The Effects of Family Experience, Social Interaction and Schooling on Junior High School Students’ Perception of Gender Equality

Abstract

Nowadays, gender equality is one of the goals pursued by the national and international community. It is also the aim after the “Gender Equity Education Act” was enacted in Taiwan. The Gender Equality Education Act is designed to promote substantive equality of gender status, eliminate gender discrimination, and establish gender-equitable educational resources and environments that allow students to have a gender perspective through gender equality courses. However, 14 years after the promulgation of the law, we can still find gender-unfriendly behaviors in schools. Moreover, some young people passed away because of sexual bullying while we can also see students support for the legalization of same-sex marriage. These various of events cast a question regarding the effect of school’s gender education on students’ perception of gender equality. Students’ perception of gender equality often are influenced through the process of socialization. In the social environments, families, peer groups and schooling are the most accessible resources to students. Therefore, this study is intended to explore whether families, peer groups, and schooling have an influence on students’ gender equality. This study recruited 792 students from 30 ninth grade classes in Taiwan. The survey data was analyzed by hierarchical regression. This study found that the junior high school students’ perception of gender equality were more equal than that of the adults in Taiwan Social Change Survey. Among students, the gender equality of girls is significantly better than that of boys. Gender, family experience, social interaction and school experience all had a uniquely positive impact on students’ perception of gender equality. In addition to that, the present study also found gender and family experience had moderate effect on gender equality. Finally, based on the results of this study, some suggestions are provided for parents, teachers, and relevant authorities, respectively.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English
Supervisor	偉明 陸 (Supervisor)