Gender in Motion: Developmental Changes in Students’ Conceptualizations of Gender Through Participation in a First-Year Seminar Course

Abstract

Students enrolled in a first-year seminar course focused on gender provided attitudinal and experiential responses at two points during the course: during the first week of class and during the last week of class. A qualitative-quantitative method using concurrent triangulation was used to investigate pre- and post-test responses to core concepts of a gender class and to potential changes in students’ perceptions of gender, masculinity, femininity, and corporate media on enacted gender. Qualitative analyses suggested that course curricula moved students to conceptualize dimensions of gender in new and more intellectually complex ways. Two dominant themes—the power of social-structural forces to channel gender appropriateness and personal transformations of embodying an authentic gender—emerged from narrative analyses. Narratives also elucidated the importance of pedagogical tenor in creating a class environment where students felt safe to challenge currently-held intellectual and interpersonal conceptualizations of gender.