Counteracting Preschooler's Gender Stereotypical Perspectives

This project will allow us to explore whether exposure to gender non-stereotypical role models will have a counteractive effect on preschool children’s views relating to commonly gender-differentiated occupations within society, and their own reported career aspirations for the future. Our project involves the facilitation of planned interventions into the preschool environment, focusing on the effect they have on children’s developing gender stereotypical views in relation to occupations common in the community. If effective in counteracting preschooler’s gender-stereotypical views, we hope to implement these interventions across all 44 YMCA-managed kindergartens across the state.

Gender-differentiation in career aspirations and trajectories can be traced back to developing gender stereotypical perspectives in childhood, with women tending to gravitate towards female-dominant occupations and males towards male-dominant occupations once reaching adulthood. We have designed intervention strategies aimed at reducing gender stereotyping amongst young children, in order to encourage children in the community to eventually pursue academic and occupational aspirations unconstrained by traditional gender stereotyping.