Through the lens of gender equity, this chapter explores how students’ beliefs about gender norms, their family environment and career expectations interact with their social and emotional skills. The development of gender stereotypes and students' social and emotional skills are influenced by both the home and school environment, as well as wider societal factors. Monitoring and addressing gender disparities in social and emotional skills can promote more equitable outcomes for students.
Nurturing Social and Emotional Learning Across the Globe
Findings from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills 2023
Abstract
Policy insights
Results from the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) 2023 suggest the following recommendations for policy makers and practitioners to promote gender equality and parental involvement in developing students’ socio-emotional skills:
Policies and programmes that tackle gender stereotypes should go beyond women and girls and involve men and boys: Most interventions to combat gender stereotypes are directed at women and girls. However, gender stereotypes are more prevalent among boys than girls in almost all education systems in participating countries and subnational entities (hereafter, “sites”). This is particularly the case for beliefs that men are better suited to leadership and entitled to greater access to economic resources. On average, across sites, 33% of boys said that men make better political leaders than women, while only 10% of girls agreed with this.
Promote greater equality in domestic responsibilities: It was more common for students to say that female relatives were responsible for tasks such as cleaning, cooking and childcare than male relatives in all sites. Students in homes where responsibilities for unpaid domestic tasks are shared between male and female relatives tend to agree less with gender stereotypes than those where these are mainly the responsibility of female relatives. Promisingly, this effect was often even greater for boys. Students in more equitable homes also had greater social and emotional skills, on average.
Tackle gender stereotypes and social norms in school: Gender stereotypes and social norms that children learn at home and in wider society can be reinforced or challenged in school. The beliefs and behaviours of peers, teachers and other staff, as well as curriculum and teaching and learning materials, can all influence gender beliefs. Training staff to recognise and challenge stereotypes and avoid these in their teaching; increasing the representation of men in the teaching profession; and reducing gender norms in the roles and responsibilities of school staff are some approaches taken by systems.
Engage parents in students’ social and emotional skill development: The parental role model is key the development of gender norm and social and emotional skills. In sites where data are available (Bogotá [Colombia], Chile, Ukraine), almost all parents consider themselves responsible for students’ social and emotional skill development and believe they are important for their children’s success. Some parents consider certain skills more important than others, with persistence and emotional control almost universally valued. Schools should actively work with parents as key partners to support students’ social and emotional development. This can include providing information about which skills students are developing and how; the value of different skills for life outcomes; and how parents can reinforce students’ learning at home.
Provide opportunities for students to develop their interests and self-efficacy in different domains. Girls are less likely to choose a career in information and communication technology (ICT), science, and engineering than boys, while boys are less likely to expect to work in health and education, even when they have skills that are a good fit for these occupations. Girls in some sites who expect to have a career in ICT, science or engineering are more likely to say their hobbies or talents were a very important factor in their choice, while in certain sites, girls who disagreed with stereotypes that boys are better at technology than girls were more likely to expect a career in this field. Reducing gender stereotypes around different interests, skills, and careers may, therefore, support students in considering a broader range of career possibilities.
Issues of gender equality are intertwined with students’ social and emotional skill development. The SSES identifies average gender differences in skills that can contribute to disparities in important life outcomes, such as academic performance, health and well-being, and career expectations (OECD, 2024[1]). Girls tend to have higher levels of tolerance, empathy and responsibility, while boys have higher levels of trust and emotional regulation skills, on average. While the direction of these differences is stubbornly consistent across sites, their size varies, and there are notable exceptions. For example, on average, there are no gender differences in empathy in Bogotá (Colombia) or Kudus (Indonesia), nor in optimism in Gunma (Japan) or Ukraine. While gender differences to the detriment of girls in stress resistance and emotional control are particularly pervasive, typical differences between girls and boys are twice as large in Helsinki (Finland) and Italian sites (Emilia-Romagna and Turin) than in several other sites. These data prompt important questions for education systems and wider society. What factors could explain these differences? Can gender disparities in social and emotional skills be reduced? Could targeting students’ social and emotional skills support gender equality in other outcomes? Understanding gender gaps in these skills is a key element of diagnosis and can assist policy makers in identifying potential levers to promote gender equality. Education systems have made significant progress over the past decade in reducing gender differences in academic achievement. Consistent monitoring of gender disparities in these outcomes has helped achieve this. In a similar vein, assessment of students' social and emotional skills can help systems to track progress towards more equitable outcomes.
Social and emotional learning and the shaping of beliefs and social norms about gender take place in all aspects of students’ lives. From the home environment, where children’s beliefs, behaviours and skills are first shaped, to school, where interactions with staff and peers and learning experiences can either reinforce or challenge gender norms. Moreover, broader societal factors, such as cultural norms and legal structures, further shape the opportunities and constraints individuals face in developing their social and emotional skills in ways that support or hinder gender equality. Achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls is a global objective, as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2015[2]). Promoting shared domestic responsibilities, ensuring full participation of women in leadership and decision making, and fostering equal rights to economic resources are some of the key targets for countries to achieve this.
Promoting gender equality is not only a moral objective but a socio-economic strategy: addressing gender inequalities can enhance the growth, competitiveness and sustainability of economies (Fluchtmann, Keese and Adema, 2024[3]). While significant progress has been made in recent decades, gender inequality persists in all areas of social and economic life. Women continue to spend a disproportionate amount of time on unpaid care work and have lower employment rates and lower wages (OECD, 2023[4]), while men represent the vast majority of the prison population and have higher rates of suicide (OECD, 2023[5]). This chapter explores the attitudes and skills of 15-year-olds across 15 sites, providing insights into whether such disparities are likely to persist among the next generation, as well as how they might be addressed.
The formation of beliefs about what it means to be a boy or a girl starts in early childhood (King et al., 2021[6]). Gender stereotypes and social norms can impact children’s perceptions of what behaviours and opportunities, including careers, are appropriate or available to them (OECD, 2020[7]). In this section, levels of students’ agreement with explicit gender stereotypes are discussed, including how these beliefs relate to their social and emotional skills.
