Abstract:

Gender stereotypes, defined as socially shared beliefs about the characteristics that have women and men, which is often applied indiscriminately to all members of these two groups (Morales, Moya, Gaviria & Cuadrado, 2007). This set of beliefs implies the existence of a dichotomy of personality traits, roles, physical characteristics and occupations that are traditionally associated with men and women (Deaux & Lewis, 1983), and have a great influence on the individual in his perception of the world and of himself and his behavior. It is important to note that these stereotypes are based on prejudices that affect both men and women have the character descriptive and prescriptive. Every time a person learns is "child" or that is "girl", will also learn what is appropriate behavior for that self-categorization, following the cultural requirements associated with their sex. When men or women do not meet the requirements of gender, their behavior is often criticized and rejected socially (Instituto de la Mujer & CIDE , 2003).

The objective of the present study was to investigate the perceptions of vocational training students about gender stereotypes. To conduce the gathering of information a structured questionnaire was applied and validated including 18 questions in three main blocks: personal data, employment and academic motivations and expectations, and finally, gender stereotypes, selecting the questions in this paper directly address the issue of gender stereotypes. The obtained results indicate a internalization of stereotyping gender in vocational training students. The results, proposals of pedagogical intervention are derived to work the equality of gender in the school.

Keywords:

Gender stereotypes, Gender, vocational training students.