CO NNEC T I O N S Q UA R TE RLY S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
WELCOME
Gender
M
y mother was fired because of me. When it was known that she was pregnant with
me her employer fired her for being pregnant. At the time, this was not a headline
event or even something that she or others questioned, but rather an accepted as-
sumption about women. Over the decades since then many women and men have worked
hard to evolve our behavior, laws, and thinking about gender. One need only look at a “gen-
der reveal” event to see that there is much work to be done; before a child is even born, their
biological gender is a catalyst that imposes a range of assumptions about that child’s interest
in toys, clothes, and life.
The goal here is not to be “gender blind,” just as it is a mistake when thinking about diversity
to think or say that we are all the same. We need to be aware of how gender is still an im-
portant factor in our schools. For instance, research still shows that young women’s scores in
math and science drop once they hit middle school. Young men and women are confronted
with a host of cultural expectations of how they should be given their gender. We need to
continually confront our assumptions about what is true of “boys” or “girls.”
Another task is for independent schools to evolve in learning how to support students whose
gender identity does not match their biology. While this issue breaks new ground in some
practical issues, the ultimate goal is the same as for all children. The goal is not to make our
schools gender free, but one where gender is a source of pride for each child. A pride that is
not imposed by the outside saying “all girls/all boys...” but a pride that comes from inside that
says “I am proud of the way I express my gender.” l
Bob Mattingly, Executive Director of CSEE
CSEE Connections
Summer 2019
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