GENDER & TRAININGMainstreaming gender equality and the planning, realisation and evaluation of training programmes

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Content

Introduction and background 2Two factors to keep in mind 3Sustainable training programmes 4

Five levels 5Content 6Forms and methods 8Language and communication 9Framework conditions 10Gender competence of trainers 11

Didactic references 12Planning 13Concept 14Preparation 16Realisation 18Evaluation 19Selection criteria for course leaders 20

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Introduction and backgroundThe paper Mainstreaming gender equality and the planning, realisationand evaluation of training programmes provides detailed informationand practical incentives for mainstreaming gender equality in the plan-ning, realisation and evaluating of training programmes.

This is in keeping with SDC’s Gender Equality Policy, which promotesinterventions that help to improve the ability of women and men to act.One of the foundations of this gender policy target is the 1999 BeijingPlan of Action and the strategy of Gender Mainstreaming that it laysout. For SDC staff and partner organisations, the toolkit Gender in practice: a toolkit for SDC and its partners is an instrument that defineskey terms, clarifies the gender aspect of central issues and offers supportin implementing them in everyday working life.

The present paper is applicable to all SDC employees and consultantswhose everyday professional responsibility it is to organise training pro-grammes, seminars, workshops and courses. It is based on the conceptof didactics that promotes gender equality, the five levels of which aredescribed and explained in the second part of this paper. Part threecontains practical tips and suggestions for dealing with this issue.

1 For an explanation of the concept

Gender Mainstreaming see Gender

in Practice, a Toolkit for SDC & its

partners, sheet1: Definitions.

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Two factors to keep in mind

RolesIn the past, education was very much oriented to what is regarded as«role-conformity» for men and women; to some extent it still is. In thecase of women, this meant focussing their activities on home and family, and for men earning enough money outside the home to supporttheir families. Vocational training was also limited in the same way.Women long had access only to careers that merely professionalizedtheir private role in the home, while for men the career path was broad-er and more upwardly mobile. Even though the division of roles no lon-ger follows these boundaries quite so rigidly, and the perception of roleshas become more flexible, some remains of that division are still highlyinfluential.

Doing Gender People always act as sexual beings and they are perceived as such. Thisis something that happens intuitively for long periods, and we becomeaware of it only when gender allocation is ambiguous, giving rise to irritation. In the perception of gender, physical shape, clothing, voice and movement all play a part, but so do communication, interaction andbehaviour.Because people are perceived as women and men, and behave as such,or fail to behave in a «gender-standard» way, they help to construe, ormisconstrue, gender. This process is known as «Doing Gender».

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Sustainable training programmes

Reflecting on gender roles and on the fact that people are perceived,and act – willingly or unwillingly – as sexual beings is crucial in trainingprogrammes. Indeed, increasing awareness of this factor of social inter-action impacts on the learning processes and makes changes possible.A reflection on gender roles and relationships may be oriented towardsdifferent objectives in training. It can be useful in strengthening the rolesand positions of women and men in a given direction and creating theconditions that will enable them to fulfil those roles and positions moreefficiently. But it can also lead to the loosening or even to the breakingdown of the roles intended for each of the sexes.

Learning is not something that happens in a vacuum, but rather it issomething that picks up on the prior knowledge and experience thatwomen and men bring with them when they take part in training programmes. Didactics that promotes gender equality is oriented to the question of how, and on what terms women and men learn best.

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Five levels of didactics that promotes gender equality

Dealing with gender in the planning, realisation and evaluation of training programmes means reflecting on n contentn work forms and methodsn language and communicationn framework conditionsn the gender competence of trainersin terms of gender. These five levels constitute a whole, however, for they are interconnected and in some respects overlapping.

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ContentThe thematic scope of training programmes in the context of development cooperation isvirtually unlimited. It is essential to clarifywhether the content in question is presentedin the same or in different ways to womenand men, whether it is oriented towards thelife experience and actual interrelations between women and men, and how thenewly acquired knowledge can be transferred to their future living and working situations.Women's and men's interests may be different.

In a learning group on the subject of «paidand unpaid work», statistical materials help toshow the high proportion of unpaid work inthe total work volume, and the fact that themajority of unpaid work is done by women.Expectations are that past and present ways ofdividing labour will no longer be acceptedunquestioningly.

Women learn to read and write. They areable to form their own opinions on political or social issues. The power divide betweenthem and their husbands, partners or fathersnarrows.

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Interests can get in the way or if handled without thinking these interests can put one of the sexes at a disadvantage.

It is therefore important to carefully assess thestarting situation and objectives from thepoint of view of all participant groups. Fromthe very start, the gender perspective shouldbe an integral part of the concept in terms of content. Simply adding «the woman’sview» to an existing concept is usually inappropriate.