Some students believe certain social and emotional skills are more important for girls or boys, particularly in Bulgaria and Delhi (India)
Most students believe that social and emotional skills are equally important for girls and boys. However, 11% to 15% of students on average across sites (depending on the skill domain) say these skills are more important for students of a certain gender (see Figure 4.1). In all sites, at least 5% of students hold such beliefs for some skills, meaning teachers in all systems are likely to encounter students with such attitudes in their classrooms. These beliefs are particularly common in Bulgaria and Delhi (India), where over 20% of students said each domain of social and emotional skills was more important for either girls or boys (see Table A4.7).
Percentages of 15-year-old students who report the following beliefs on social-emotional gender expectations by gender, average across sites
Note: All gender differences are significant at a threshold of p < 0.05.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.7 and A4.8.
While most boys say social and emotional skills are equally important regardless of gender, fewer boys tend to say this than girls. More boys say social and emotional skills are important for themselves, particularly for engaging with others and task performance skills (see Figure 4.1). On average, across sites, 12% of boys said that skills related to engaging with others (being assertive, social and enthusiastic around other people) are more important for boys than girls. These beliefs were particularly high among boys in Kudus (Indonesia) (37%), Delhi (India) (27%), and Bulgaria (20%) (see Table A4.8). For task performance skills, 14% of boys said being persistent, responsible and self-disciplined is more important for boys on average across sites. Kudus (Indonesia) and Bulgaria also emerge as having particularly large proportions of boys with this belief (33% and 23% respectively), as well as Helsinki (Finland) (21%) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) (22%). On the other hand, such beliefs were much less common in Bogotá (Colombia) and Chile, where fewer than 5% of boys said any set of skills were more important for themselves than girls.
In some sites, more students perceive collaboration and open-mindedness skills as more important for girls than boys. In Bulgaria, 21% of students said that collaboration (being co-operative, trusting and understanding of other people) is more important for girls than boys, while 16% of students said the same in Delhi (India). Relatively high proportions of students in these sites also said that open-mindedness skills (being curious, creative and tolerant of other cultures) are more important for girls than boys. However, only a small proportion of students (fewer than 5%) said collaboration or open-mindedness skills were more important for girls in Bogotá (Colombia), Gunma (Japan) and Jinan (People’s Republic of China, hereafter “China”).
These results show some alignment with typical gender disparities seen in social and emotional skills. Girls tend to have higher levels of empathy and tolerance (from the collaboration and open-mindedness domains), while boys tend to have higher levels of energy and sociability (from the engaging with others domain), as well as self-control (from task performance) (OECD, 2024[1]). Students’ beliefs about the roles of men and women may influence the importance they place on developing different social and emotional skills, contributing to gender disparities in these outcomes. Traditional gender roles can create an expectation, for example, that women should be more nurturing and have more concern for others, while men should be assertive and self-disciplined (Stewart et al., 2021[8]). Educators may need to address and challenge such stereotypes to support students’ social and emotional learning.
Boys tend to agree more with gender stereotypes than girls, particularly that leadership and access to economic resources are more important for men
The extent to which 15-year-old students agree with explicit gender stereotypes varies depending on the nature of the belief (see Figure 4.2 and Figure 4.3). Overall, students agree most with stereotypes that men and women have different temperaments and that women are better prepared to care for children than men. Such beliefs are relatively common among both boys and girls: over 40% of girls agreed both that women are better prepared to care for children and that girls are more sensitive, compared to around half of boys on average across sites. Beliefs that men are better suited to leadership positions or that access to economic resources is more important for men were less widely held than other stereotypes. However, levels of these beliefs varied the most between boys and girls. For example, on average, across sites, 33% of boys said that men make better political leaders than women, while only 10% of girls agreed with this.
These data suggest significant progress has been made in combating beliefs among girls that men are better suited to leadership or should have greater access to economic resources in most sites. In all sites except Delhi (India), fewer than 5% of girls said higher education was more important for men than women (see Table A4.18). In around half of the sites, fewer than 5% of girls said having a well-paying job was more important for men or agreed that men make better political leaders (see Tables A4.4 and A4.18). However, such beliefs are more common among boys. In Kudus (Indonesia), 73% of boys said men make better political leaders, while 59% said so in Bulgaria, 52% in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and 49% in Ukraine. Even in sites where such beliefs are very low among girls, such as Italian sites (Emilia-Romagna and Turin), Jinan (China) and Spain, between 25 and 30% of boys agreed men make better political leaders, while 37% of boys did so in Helsinki (Finland).
While much progress has been made in the representation of women in business, politics, and other sectors in recent decades, women remain under-represented in many fields and senior positions. The SSES results suggest that beliefs among boys, rather than among girls, are or will become a greater barrier to addressing these issues. There is a significant minority, or even majority in some sites, of boys who believe that men are better suited to positions of power than women (see Figure 4.3 and Figure 4.4). Therefore, tackling these beliefs among boys and men should become a greater priority.
Percentage of 15-year-old students agreeing or strongly agreeing with statements by gender, average across sites
Note: All gender differences are significant at a threshold of p < 0.05.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.2 and A4.4.
Percentage of 15-year-old students who report the following beliefs by gender, average across sites
Note: All gender differences are significant at a threshold of p < 0.05.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.17 and A4.18.
Percentage of 15-year-old students agreeing or strongly agreeing with each statement, by gender
Note: Only differences that are statistically significant with a threshold of p < 0.05 are noted by site names. Sites are listed in descending order of the percentages of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that boys are more ambitious than girls.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.2 and A4.4.
Beliefs that women are better prepared to care for children are highest in Bulgaria, Delhi (India) and Kudus (Indonesia) and lowest in Spain and Bogotá (Colombia)
The highest level of agreement with explicit stereotypes among students was with statements that boys and girls have different temperaments in relation to sensitivity, empathy and aggression and that women are better prepared to care for children. Almost half of students (49%) agreed that girls are more sensitive than boys, while 43% said girls are more empathetic than boys and 42% that boys are more aggressive than girls (see Figure 4.2). A similarly high proportion of students agreed that women are better prepared to care for children than men (46%).
