Statement to the Education and Culture Committee of Parliament on the Ombudsman for Equality's 2022 report to Parliament (K 1/22 vp) (TAS 235/2022, issued on 12 May 2022)
The Ombudsman for Equality was heard by the Education and Culture Committee on the Ombudsman's 2022 report to Parliament (K 1/22 vp).
Gender equality in teaching and education
The work of educational institutions for promoting gender equality is extremely significant, because children and young people form their conceptions of gender and gender roles at an early stage. The report accordingly discusses gender equality in teaching and education at length (pp. 93–118).
Awareness of the significance of teaching and education to gender equality is quite high. For example, the mitigation of learning differences and segregation both between and within genders requires a strong gender perspective in the guidance documents of teaching and education. However, taking gender equality into account in education policy documents has proven to be surprisingly challenging. The gender perspective is almost entirely absent, for example, from the Education Policy Report of the Finnish Government, which is intended to outline the goals of education and research as well as the required changes to resources, structures and guidance all the way to the 2040s. The Education and Culture Committee also highlighted this shortcoming in its report 19/2021 vp.
Educational choices are not explained by gender alone
The numerous teaching and education projects launched by the government aim not only to improve the standard of education at all levels of the education system, but also promote equality, for example by narrowing the learning gaps between the genders and evening out highly gendered education choices.
On the other hand, both the Government Programme and Government action plan for gender equality 2020–2023 note that educational inequality has increased. The education level of parents is increasingly affecting their children's standard of education. In other words, education is becoming hereditary. Other factors that influence education include regional and socio-economic differences, along with immigrant background and gender. These factors have been analysed and improvements suggested, for example in the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (Karvi) publication Taking action to make gender equality reality – Causes and backgrounds of the differences in learning outcomes between and within genders in basic education (Finnish Education Evaluation Centre, publications 19:2021).
The Ombudsman for Equality is concerned by the increasing inequality of education.
Even though average differences in learning, well-being, interests and educational choices have been identified between girls and boys, these differences should not be over-simplified and reduced to gender, which can even reinforce harmful stereotypes.
Educational equality should be promoted through measures based on intersectional and multi-perspective attention to intersecting differences and designed to deconstruct narrow gender roles.
The Ombudsman for Equality has emphasised the significance of equality- and gender-aware teaching and the systematic promotion of equality at all levels of teaching. Continuous and systematic work, the impact of which is assessed, is essential to the achievement of targets and success of equality promotion.
Early childhood education and care must also be gender-aware
The Ombudsman for Equality considers it important to promote gender equality also in early childhood education and care (ECEC). It is essential that gender- and equality-aware treatment of children should become standard practice in early childhood education and care.
Extending the gender equality and non-discrimination planning obligation to ECEC is based on the Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Government. Both a draft government proposal for the partial reform of the Non-Discrimination Act, prepared by the Ministry of Justice (non-discrimination planning in ECEC, etc.), and a government proposal for the amendment of the Act on Equality between Women and Men, prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (gender equality planning in ECEC), are currently being circulated for comments.
In the opinion of the Ombudsman for Equality, extending the gender equality planning obligation to ECEC is not the most efficient method for promoting gender equality in ECEC. Even though the planning process can enable discussion of gender equality issues in ECEC units, it would be more important to invest in the gender equality competence of ECEC personnel.
The gender equality and non-discrimination plans of educational institutions are most often drawn up at the same time. One of the key concerns raised by the Ombudsman for Equality is that different provisions on the obligation to promote non-discrimination and gender equality in ECEC are being enacted in the Equality Act and the Non-Discrimination Act.
The Ombudsman for Equality hopes that it would be possible to avoid a situation in which key national discrimination legislation has different provisions on the promotion of non-discrimination and gender equality in ECEC, as is currently the case with educational institutions. This creates difficulties for the 'end users': the current differing provisions cause problems and unnecessary confusion for the schools and educational institutions applying the current provisions. It is not in anyone's interest to expand the current disjointed practice to ECEC.
Well-being of children and young people and preventing harassment
The systematic promotion of gender equality in educational institutions should pay particular attention to the prevention and elimination of sexual and gender-based harassment. The results of the School Health Promotion Study are concerning, however, especially with regard to girls and young people belonging to sexual and gender minorities.
The Ombudsman for Equality considers the School Health Promotion Study and other regular surveys to be useful tools for monitoring and assessing the state of gender-equality among children and young people. The purpose of equality planning in educational institutions as a continuous tool for promoting equality would also be fulfilled better if the existing data sources and chronologically comparable data would be systematically used by educational institutions. Schools have the right to access their School Health Promotion Study results for purposes such as the promotion of equality and non-discrimination.
It is important that pupils, students, teachers and the other staff of educational institutions recognise sexual harassment and are able to intervene in it. In the report, the Ombudsman for Equality also expresses the view that sexual violence and harassment can be effectively prevented by beginning sexual education at an early stage, intervening in all cases of harassment, and identifying potential perpetrators and harassment situations. Even though the sexual harassment mainly occurs elsewhere than at school according to the School Health Promotion Study, the school has a significant role in preventing harassment.
High-quality gender equality planning is the only way to improve the school's operations
The report notes that the promotion of gender equality in an educational institution can only develop the institution's operations if the work is appropriately planned and implemented and the entire staff of the institution, all the way up to its management, is committed to it.
According to a study conducted by the Ombudsman for Equality, the basic education providers themselves consider that they have ensured that gender equality is being promoted in accordance with the Equality Act in the primary schools managed by them. However, a closer examination reveals that there is still much room for improvement.
A study published by the Finnish National Agency for Education in 2020 paints a bleak picture of the promotion of gender equality in primary schools. According to the study, the schools have not invested sufficient effort into drawing up the gender equality plans thus far. Only half of the schools reported that their schools had drawn up a gender equality plan for developing the operations of the educational institution as required by the Equality Act.
The work of higher education institutions for the promotion of equality also appears half-hearted. According to a study conducted by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2020, 55% of higher education institutions did not have valid gender equality plans at the time of the study. Furthermore, only 36% of gender equality plans drawn up by universities and 17% of those prepared by universities of applied sciences fulfilled all five requirements of the Equality Act included in the survey.
A well-prepared gender equality plan can be a useful instrument in the systematic and goal-oriented work required from educational institutions. However, there is still much room for improvement in the promotion of gender equality at educational institutions: if the gender equality plan is not drawn up with sufficient ambition and engagement from faculty and students, and if it is not a living part of everyday life in the school, it will not have a practical impact on the promotion of equality.
Teacher training should be ahead of its time in equality issues
The report also draws attention to the key role of teacher training in enabling gender- and equality-aware teaching. The report states that teacher training must ensure that graduating teachers have the knowledge and skills required to provide gender- and equality-aware teaching and fulfil the obligations to promote gender equality laid down in the national core curriculum when they enter working life.
Questions of promoting gender equality should feature more prominently in teacher training and supplementary training at all levels of education – including ECEC.
16.05.2022
