Gender Studies in K–12 Education

Gender studies in K–12 education refers to the intentional inclusion of interdisciplinary educational content that is focused on how gender, including gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex, is socially and culturally constructed. As such, gender studies includes how race, religion, ethnicity, class, location, and disability intersect with both gender and sexuality and thereby affect the experiences of individuals and society at large. Although college and university contexts increasingly reflect and explore both the theories and research related to gender studies, the K–12 education context has less directly incorporated this material. That said, the importance of gender studies in K–12 schools is arguably critical because educational institutions both shape and reflect individual and cultural expectations and prejudices related to the meanings of masculinity and femininity. ...