Figure 4.5 shows the proportion of all students, as well as boys and girls, in each site who agreed that women are better prepared to care for children than men and that girls are more empathetic than boys. Students in Delhi (India) and Kudus (Indonesia) had the highest level of agreement with these stereotypes, where 72% and 75% of students respectively agreed that women are better prepared to care for children than men. In Bulgaria, this was the case for 66% of students. On the other hand, this belief was held by 26% of students in Spain and 25% in Bogotá (Colombia).
Percentage of 15-year-old students agreeing or strongly agreeing with each statement, by gender
Note: Only differences that are statistically significant with a threshold of p < 0.05 are noted by site names. Sites are listed in descending order of the percentages of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that women are better prepared to care for children than men.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.2 and A4.4.
On average, across sites, more boys than girls said women are better prepared to care for children than men. However, there are exceptions and gender differences tended to be smaller than for stereotypes about women in leadership. There are no significant gender differences in this belief in Delhi (India), Gunma (Japan) or Sobral (Brazil), while girls were more likely to agree than boys in Bulgaria. Gender differences in this belief were widest in Helsinki (Finland) and Jinan (China), where around half of boys agreed that women are better prepared to care for children than men, compared to 28% and 21% of girls, respectively.
Beliefs that certain roles or temperaments are more important for men or women can be reinforced or challenged in schools through teaching and learning materials. Reviews of textbooks find women and girls are more likely to be portrayed conducting domestic tasks such as cleaning, cooking and childrearing, while men are more likely to be shown doing sports (Mihira et al., 2021[9]). Gender stereotypes can also be perpetuated within new digital tools, for example many artificial intelligence personal assistants have female-sounding voices and names. To address this, many education systems have implemented programmes to eradicate such stereotypes from materials, and several organisations have developed guidelines to support this (Brussino and McBrien, 2022[10]). These include, among other things, having a balanced representation of men and women in images and examples, as well as using gender-neutral job titles (UNESCO/EQUALS Skills Coalition, 2019[11]).
However, revising teaching materials may have less impact if traditional gender norms continue to be reflected in teachers’ own beliefs or behaviours. Women often assume greater responsibility for childcare at home and constitute 96% of pre-primary teachers and 83% of primary teachers on average across OECD countries (OECD, 2024[12]). Increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce could help challenge common gender stereotypes, and some systems have implemented strategies to recruit more male teachers (UNESCO, 2022[13]). However, when men enter the teaching profession, they are often expected to take on disciplinary roles and responsibilities for sports or science and maths education (Cruickshank et al., 2019[14]). Instead, seeing more men take on more nurturing responsibilities and women leading extra-curriculars such as sports could help shift students’ perspectives on appropriate behaviour for men and women.
Students with greater tolerance and emotional control are more likely to disagree with gender stereotypes
Students with greater tolerance, defined as being open to different points of view and valuing diversity, are more likely to disagree with gender stereotypes in most sites (see Figure 4.6). Although few social and emotional learning interventions explicitly target tolerance, those that do often promote gender equality within broader efforts to foster diversity and inclusion (Steponavičius, Gress-Wright and Linzarini, 2023[15]). Greater disagreement with gender stereotypes was associated with higher tolerance in all sites except Bulgaria and Kudus (Indonesia), where there was no relationship, and Delhi (India), where this was associated with lower tolerance. The lack of such a relationship, or the reverse, in a few sites, suggests that approaches to building tolerance within these systems may not focus as much on gender equality. Tackling students’ beliefs may also be more challenging in these sites as agreement with gender stereotypes among students is particularly high. In these systems, a more expansive cultural shift that involves school staff, parents and wider society may be needed to change students’ attitudes.
Standardised regression coefficients of 15-year-old students' individual skills on the gender bias index, by gender, average across sites
Note: Significant coefficients at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured; non-significant coefficients are outlined. Gender coefficients are not presented when the difference between the girls’ and boys’ effects is not significant. Model controls for gender, educational achievement, socio-economic and migrant status. See Annex A for information about how the gender bias index was calculated. Social and emotional skills are listed by the size of the effect on the gender bias/stereotypes index.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.5 and A4.6.
Students with greater emotional control are also less likely to agree with gender stereotypes. This is the case in most sites, although no such relationship is observed in Bulgaria, Gunma (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Turin (Italy) or Ukraine. Emotional control is a common target of social and emotional learning interventions, with approaches typically supporting students to recognise and reflect on their emotions before reacting. Students with greater emotional control use effective strategies for regulating temper, anger and irritation in the face of frustrations, and there is good evidence that approaches can be effective in reducing aggression and behavioural problems (Steponavičius, Gress-Wright and Linzarini, 2023[15]). These results suggest that emotional regulation skills might also support students in rejecting stereotypical beliefs. Further research could help understand this mechanism, but perhaps reduced impulsivity and greater self-reflection can help students consider a wider range of perspectives and possibilities, including less rigid roles for men and women.
In most sites, disagreement with gender stereotypes is associated with greater curiosity and creativity among girls (see Figure 4.7). Promisingly, this suggests rejection of gender stereotypes might support broader career ambitions for girls as these skills are both linked to greater take-up of career development activities and expectations to have a career in ICT, science and technology (OECD, 2024[1]).
Standardised regression coefficients of 15-year-old students' individual skills on the gender bias index, by gender
Note: Significant coefficients at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured; non-significant coefficients are outlined. Gender coefficients are not presented when the difference between the girls’ and boys’ effects is not significant. Model controls for gender, educational achievement, socio-economic and migrant status. See Annex A for information about how the gender bias index was calculated. Sites are listed in alphabetical order.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.5 and A4.6.
However, higher levels of other social and emotional skills are sometimes linked to greater agreement with gender stereotypes, particularly among boys. This means that students who agree with statements such as “boys are more ambitious than girls” and “women are better prepared to care for children than men” tend to have greater levels of certain skills than students who disagree with these statements. In around half of the sites, boys who agree with gender stereotypes typically have higher optimism than those who reject them. Boys who agree with gender stereotypes also tend to have greater skills for engaging with others (energy, sociability and assertiveness) and stress resistance in some sites. Notably, only in South American sites (Bogotá [Colombia], Chile, Peru and Sobral [Brazil]) are no skills positively linked to agreement with gender stereotypes among boys. These results build a complex picture of a minority of boys in some sites who hold traditional views about gender roles, have lower levels of tolerance and emotional control yet are more assertive, sociable and/or optimistic. Unravelling these relationships may help systems better understand and engage with students, particularly boys, who agree with gender stereotypes.