Materials often lump people together, establishing certain stereotypes and role standards for women and men, and limitingthem to those – e.g. women as mothers, menas authority figures, or those belonging to certain social groups (e.g. ethnic groups) as traditionally-minded. Materials used in teaching (documents, pictures, illustrativeexamples, etc.) must always be checked tosee whether they include such elements, whether they adequately present the socialrealities of both sexes and work towardschanges.

A trade union training programme offers infor-mation on rights at the workplace. All of theexamples used by the trainers are taken fromthe construction industry. They are based on a 100% employment level and a lifelong,uninterrupted career path. The reality of thosewomen present, most of whom work in anoffice, in sales or in nursing and some ofwhom work part-time, is ignored.

Encouragement by example:The year after the Iranian human rights cam-paigner Shirin Ebadi was awarded the NobelPeace Prize, the Kenyan environ-mental activistWangari Maathai received it in 2004. She is an inspiration for many in the fight fordemocratic rights, and has given women, in particular, the encouragement to committhemselves to improving their situation.

It is quite possible that existing course materialsor textbooks do not meetthese requirements. In thiscase, it is important to talkexplicitly about this in the course and to have adiscussion on the issue.

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Forms and methodsThe empirical basis for gender-specific lear-ning behaviour is meagre. There seem to beno methods or didactic instruments that aresuited particularly to women or particularly to men. Nevertheless, the question of howpeople learn best is not obsolete, and thereare certainly work forms that are more orient-ed towards one sex or the other, or whichunder certain circumstances may be preferredor rejected by one sex or the other. Men, forinstance, find it difficult to talk about personalmatters with other men, or are sceptical aboutcreative methods such as painting or role-play. Women, on the other hand often shyaway from taking part in open debates, or avoid taking on leadership duties or presentations. These, however, are acquiredbehaviour patterns that have nothing to dowith the «nature of woman» or the «nature of man».Diversity of method, a mixture of informative,creative and personality-building work forms,as well as the utilisation of visual elements,ensure that all those who take part in an training programme will get their money’sworth and at the same time will be able to trysomething new or unusual. But that is not tosay that any haphazard mix of methods isappropriate. Work forms should be based onthe goal to be achieved, and there should betransparency about the rationale behind thechoice of methods and when they are used.Diversity of method also depends on the timeavailable. Certain work forms, e.g. exercises

with a partner or biographical methods, callfor trust among the participants, somethingthat cannot be achieved during a short pro-gramme.Great importance is attached to the composi-tion and use of small groups. Sex-homogene-ous groups, for example, are ideal for practi-sing and trying out unaccustomed roles. In mixed-sex units, common interests and differences can be discussed. It should benoted that in mixed groups, each sex shouldif possible have a minimum representation of 30%. Experience has shown that to be aratio which will ensure that even a minoritycan be heard.

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Language and communicationLanguage makes it possible to convey educational content, but also ideas, thoughtsand feel-ings. People who lead courses andpeople who take part in them communicatemainly, albeit not exclusively, by language. Inan intercultural context, it may well be thatmany of those taking part will not be using their mother tongue to communicate. Whateverthe specific situation, it is essential for womenand men to be included in the verbal and writ-ten interchange, and to feel that they are beingaddressed directly. Gender-neutral language isa must, especially for course leaders.Empirical investigations, for instance, show thefollowing gender-specific behaviour patterns:men tend to speak for longer, interrupt courseparticipants and leaders, and support theirmale colleagues. They talk big and make sexistallusions. They emphasise their abilities. Women work by discussion, i.e. they make frequent but small contributions which help tokeep the discussion going. They support men,often taking a critical view of their female colleagues. They emphasise their weaknesses,and are often rather casual when talking abouttheir strengths. In order to break such ingrained stereotypicalbehaviour patterns, they have to be taken up asa central theme, «brought up in discussion» inthe true sense. Observation exercises, forinstance, help to sensitise women and men tothe way they themselves and other people communicate, and in turn direct their attentionto differences between the sexes.Rules established at the beginning of the lear-ning programme and agreed upon betweenthose leading the programme and those takingpart increase everyone’s personal responsibilityand have a self-regulating effect.

2 CF. for example Derichs-Kunstmann,

Karin, Susanne Auszra und Brigitte

Müthing: Von der Inszenierung des

Geschlechterverhältnisses zur geschlech-

tergerechten Didaktik. Konstitution und

Reproduktion des Geschlechterver-

hältnisses in der Erwachsenenbildung,

Bielefeld 1999.

What might be included as rules for seminars?n Gender-neutral languagen Restrictions on length of speechesn Allow people to finish speakingn No sexist or disparaging remarks about

seminar participants and leadersn I-messagesn Allow time for feedback/criticismn No generalising gender-related attributionsAgree no more than five or six points.

