News

University launches web talks on gender stereotypes

  • Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE)
    University / Central Administration and Rectorate
    25 November 2020
  • Category
    University

Boys are cowboys and girls are princesses. From an early age on, we are conditioned by gender-based stereotypes, perpetuated by our close environment including our parents, our teachers, films, books and the media. Even when conveyed unconsciously, those stereotypes affect children’s social development, shape their self-image, influence their educational choices, and consequently may lead to discrimination and gender inequalities.

To raise awareness for stereotyping and challenge traditional gender conceptions, the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men together with the University of Luxembourg’s MediaCentre, created a series of web talks, where experts discuss their perspective on gender stereotyping. Those web talks are part of an on-going collaboration between the ministry and the University to develop a gender policy based on scientific evidence.

The videos are released on a weekly basis on the website and the YouTube channel.

19.11.2020

Minister of Equality between Women and Men Taina Bofferding discusses how gender stereotypes affect our society and talks about the importance of scientific research to shape gender policy.

25.11.2020

Dr André Melzer, assistant professor in Psychology at the University of Luxembourg explains how stereotypes are formed in our minds from a socio-psychological perspective. Dr Melzer also presents results from a national study about young people’s perceptions, expectations and attitudes towards gender.

2.12.2020

Dr Sylvie Kerger is a senior lecturer at the University of Luxembourg. She discusses her research project on gender representation in the textbooks used in Luxembourg’s primary schools.

9.12.2020

Miriam-Linnea Hale, a doctoral candidate at the University of Luxembourg, presents the results of a series of studies on stereotypes that she conducted for her doctoral thesis “From Stereotypes to Hostile Sexism – A Psychological Analysis of Conceptions about Gender” which she is currently writing in collaboration with the Ministry for Equality between Women and Men.

16.12.2020

Alexander Kries and Kris Clees work at infoMann, an association that offers counselling for men and male adolescents and coordinates projects examining gender stereotypes. They talk about their project “MADAK – Méi Männer an der ausserschoulescher Kannerbetreiung” (“More men in out-of-school childcare”), which aims at increasing the proportion of men working in childcare.

23.12.2020

Prof. Dr Anja Berger is a professor at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. She conducts research on gender roles and gender stereotypes and worked as a specialist for violence prevention at the German Child Protection Association for many years. In the video, Dr Berger explains why the topic of gender needs to be continuously addressed and why it is critical to include children from an early age on in this discussion.

Picture: © Ministry of Equality between Women and Men. (L-R) Miriam-Linnea Hale and André Melzer (University of Luxembourg), Taina Bofferding (Ministry of Equality between Women and Men), Alexander Kries (infoMann)