DIVERSITY JOURNEY

Learners will be able…
… to identify ways in which gender might play a role in various professional settings.
… to name and critically think of various reasons behind existence of gendered professions and identify potential ways of challenging gender perception, gender role and supporting inclusion and diversity.
… to examine and analyse their own views on gender and diversity and their impact on society as a whole.

You need:

• 30 minutes
• At least 2 people
• Pens and paper

Instructions (Step-by-Step)

• Together with the learners, choose a gendered profession. Ask the learners what would happen if we reversed the dominant gender in the chosen profession (e.g. if the majority of employees in nursing were male or majority of employees in firefighting were female). Give the learners 10 minutes to think about and list various consequence/outcomes of this gender reversal.
• Discuss the answers with the whole group. What kind of consequence did they list and why? Did they focus on potentially positive or negative change? What was the basis of their reasoning?
• What do they believe to be the cause for the chosen (or any) profession to be gendered? Is this a recent development or an on-going trend? What might contribute to it? What are their views on the current state of that profession in terms of gender? Discuss the historical, societal, biological, psychological and other reasons that might have contributed to a profession being gendered.
• Based on their perceived causes of gender imbalance within the chosen profession, have the learners think of everything that would need to be changed in order to have the profession become more gender balanced. Have them write down their answers and discuss them with the whole group. Is that something they find viable in the future?