Tackling gender stereotypes should go beyond women and girls and involve men and boys, but how this is approached matters for success
Some common themes emerge across sites in relation to students’ beliefs about gender. Boys are more likely to hold stereotypical beliefs than girls, with a particular gender divide in views on women’s leadership and access to economic resources. There is some overlap between tolerance and rejection of gender stereotypes, and greater tolerance among girls may explain some of the gender differences in these beliefs. However, there is much variation between sites, and local context should be considered when tackling these issues.
Table 4.1 summarises levels of four beliefs among boys and girls across sites: social and emotional skills are not equally important for girls and boys; a well-paying job is not equally important for men and women; men and women are not equally suited to political leadership; and men and women are not equally prepared to care for children. Three sites emerge with the highest proportions of both boys and girls with these beliefs: Bulgaria, Delhi (India) and Kudus (Indonesia). While boys tend to have higher levels of gender stereotypes than girls in these sites, efforts to challenge these beliefs would need to target both groups. In other sites, gender stereotypes surrounding women in leadership are very low among girls. Yet, a large minority of boys hold such views, including in Helsinki (Finland), Italian sites (Emilia-Romagna and Turin) and Spain. In these sites, approaches that specifically target such views among boys may be more effective.
Social norms and gender stereotypes are often the target of interventions to promote gender equality. An education approach is often used when working with students, parents or teachers, where participants’ knowledge and awareness of restrictive norms and stereotypes is developed, including what stereotypes are, how to identify them and how to counteract them (Brussino and McBrien, 2022[10]). While boys in the SSES tend to hold more rigid views about gender, a recent review found only one-quarter of intervention evaluations specifically worked with men and boys (Stewart et al., 2021[8]).
A key implication of these results and wider research is that policies and programmes that tackle gender stereotypes should go beyond women and girls and involve men and boys. But how should policy makers approach this challenge? Approaches with greater success in shifting boys’ attitudes tend to involve peer learning or leadership, such as using older students to mentor young students and including men and boys in the design of interventions (Stewart et al., 2021[8]). Working with male-only cohorts and having interventions led by men may also support better outcomes, although there is a risk this reinforces a view that men cannot learn with or from women. Importantly, interventions often achieve mixed results, and few approaches have been evaluated in different contexts. Education systems should, therefore, carefully consider the specifics of programme content to avoid reinforcing stereotypes or other unintended outcomes and evaluate the impact of approaches taken.
Percentage of students holding each belief, by gender and site
Note: Levels of each belief among students are coloured incrementally from white to dark blue based on the following categories: less than 5%, between 5 and 15%, between 15 and 25%, between 25 and 50% and over 50% of students. The belief that social and emotional skills are not equally important for girls and boys is an average across six statements representing all social and emotional skill domains.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.18 and A4.4.
Although most working-age women across OECD countries are employed, gender roles in domestic house and care work have remained remarkably rigid (OECD, 2017[16]). On average, across OECD countries, women spend twice as much time on unpaid tasks, such as cleaning, cooking and childcare, compared to men (OECD, n.d.[17]). On the other hand, men spend a greater share of their time on paid work and leisure than women. In this section, responsibilities for domestic responsibilities from the perspectives of students are discussed, as well as how the division of labour in families relates to students’ social and emotional skills and levels of gender stereotypes.
When both parents participate in domestic tasks, students are less likely to agree with gender stereotypes
Students in households where both parents are responsible for domestic tasks agree less with gender stereotypes compared to those where female family members are mainly responsible, on average (see Figure 4.8). Notably, this effect is sometimes larger for boys. This means that the tendency for boys to agree, for example, that boys are more ambitious than girls or that men make better political leaders than women, can reduce even more when both male and female relatives participate in domestic tasks.
Regression coefficients of 15-year-old students' agreement with gender stereotypes on the home gender role index, by gender, average across sites
Note: Significant coefficients at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured; non-significant coefficients are outlined. Gender coefficients are not presented when the difference between the girls’ and boys’ effects is not significant. Model controls for gender, educational achievement, socio-economic and migrant status. See Annex A for information about how the home gender role index was calculated. Gender bias/stereotypes are listed in the size of the effect on the home gender roles index.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.19 and A4.20.
Students’ female relatives are responsible for domestic tasks more often than male relatives
It was much more common for students to say that female relatives are mainly responsible for domestic tasks than male relatives in all sites (see Figure 4.9). On average, across sites, 45% of students said female family members were mainly responsible for preparing meals, 40% said they were responsible for cleaning the house, and 33% said they were responsible for childcare, while fewer than 5% said these were the main responsibilities of male relatives. However, there was significant variation between sites. In Chile, Spain, Bogotá (Colombia) and Jinan (China), at least 60% of students said responsibilities for childcare, preparing meals and cleaning were shared between female and male relatives, while over 70% did so in Helsinki (Finland). On the other hand, it was more common for female relatives to be solely responsible for both cleaning and cooking in Bulgaria, Delhi (India), Dubai (UAE), Gunma (Japan), and Kudus (Indonesia) than for these tasks to be shared, and for cleaning in Italian sites (Emilia-Romagna and Turin).
Percentage of 15-year-old students who agreed the following group is responsible for each domestic task
Note: Sites are listed in descending order of the percentages of students agreeing that looking after the children is a shared task between males and females.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table A4.9.
The SSES results suggest that sharing domestic responsibilities more equally at home can foster more equitable beliefs among students about gender roles. However, although gender stereotypes are reduced among students in more egalitarian homes, they are not eradicated. One explanation for this is that, even in households where domestic tasks are a shared responsibility, it is common for women to take on a greater share of these tasks (OECD, 2023[18]). Social norms can and do change. Women’s entrance into the workforce and access to property ownership in many areas of the world are just two examples. However, shifts in gender norms for household chores have been slower to change, meaning many women are shouldering this responsibility alongside paid work (Cookson et al., 2023[19]).
