Goals
Brief description of the issue
The gendered job market segregation in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine area is strongly rooted in gender stereotypes. Amongst the 15 main jobs performed by men of the area in 2015, nine had a proportion of men higher than 80%. On the women’s side, we see the same trend: 10 jobs out of 15 had a proportion of women higher than 80%. To help children truly picture themselves in the careers they would really to embrace without being influenced by what is traditionally expected from them according to their gender, we have to show them various models and be careful of the examples we choose when talking about careers and jobs. This activity can help you break down gender stereotypes associated with this theme.
Choose four jobs that are important in your community: two traditionally male and two traditionally female. Give each student four sheets with the outline of a person (see Character to draw – jobs in the documents section below) and ask students to draw people performing these jobs (for example, draw a “firefighter”) and to name their characters. Here a few jobs possible:
| Traditionally female | Traditionally male |
|---|---|
| Nurse | Car mechanic |
| Hairdresser | Fisherman |
| Teacher | Engineer |
| Early childhood educator | Police officer |
| Dietician | Firefighter |
| Social worker | Physician |
| Secretary | Scientist |
Once children have drawn and named their characters, invite people from your community that actually do these jobs, but that have a non-traditional job for their gender. Divide the group in four teams and invite these people to prepare a short activity where children can explore their job.
Don’t hesitate to contact employers or union representatives to get in contact with men and women in non-traditional fields for their gender.
It is also possible to do the activity from a blank page, like in this example realized by a teacher in England.
It isn’t necessary to highlight that the people you’re inviting are “exceptional” within their profession or that it isn’t “normal” to be a fisherwoman, for example. The goal of the activity is to offer children diversified role models when they are building their own gender identity. Therefore, children won’t systematically see traditionally male jobs as being only for men and vice versa for traditionally female jobs.
Posters
The illustrator Élise Gravel created posters aiming at breaking down gender stereotypes, and that she offers for free to people working in early childhood and at the elementary level. One of her posters looks at scientific professions, which are less chosen by girls, and showcases a few famous women scientists.
Document
References
Gravel, E. (2018). “Some famous scientists”, Élise Gravel | author and illustrator, http://elisegravel.com/en/blog/some-famous-scientists/
Statistics Canada(2016). Population census, special compilation.