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Framework conditionsVery few countries today impose formal limi-tations on women’s access to education.Informal exclusion mechanisms however arestill widespread. These may, for example, be linked to gender, social level or religion. It is in any case essential to clarify the localconditions precisely when organising a training programme.

Attention should be paid to the following factors:n Information channels, language and form

of advertising for the course;n Place and time of training courses;n Security (routes, access, public transport,

etc.);n Compatibility with gainful employment and

family duties;n Spatial organisation (seating plan, lighting,

sanitary facilities, etc.);n Cost for those taking part in the training.

Framework conditions play an important partin putting participants in training programmesat their ease, enabling them to learn withoutpressure and develop their ideas and questions.

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Gender competence of trainersPeople who run training programmes are thecentral actors in organising the programmesin a gender perspective. A participatory tea-ching style that is geared to the requirementsof the participants creates a beneficial lear-ning environment for women and men, alt-hough it does require a high degree of flexi-bility on the part of trainers.Trainers should have acquired gender skills atboth practical and theoretical levels. Theyshould be aware of their own «DoingGender», as well as that of the participants.They will know the areas of conflict that canarise between and within homogeneous- ormixed-sex trainers’ teams and participantgroups, and they will be able to intervene ina gender-neutral way in problematic groupprocesses.

They are aware of their example-setting role.

They deal subtly with the different context-spe-cific role concepts of women and men, whileavoiding gender-related references, generali-sations and culturalisation. In general, theyare aware of the ambivalence between theperception of gender-specific behaviour andthe attribution of such behaviour patterns toone of the sexes, and draw participants’attention to that.

In response to a question from the (female)course leader about what sort of critical pointsthe participants have experienced in theircareers so far, one man talks at length and indetail about his successful career change. Anumber of participants become fidgety andare obviously offended by the way their col-league is showing off but are unable to voicetheir opinions. After the man has finished, thecourse leader explains to the participants asneutrally as possible what she has observed.She encourages a brief discussion on the subject.

The course leader chairs the discussion, recording the votes of the participants on the flipchart.

The course leader explicitly ignores requests to speak from any participant who is inclinedto deviate or digress, or restricts the speakingtime. He or she merely comments that everyoneshould have a fair and equal chance to havetheir say.

If a course participant comments that the cour-se organisers cannot be serious in saying thatthe proceedings have to be recorded in gen-der-impartial language, the course leader saysthat in the spirit of equality, they can exceptio-nally be expressed exclusively in the feminineform.

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The didactic references relate to the training programme in its entirety,namely to:n Planningn Concept n Preparationn Realisationn Evaluation

Didactic references for training programmes that promote gender equality

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Planningn What experiences or prior knowledge are

the potential participants contributing? Arethere differences between women andmen?

n What tasks do women and men carry out on an everyday basis? Are there anydifferences?

n What scope for decision making do theyhave on an everyday basis? Are there anydifferences between women and men?

n What interests and targets do men andwomen pursue when they attend an educational programme?

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Conceptn Does the educational concept include gen-

der themes and verifiable gender targets?– Does the training unit take in the

specific perspectives of women andmen?

– Are there plans for an explicit discussionof gender roles (e.g. in connectionwith conflicts of interest)?

– Does the training concept includegeneralising allusions to one sex?

n Do the teaching materials describe ordepict women and men in varied or evengender-atypical roles?– Are the portrayals and pictures of

women and men equally representedin terms of number?

– Are teaching materials, course docu-mentation, illustrative examples, taskalloca-tions, etc. expressed in gender-impartial language?

n Can a female or male gender expert berecruited if required at the planning stageof a training programme?

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Quantitative targetsFor example:n An equal number of women and men attend the course, which means that there is a balanced

gender ratio among the participants.n The number of unjustified absences from the course is low (set target size). There are no verifiable

absences on gender grounds (e.g. absence of childcare facilities).n Enumeration of requests to speak during one or more course sequences: the differences between

women and men are smallor negligible.n Timing of speeches during one or more course sequences: the differences between women and

men are women and men are small or negligible.n The course participants are satisfied with the course: the differences between women and men are

small or negligible.

Quantitative targets can be allocated ratios:e.g. 80% of participants are satisfied with the course.The number of speaking contributions from women and men corresponds to the participant ratio.

Qualitative targetsFor example:n The course advertising and materials used for the course are produced in gender-neutral language.n The issue of gender is taken up as a central theme in the course advertising and in one or more

course units.n Is there verifiable provision for discussions on gender issues (roles, different interests and/or

experiences of women and men, etc.)?n Certain topics are dealt within sex-homogeneous groups.n The opinions/attitudes of women and men to a defined (gender) issue have demonstrably changed

during the course.

It is quite possible that exi-sting course documentation or course books do not metthese requirements. In thiscase it is important to talkexplicitly about this in thecourse and to have a discus-sion about it.

