Abstract:

Building a society that is more respectful of the diversity and equality of all its members necessarily involves looking at each individual’s cultural representations of gender. The area of education, being the scenario for the socialization and all-round development of the individual’s personality and sense of dignity, is one of the most suitable contexts for the purpose. It was therefore decided that the present study would aim to identify the stereotypical beliefs shown by vocational training students towards equality between women and men in society, while at the same time it would note any possible differences according to sex and course cycle (intermediate or advanced). To this end, the study relied on the voluntary participation of 135 students from an integrated public vocational training centre in the province of Alicante, all of whom completed the gender-role attitudes scale. Data processing was carried out with the help of SPSS .20 software. According to the results, although the participating students initially seemed to present an attitude inclined towards gender equality in the social context, the Student’s t-test revealed the existence of statistically significant differences in pro-equality and sexist attitudes depending on course cycle and, in particular, sex. As far as pro-equality attitudes are concerned, the highest scores in favour were to be found among advanced students. As for attitudes to sex, it was the female students who most emphatically rejected stereotypical beliefs and most strongly supported equality between women and men. Judging by these findings there is a need to design and implement actions at this stage of education to deconstruct sexist imagery and raise awareness about gender equality.

Keywords:

Gender, vocational training, attitudes, sexism, equality, students.