The SSES finds that, in a small number of systems with available data (Bogotá [Colombia], Peru, and Ukraine), students with parents who disagree with gender stereotypes are more likely to disagree with these stereotypes themselves (see Tables A4.25 and A4.26). In addition, some relationships are observed between parents’ gender stereotypes and their children’s social and emotional skills. For example, parental disagreement with the statement “girls are more empathetic than boys” is linked to higher levels of tolerance among boys in all three sites, while disagreement with this statement or “girls are more sensitive than boys” is associated with greater curiosity, assertiveness, or both, among girls in all three systems (see Tables A4.27 and A4.28). The parental role model is clearly a key mechanism for challenging gender stereotypes, particularly for boys (Giménez-Nadal, Mangiavacchi and Piccoli, 2019[20]). However, schools can also challenge such social norms. One area where education systems can influence is their engagement with parents. Expectations from schools, such as collecting a sick child or volunteering for events, put demands on families, and these often fall disproportionately on mothers (Buzard, Gee and Stoddard, 2023[21]; Fleischmann and de Haas, 2016[22]). One clear indicator of this within the SSES data was that 80% of the respondents to the parent questionnaire across the eight sites where this was administered were female. The coronavirus (COVID‑19) pandemic heightened awareness of this issue when women bore the brunt of responsibilities for childcare while schools and other provisions were closed (OECD, 2021[23]; Alon et al., 2020[24]). In addition, wider research shows that active and regular engagement of fathers with their children predicts a range of positive outcomes, including the reduction of behavioural problems in boys and psychological problems in young women (Sarkadi et al., 2007[25]). This underscores the importance of improving fathers’ engagement in their children’s schooling and promoting a more equitable distribution of parenting tasks.
Students in families where responsibility for domestic tasks is shared between male and female relatives tend to have greater social and emotional skills
Students in homes where responsibility for domestic tasks, such as cleaning, cooking and childcare, are shared between male and female relatives tend to have greater levels of all social and emotional skills compared to those where these are the responsibility mainly of female relatives (see Figure 4.10).
Standardised regression coefficients of the 15-year-old students' home gender roles index on individual skills, by gender, average across sites
Note: Significant coefficients at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured; non-significant coefficients are outlined. Gender coefficients are not presented when the difference between the girls’ and boys’ effects is not significant. Model controls for gender, socio-economic and migrant status. See Annex A for information about how the home gender role index was calculated. Social and emotional skills are listed by the size of the effect on the home gender roles index.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.14 and A4.16.
In the SSES, girls are typically assessed as having poorer emotional regulation skills (emotional control, stress resistance and optimism), trust and energy, while boys tend to have lower levels of tolerance and empathy. However, behind these averages there is much variation. Students’ home environments may explain some of this. In households where domestic responsibilities are shared, both boys and girls have higher levels of tolerance on average across sites, but this increase tends to be greater for boys in several sites (Chile, Spain, Bogotá [Colombia], Sobral [Brazil] and Turin [Italy]). Shared domestic responsibilities are associated with greater increases in empathy among boys than girls in Bulgaria, Spain, Bogotá (Colombia), Dubai (UAE), Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and Gunma (Japan). Similarly, the positive relationship between more equitable distribution of household tasks and girls’ emotional regulation skills, trust and energy is greater than for boys in Peru, Ukraine, Bogotá (Colombia), Delhi (India), Dubai (UAE) and Emilia-Romagna (Italy) for at least one of these skills. These results are promising because they suggest that home environments where men and women share tasks such as cleaning and cooking could help reduce gender disparities in social and emotional skills. However, this is just one factor that can influence gender disparities and is clearly not a silver bullet. Gender disparities in these skills were widest in Helsinki (Finland) and Italian sites (Emilia-Romagna and Turin) (OECD, 2024[1]), yet the proportion of students in these sites that said domestic responsibilities were shared between male and female relatives were either similar to or above average. This suggests that, while greater equity in the home is a promising target to promote a range of positive outcomes, approaches to reducing gender disparities in social and emotional skills need to be multi-faceted.
One factor that might confound the relationship seen between domestic responsibilities and students’ social and emotional skills is family structure. Students in single-parent homes may attribute responsibility for household tasks to the parent they live with most of the time, which may be more commonly mothers than fathers. Using data from the SSES parent survey in Bogotá (Colombia), Peru and Ukraine, the effect can be adjusted for. Figure 4.11 shows the relationship between inequity in domestic responsibilities and students’ skills before and after adjusting for households where no father is present in these sites. This shows that, while the strength of the relationship reduces a little for some skills in these sites, most remain broadly similar, and a consistent relationship remains.
Standardised regression coefficients of the 15-year-old students' home gender roles index on individual skills, by gender, average across Bogotá (Colombia), Peru and Ukraine
Note: Significant coefficients at a threshold of p < 0.05 are coloured; non-significant coefficients are outlined. Model controls for gender, socio-economic and migrant status. See Annex A for information about how the home gender role index was calculated. Social and emotional skills are listed by the size of the effect on the home gender roles index adjusted for homes without fathers.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.14 and A4.15.
Boys are more likely to say male relatives are responsible for bringing in income than girls, even when both parents work full-time
More boys than girls say that male relatives are mainly responsible for bringing in income for their household (see
Figure 4.12). This suggests girls often give greater recognition to the contribution of female relatives to family finances; boys tend to give this less recognition, or both. On average, across sites, 32% of boys say household income is mainly the responsibility of male relatives, compared to 24% of girls. These gender differences in students’ perspectives are largest in Bulgaria, Delhi (India), Helsinki (Finland), and Jinan (China), while there was no difference in Gunma (Japan)
.
Percentage of 15-year-old students who report male or female family members are responsible for different tasks in the home by gender, average across sites
Note: Gender percentages are not presented when the difference between the girls and boys is not significant at a threshold of p < 0.05..
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.9 and A4.10.