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Preparationn Are the course descriptions always

expressed in gender-neutral language?Are women and men addressed directly?– Are training programmes/courses

described in such a way that womenand men can see some benefit forthemselves?

– Are women (e.g. for a craftwork course) explicitly encouraged, or aremen (e.g. for a course on raising children) explicitly invited to attendtraining courses?

– Are training programmes/courses communicated in such a way thatwomen’s attention can be drawn tothem (formal and informal channels; in writing, verbally, on radio, in thepress, through [women’s] organisa-tions, etc.)?

– Is it necessary for women to beaddressed through their husbands, fathers or other male contact?

One possibility is to allow the partici-pants themselves to discuss and decideon the location and time.

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n Are training courses organised in such a way that people with family or carecommitments are able to attend them without difficulties?– Are training programmes/courses

scheduled so as to be compatible withthe life and work patterns of womenand men?

– Are the locations of the training programmes fixed so that women andmen are able to attend them safely(public transport, organised transport)?

– Are the buildings where the coursesare held equipped so as to ensure thatwomen and men feel at ease?

n Are the costs (course fees, teaching materials, transport, suitable clothing,etc.) kept at a level that enables all envisaged target groups to attend thecourse?– Can compensation be paid if

necessary, especially if self-employedpeople or volunteer workers, for example, have no possibility of beingreimbursed for the course fees?

– Are there grants, and are they equallyavailable to everyone?

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Realisationn Do the trainers use language that is in

every respect gender-neutral?– Do the trainers monitor the use of

gender-neutral language by the participants?

– If necessary, is there a discussion onwhy gender-neutral language is important from a gender point ofview?

– Do the course leaders monitor the participants’ body language, e.g. as a sign of involvement, interest or rejection and defence?

n Do course leaders establish a means of intervention, for interrupting or forantici-pating forms of communication thatdiscriminate against women or men?

Examples of leaders’ powers of intervention n Talk to silent participants, referring to their

skills and functionsn Establish behaviour that breaks with

gender-specific patterns of behaviour, such as– distribution of roles – dealing with criticism – dealing with strengths/weaknesses– interruptions – working by discussion, etc.

n Draw attention away from disruptive elements and participants who talk toomuch

n Deliberately allow roles to be negotiatedn Create sex-homogeneous groupsn Confront participants with gender-stereo-

typical behaviour patterns

– Is it made clear to all participants thatthere is no place in the course forsexist innuendo, degrading remarks,etc. made to other participants andcourse leaders?

– If there is a need for one, is there a discussion on meta-level communica-tion: how do we talk to each other?How do we deal with each other?

– Is there provision for, or is considera-tion given to, formulating certain rulesof behaviour with participants at thebeginning of the educational program-me? (See also box «What might beincluded as rules for seminars»)

n Are there provisions for different workforms (open debate/lecture, workinggroups, individual working, role play,creative methods, physical exercises,etc.)?– Is there a meaningful connection bet-

ween diversity of method and durationof the programme?

– Is there provision for separate single-sex units for certain educational con-tent or for certain sequences?

– When the working groups are beingset up, is consideration given to gen-der-impartial composition (e.g. propor-tion of women/men at least 30%), oris the com-position of working groupsdiscussed (e.g. with regard to style ofcommunication)?

n Do participants have an opportunity togive feedback?– Do conditions allow for all to be able

to give feedback?– Are there means of giving feedback in

writing?

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Evaluationn Are the questions for the evaluation tools

formulated in a gender-neutral way?

n Have all data been obtained and evaluated separately for each sex?– Did any participants drop out of the

educational offering? Why? Are theredifferences between women and men?

– Are the participants satisfied with thecourse? Are there differences betweenwomen and men?

n Have the gender targets been attained?– Were gender issues verifiably part of

the training programme?– Did the participants have an

opportunity to give their views on gender-specific issues?

– Were the participants satisfied with the training programme? Are there differences between women and men?

– Have the participants changed theiropinions on/approach to a defined(gender) issue?

The evaluation questions should be coordinated with the gender targets.

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Selection criteria for course leadersIn selecting internal or external trainers, oneshould consider the following points:

Professionalism in dealing with gender issuesn Conscious dealing with one’s own gender

role, one’s own «Doing Gender»n Conscious dealing with language and

knowledge of gender-specific communica-tion behaviour

n Gender knowledge and gender skills withregard to the content of the educationalprogrammes

Where necessary, one should enable trainersto acquire these skills, or provide expertswhom trainers can consult on gender issues.

Composition of leadership teamsn In general, ensure that there is a

balanced ratio of women and menamong the course instructors

n As far as possible, set up mixed-sexteams

n Take the «role-model» function of courseleaders as a central theme

A course leader whoworks part time and isresponsible for bringing upchildren is a crediblemediator for questions onthe compatibility of familyand career.

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Editor:

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Elisabeth Ryter, Bern

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© SDC 2005