Effectiveness of Gender Education in Ukraine as the Implementation of the Principle of Gender Parity

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate gender stereotypes and prejudices that negatively affect women and men. It is important that students be aware of gender issues and are able to critically reflect on their own prejudices and gender "matrices" of the education system in the context of ‘gender v sex’. A questionnaire was the main method of data collection. A sociological survey, "Students on the problems of gender equality" was conducted at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine). The survey was conducted based on a three-level probability sample, which ensures the representativeness of the data. The effectiveness of aspects of gender education in secondary schools and higher education institutions has been assessed. At school, the problems of gender equality are not discussed enough; more than 80% of all respondents did not learn anything at school on this topic. Every third student discussed the issues of gender parity in the university classes. As a rule, this was done in general courses (sociology, philosophy, law), as there are no special disciplines on gender parity in society. The study reached the conclusion that respondents were unfamiliar with gender issues, so they might sometimes not see (perceive) certain gender prejudices and oppression in a student body, which encourages more attention to the development of gender-oriented disciplines of Ukrainian universities.