Girls slowly are gaining parity with boys in many school contexts, but the revolution is far from over. Blatant sexism is a rarer and rarer occurrence. Now it is more subtle barriers which block access to educational opportunities for girls, such as disparities in the amount of teacher time spent with girls vs. with boys.

All students will benefit from gender equity, because it will make our schools more comfortable for gentle and thoughtful students. By reflecting on our teaching techniques, we will recognize that creative and assertive students, both boys and girls, are receiving the lion's share of the teacher's attention.

Subtle barriers block access to educational opportunies for girls

Many gender equity issues reflect sex-differentiated upbringing by families as well as the exercise of choice by students in elective subjects and clubs. Accordingly, there are many ways I have tried to address the issue of gender equity at Belvedere Middle School. I try to be vigilant about our school's enrichment experiences such as computer clubs, geometry classes, science electives, or trips to camp to make sure that girls as well as boys are gaining access; I look over the rosters to be sure girls have been invited and are represented. If they are not, I try to identify the current barriers to access. For example, in the case of camp, I found that parents were reluctant to send their girls alone, so I made sure that siblings were invited to come along.

One special activity planned at Belvedere is a "girls-only" math/science class for summer school. This class will involve trips to industry, to colleges, and to the field to apply science research techniques. Girls-only groups are sponsored by our Impact program, and many girls find a safe haven in our girls' basketball program, coached by Ms. Gaughan. Many teachers allow students to choose their own constructive work groups for lab or group work. These often end up sex-segregated, and the girls support each other in developing leadership skills.

An issue of great concern is that of sexual harassment and the perception of safety by our girls. It is a problem in our society, and we have little control over most of it. We have instituted uniforms at Belvedere, a measure which has helped girls side-step peer pressure to dress in a more sophisticated manner than is age-appropriate. We have set up a counseling procedure for students who have done something which can be considered sexual harassment (e.g., showing lewd photos or drawings, making comments to other students, or touching inappropriately). We first counsel the student and log the event; if students cause recurring problems we suspend them. The log has helped us to identify patterns of behavior and separate a teen with a single episode of poor judgment from those with chronic problems who need professional counseling.

How did I become aware of gender equity issues in school? I received a grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1990, the Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Enrichment Fellowship, which enabled me to take a sabbatical and attend classes at Pasadena College.. The AAUW has as its goal the promotion of education for women, and it has sponsored several workshops for teachers on the issues of gender equity in schools.