither males nor females have particular advantages in the field of early childhood education, and 35 percent said that as a male teacher, parents are the hardest to "win over." Eighty percent said students do not treat males differently. Sixty percent felt the gender ratio of teachers should be equal. When asked what can be done to encourage more men to enter the field, 45 percent said to offer more money. (EV)

Researchers have claimed both that female students are discouraged from taking higher level math and science courses and that they actually take more of these courses than males do. On the surface, data from the Florida community colleges would appear to confirm that females take more science and math courses than males, with 63% of the fall 1995 biological science enrollments, 55% of the mathematics, and 52% of the physical science enrollments being female. However, this unit of analysis is too broad to provide a good indicator of gender course patterns since the biological science discipline contains courses that are geared toward nursing and dental hygiene students and mathematics contains courses that are required by anyone seeking an associate degree. An analysis of Florida community college enrollment patterns at the course level reveals that as math and science content level increases, the percentage of women enrolled decreases. Although women clearly dominate enrollments in biological science, there is a higher concentration of women in courses that lead to the more traditional associate degrees of nursing and dental hygiene. Finally, in the physical sciences, as well, women were more likely than men to be enrolled in courses related to associate degrees in allied health rather than those required of chemistry majors. (BCY)