Although fewer girls and boys say male relatives are responsible for household income when both parents work full-time, similar gender differences in responses remain. On average, across sites, 14% of girls in households where both parents work full-time say that male relatives are mainly responsible for bringing in household income, compared to 23% of boys (see Table A4.12).
Compared to household income, gender differences in students’ perspectives on tasks such as preparing meals and cleaning were more variable. On average, across sites, around half of both girls and boys said that responsibility for preparing meals was shared among male and female relatives. However, gender differences did emerge in some systems. More boys than girls in Helsinki (Finland) said preparing meals was a responsibility of female relatives than male relatives (27% of boys compared to 14% of girls), while similar gender differences are seen in perspectives on responsibilities for cleaning and childcare tasks. On the other hand, the opposite is seen in Bogotá (Colombia), Gunma (Japan) and Sobral (Brazil), where girls are more likely to say that domestic chores are mainly the responsibility of female relatives than boys.
What factors might contribute to these different perspectives? In some sites, perhaps parents impress more on their daughters than their sons that tasks are shared in the household. In others, girls might themselves be more involved than boys in domestic tasks, meaning they are more likely to consider it a responsibility of women in the home. While the mechanism is unclear and warrants further research, these results show that boys’ and girls’ perspectives often differ not only on more hypothetical issues but also on seemingly objective questions about who does which tasks in their own homes.
Schools can challenge gender stereotypes, but engaging parents and other caregivers in this task is also key
Schools can promote gender equality and challenge gender stereotypes in multiple ways. For example, promoting gender equality can be included as a curriculum objective; teaching and learning materials can be revised to remove stereotypical representations of men and women; and school staff can be trained to be aware of and address gender biases (Brussino and McBrien, 2022[10]). However, since families play an important role in the formation of gender stereotypes, working with parents and other caregivers is also key. Some systems provide parents with practical resources to help them understand issues around gender equality and make changes at home. The SSES is one such resource that could be used to help parents reflect on relevant issues and implications. Results that may help prompt such conversations include students’ beliefs about the roles of men and women and gender disparities in social and emotional skills, as well as student involvement in bullying, health and well-being outcomes and career aspirations.
Data from parents in three sites (Bogotá [Colombia], Peru, and Ukraine) highlights that the vast majority of parents think social and emotional skills are important for their child’s development and success, with skills such as persistence and emotional control valued above literacy and numeracy (see Figure 4.13). In all three sites, almost all parents agree that they are responsible for developing students’ social and emotional skills (96% on average across the three sites), more so than other groups, including students themselves (87%) and teachers (73%) (see Figure 4.14). These results suggest that focusing on how promoting gender equality can support students’ social and emotional skills may be a more effective approach in engaging parents than the link with academic success in these sites. However, most respondents to the parent survey in all three sites were students’ mothers, therefore it is unclear if patterns of responses would be different among fathers.
Percentage of parents of 15-year-olds who rated each skill as important or very important for their child’s development and success, average across Bogotá (Colombia), Peru and Ukraine
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table A4.29.
Percentage of parents of 15-year-olds who agreed each group should be responsible for developing students’ social and emotional skills, average across Bogotá (Colombia), Peru and Ukraine
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table A4.30.
Bullying behaviours towards gender non-conforming students is one way traditional gender norms can be reinforced in schools. Boys who do not conform to stereotypical gender norms are more likely to experience bullying than girls. On average across sites, 34% of students agreed that boys in their school who display gender non-conforming characteristics or behaviours are made fun of, while 24% agreed the same for girls.
While gender non-conformity can be a risk factor for being a victim of bullying, high conformity with stereotypical gender roles is associated with bullying perpetration among boys (Loverno et al., 2020[26]). School environments where students associate certain skills with either men or women or feel at risk of being bullied for expressing non-gender conforming characteristics or behaviours may hinder their social and emotional development.
Percentage of 15-year-old students agreeing or strongly agreeing that students displaying non-gender conforming characteristics are made fun of in school
Note: Sites are listed in descending order the percentages of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that students make fun of boys who display feminine characteristics or behaviours
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table A4.33
Gender stereotypes at home, in school and in wider society influence both boys’ and girls’ study and career choices (Master, 2021[27]; Ellemers, 2018[28]). Gender norms in career expectations are evident even among very young children: five-year-old girls are likelier to aspire to caring or creative roles, while five-year-old boys are likelier to aspire to jobs in transportation or construction (OECD, 2020[7]). The influence of gender stereotypes on career choices can further entrench inequalities because careers that are associated with traditional gender roles for women, such as teaching and caregiving, typically offer lower salaries. This section explores career expectations of students with similar academic and social and emotional skills and the relationship between gender stereotypes and aspirations.
Among students with similarly high levels of curiosity and maths skills, more boys expect a career in ICT, science and technology, while more girls expect a career in health
Women and girls are under-represented in science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) careers globally (OECD, 2017[29]). This impacts women’s earning potential, as jobs in these sectors are some of the most lucrative. Gender disparities in occupational choices may also make women, who are over-represented in clerical and service work and under-represented in senior management positions, more vulnerable to job displacement through automation. The influence of women on technologies such as artificial intelligence, which are shaping society at a quickening pace, is also reduced, and lack of diversity within a workforce can be detrimental to innovation and productivity (Gomez and Bernet, 2019[30]). On the other hand, men are less likely to enter professions such as teaching and nursing. The lack of men in caring roles may reinforce gender stereotypes that care is women’s work.
Women and girls have the skills to succeed in STEM careers (Charlesworth and Banaji, 2019[31]). On average, across sites, 8% of girls have high attainment in maths and high levels of curiosity, compared to 6% of boys (defined as being in the top quarter of students for both skills in their site). However, among students with high levels of both these skills, almost half as many girls expected to have an ICT, science, or engineering career as boys (see Table 4.2). At the same time, over half as many boys with these same skills expect to have a career in health as girls.
Note: ICT, science and engineering sectors refer to ISCO codes 21, 25, 31 and 35. The health sector refers to ISCO codes 22, 32 and 2634. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between girls and boys are bold.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Table A4.22.
More girls say their grades and availability of financial support, training and employment opportunities are important influences on their career choice than boys
Having the necessary skills is only one factor in students’ career choices. Students also need to be interested in their chosen field and feel confident in their abilities. Practical or structural issues, such as the availability of training and employment opportunities, can also have an impact. Students were asked how important different influences are on their career plans, such as school grades and parental expectations. On average, across sites, over 75% of both girls and boys said available employment opportunities, their talents, expected salary, and available education or training options were important or very important factors in their choice (see Table A4.23).
There were some gender differences in students’ career influences. In all sites except Gunma (Japan), more girls said their school grades were an important factor in their choice (83% of girls on average across sites, compared to 74% of boys), while more girls also said practical considerations such as availability of education or training options, financial support, and employment opportunities were important.
The high proportion of students in most sites who cite their grades, talents and hobbies as important factors highlights the important role that students’ interests and evaluations of their abilities have on their career choices. In most sites, girls who expect to have a career in ICT, science or technology were more likely to say their hobbies or talents were an important factor in their career choice than those who expect a career in health (see Table A4.24). This was the case for girls in Bulgaria, Chile, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Gunma (Japan), Jinan (China), Kudus (Indonesia), Peru, Spain, and Ukraine for either or both their hobbies or talents. On the other hand, in most sites, there is no difference in the importance of their talents or hobbies for their career choice among boys who expect a career in these sectors. This suggests that developing related hobbies and recognising their talents may have been particularly formative for girls who expect a career in ICT, science or technology.
Disagreement with gender stereotypes is associated with less gender-normative career expectations in only a minority of sites
Gender stereotypes can perpetuate ideas that STEM careers are for men or that caring roles are for women. These beliefs may impact students’ perceptions of their skills and the pursuit of hobbies in related areas. Beliefs that boys are better at mathematics, for example, can negatively affect girls’ self-efficacy and limit the career paths they consider open to them (Zander et al., 2020[32]). On average, across sites, 24% of students agreed that boys are better at technology than girls (see Figure 4.16). Levels of this belief were highest among students in Bulgaria, Kudus (Indonesia) and Ukraine. This belief was also more common among boys than girls in all sites except Gunma (Japan). On average, across sites, 35% of boys agreed that boys are better at technology, compared to 14% of girls. Gender differences in this belief were widest in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Helsinki (Finland) and Ukraine. Similarly, as discussed earlier in this chapter, beliefs that women are better suited to caring tasks may influence students’ career aspirations in fields such as nursing and teaching.
Girls who agree that boys are better at technology were less likely to expect a career in ICT, science or engineering in Peru, Spain and Ukraine than those who disagreed, while there were no differences in other sites (see Table A4.21). Boys who disagreed that girls are more empathetic than boys were just as likely to aspire to a career in health compared to boys who agreed with this statement, except for Bulgaria, where agreement with this statement was associated with higher aspirations for this career. In Spain and Turin (Italy), boys who disagreed that women are better prepared to care for children than men were more likely to expect a career in health than other boys. The lack of relationships between stereotypical beliefs and career aspirations in most sites may reflect that explicit biases among students themselves may play a relatively small role in their career choices. Students may assert, for example, that different occupations can be for both men and women, while making career choices that align with social norms themselves. Greater agreement with many stereotypes among boys, including that boys are better at technology, also suggests that such beliefs among men and boys may play a larger role than those among women and girls.
These results suggest education systems need to go further than tackling explicit gender stereotypes to help students consider a broader range of career options. Intervention programs focused on increasing diversity in different professions are one tool used to address these disparities, particularly for attracting girls to STEM careers. Common features of such interventions include giving students opportunities to develop and put their skills into practice and exposure to role models, such as via mentoring or networking opportunities (Palid et al., 2023[33]). Such approaches may help build girls’ self-efficacy in science and mathematics, particularly in sites where explicit biases among girls are already low. Another tool available to schools is to ensure more equitable access to and participation in relevant extra-curricular activities. Wider research finds that boys participate in clubs with a focus on computers, such as programming or coding, much more than girls and spend more of their free time on related activities (OECD, 2024[34]; Dabney et al., 2012[35]). Where participation in such activities is voluntary, girls’ take-up may be impacted by gender norms at school and in wider society. There is some evidence that efforts are having a positive impact. More girls in both Helsinki (Finland) and Bogotá (Colombia) expect to have careers in ICT, engineering or technology in 2023 compared to those in 2019, reducing gender gaps in these expectations (OECD, 2024[1]). On the other hand, there was no shift in gender differences in expectations for careers in health or teaching between these years in these sites. As demonstrated in this chapter, boys often hold more traditional gender ideologies than girls, and boys’ career expectations are no less typical in countries with more egalitarian gender beliefs. Notably, gender gaps in aspirations to work as teachers are often larger in countries with more egalitarian gender beliefs (Han, Borgonovi and Guerriero, 2020[36]). Without explicit policies and interventions to widen boys’ career expectations, their lack of representation in certain professions may result in even greater disparities due to the lack of male role models.
Percentage of 15-year-old students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the following gender stereotypes, by gender
Note: Only differences that are statistically significant with a threshold of p < 0.05 are noted by site names. Sites are listed in descending order of the percentages of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that boys are better at technology than girls.
Source: OECD, SSES 2023 Database Tables A4.2 and A4.4.
Previous chapters in this volume outline how school policies, practices and environments can nurture students’ social and emotional growth. Equally, as discussed in this chapter, schools are well-placed to challenge students’ gender stereotypes and promote more equitable development of social and emotional skills. However, students’ home environments also play a key role in both social and emotional learning and the development of gender norms. Policies and interventions that target both school and home environments, including more equitable division of unpaid domestic responsibilities, and facilitate positive engagement between schools and families are therefore needed to make greater progress. Promisingly, social and emotional learning can provide a framework to support parental engagement, allowing for a broader discussion with parents and guardians about their child’s strengths and development needs. The SSES results discussed in this chapter also show that, while efforts to promote gender equity appear to have had a positive impact on girls’ beliefs about the roles and rights of women, greater focus should be placed on engaging boys, who often hold more stereotypical beliefs.
Social and emotional learning takes place in all domains of students’ lives and all students need opportunities at school, home and in wider society to develop and express their social and emotional skills, without hindrance from stereotypical norms and expectations. Ultimately, the development and assessment of these skills, including persistence, stress-resistance, empathy and co-operation, can help students reach their full potential and build more prosperous, equitable and cohesive societies.
Online tables for each chapter can be accessed via the StatLink.
References
[24] Alon, T. et al. (2020), The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, https://doi.org/10.3386/w26947.
[10] Brussino, O. and J. McBrien (2022), “Gender stereotypes in education: Policies and practices to address gender stereotyping across OECD education systems”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 271, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a46ae056-en.
[21] Buzard, K., L. Gee and O. Stoddard (2023), “Who you gonna call? Gender Inequality in external demands for parental involvement”, SSRN Electronic Journal, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4456100.
[31] Charlesworth, T. and M. Banaji (2019), “Gender in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: Issues, causes, solutions”, The Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 39/37, pp. 7228-7243, https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0475-18.2019.
[19] Cookson, T. et al. (2023), “Social norms, gender and development: A review of research and practice”, UN-Women Discussion Paper Series, No. 42, UN-Women, New York, http://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/discussion-paper-social-norms-gender-anddevelopment-a-review-of-research-and-practice-en.pdf.
[14] Cruickshank, V. et al. (2019), “How do male primary teachers negotiate expectations to perform gendered roles in their schools?”, The Australian Educational Researcher, Vol. 47/2, pp. 307-322, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00337-z.
[35] Dabney, K. et al. (2012), “Out-of-school time science activities and their association with career interest in STEM”, International Journal of Science Education, Part B, Vol. 2/1, pp. 63-79, https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2011.629455.
[28] Ellemers, N. (2018), “Gender stereotypes”, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 69/1, pp. 275-298, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719.
[22] Fleischmann, F. and A. de Haas (2016), “Explaining parents’ school involvement: The role of ethnicity and gender in the Netherlands”, The Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 109/5, pp. 554-565, https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.994196.
[3] Fluchtmann, J., M. Keese and W. Adema (2024), “Gender equality and economic growth: Past progress and future potential”, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 304, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/fb0a0a93-en.
[20] Giménez-Nadal, J., L. Mangiavacchi and L. Piccoli (2019), “Keeping inequality at home: The genesis of gender roles in housework”, Labour Economics, Vol. 58, pp. 52-68, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2019.03.006.
[30] Gomez, L. and P. Bernet (2019), “Diversity improves performance and outcomes”, Journal of the National Medical Association, Vol. 111/4, pp. 383-392, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2019.01.006.
[36] Han, S., F. Borgonovi and S. Guerriero (2020), “Why don’t more boys want to become teachers? The effect of a gendered profession on students’ career expectations”, International Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 103, p. 101645, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101645.
[6] King, T. et al. (2021), “Gender stereotypes and biases in early childhood: A systematic review”, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 46/2, pp. 112-125, https://doi.org/10.1177/1836939121999849.
[26] Loverno, S. et al. (2020), “Who Engages in Gender Bullying? The Role of Homophobic Name-Calling, Gender Pressure, and Gender Conformity”, Educational Researcher, Vol. 50/4, pp. 215-224, https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x20968067.
[27] Master, A. (2021), “Gender stereotypes influence children’s STEM motivation”, Child Development Perspectives, Vol. 15/3, pp. 203-210, https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12424.
[9] Mihira, L. et al. (2021), “Gender inequality represented in English textbooks: A literature review”, Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora, Vol. 10/3, p. 576, https://doi.org/10.23887/jish-undiksha.v10i3.39209.
[12] OECD (2024), Education at a Glance 2024: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/c00cad36-en.
[34] OECD (2024), “School environment and creative thinking”, in PISA 2022 Results (Volume III): Creative Minds, Creative Schools, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1f9af1ef-en.
[1] OECD (2024), Social and Emotional Skills for Better Lives: Findings from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills 2023, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/35ca7b7c-en.
[5] OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.
[4] OECD (2023), Joining Forces for Gender Equality: What is Holding us Back?, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/67d48024-en.
[18] OECD (2023), SIGI 2023 Global Report: Gender Equality in Times of Crisis, Social Institutions and Gender Index, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4607b7c7-en.
[23] OECD (2021), “Caregiving in crisis: Gender inequality in paid and unpaid work during COVID-19”, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3555d164-en.
[7] OECD (2020), Early Learning and Child Well-being: A Study of Five-year-Olds in England, Estonia, and the United States, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3990407f-en.
[16] OECD (2017), The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264281318-en.
[29] OECD (2017), “The under-representation of women in STEM fields”, in The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264281318-10-en.
[17] OECD (n.d.), Time use database, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/time-use-database.html (accessed on 1 August 2024).
[33] Palid, O. et al. (2023), “Inclusion in practice: a systematic review of diversity-focused STEM programming in the United States”, International Journal of STEM Education, Vol. 10/1, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00387-3.
[25] Sarkadi, A. et al. (2007), “Fathers’ involvement and children’s developmental outcomes: A systematic review of longitudinal studies”, Acta Paediatrica, Vol. 97/2, pp. 153-158, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00572.x.
[15] Steponavičius, M., C. Gress-Wright and A. Linzarini (2023), “Social and emotional skills: Latest evidence on teachability and impact on life outcomes”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 304, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ba34f086-en.
[8] Stewart, R. et al. (2021), “Gendered stereotypes and norms: A systematic review of interventions designed to shift attitudes and behaviour”, Heliyon, Vol. 7/4, p. e06660, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06660.
[13] UNESCO (2022), Leave No Child Behind: Global Report on Boys’ Disengagement from Education, UNESCO, https://doi.org/10.54675/bdll3314.
[11] UNESCO/EQUALS Skills Coalition (2019), I’d blush if I could: closing gender divides in digital skills through education, UNESCO, https://doi.org/10.54675/rapc9356.
[2] United Nations (2015), Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
[32] Zander, L. et al. (2020), “When grades are high but self-efficacy is low: Unpacking the confidence gap between girls and boys in mathematics”, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.552355.