Outcomes for learners in terms of education, employment, mental and physical health are still too often linked to gender. The aim of this guide is to help practitioners gather and analyse a range of data to support planning approaches to address these persistent gender imbalances.  This includes disaggregating data already being gathered, such as data relating to participation, health and wellbeing, attendance, and achievement.

Systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class, and other forms of discrimination may intersect to create unique dynamics and effects. We therefore recommend using a gender-based lens to analyse your equalities data. We also suggest looking at data relating to wider values such as practitioner and learner perceptions, unconscious bias, and opportunities for personal development.

The story behind the data

Data does not in itself improve outcomes. Careful interrogation of the data can be used to identify underlying patterns and crucially, to inform dialogue about what is creating and upholding those patterns. Those deeper improvement questions are likely to include reflections on unconscious gendered expectations.

Please note we refer to ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ and 'men' and 'women' in this guide to allow discussion of the impacts of gender stereotypes on all learners. This is not to imply that gender categories are binary or fixed.

Using the Data

Data about gender should always be looked at in conjunction with other key characteristics including, but not limited to, ethnicity, age, and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).

Examine qualitative data

Give priority to learner voice and practitioner observation, as well as quantitative numerical data.

Ensure marginalised voices are heard

Care should be taken not to only represent the most 'common' themes in a data sample as this can drown out minority voices.

Avoid unrepresentative generalisations

Caution should be taken when interpreting small samples.

Remember that boys and girls and men and women do not make up distinct, homogenous groups. It is important to consider which boys and which girls each issue will affect the most.

Gender stereotypes shape self-perception, affect wellbeing, attitudes to relationships and influence participation in the world of work. In a school environment they affect a young person’s classroom experience, academic performance, or subject choice. The assumptions we make about boys and girls may be conscious or unconscious and can result in different treatment of one group compared to another.

We can minimise the harmful effects of gender imbalance and gender stereotyping by understanding unconscious bias. Unconscious bias refers to a bias that we are unaware of, which happens outside of our control. Our assumptions are influenced by our background, personal experiences, social stereotypes, and cultural context.

Sometimes, there may be a legitimate need for CLD provision that segregates by gender. Think about when and why CLD activities are sometimes delivered as gender specific opportunities.

Data that you could gather and analyse may include attendance registers, participation levels, observations, wellbeing assessments, workforce monitoring, HR information. This is not an exhaustive list and should be used in context.

As a starting point you might wish to consider the following:

• To what extent do we have a shared understanding of the importance of disaggregating data by gender?
• How well do we involve a range of perspectives (including a balance of genders) when considering the implications of the data?
• How do we support our stakeholders in understanding gendered patterns in data?
• Are the communities we support inclusive, with a good understanding of gender issues?​
• Despite the inherent commitment of community development to addressing inequality - within the community and voluntary sector itself and in the implementation of community development initiatives - significant gender inequalities exist. [1]

Participation

• The number of girls/women (aged 16-19) who are in education, training or employment is higher than the number of boys/men [2]
• 61% of Modern Apprenticeship starts were men in 2021/22 [3]
• Children and young people prefer a choice in how groups are split for activities and group work, rather than an automatic gender split [4]
• School exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils is more than three times higher for boys than girls [5]
• Men are more likely than women to volunteer in physical activity, sport and exercise, while women are more likely to volunteer in children’s education and schools [6]
• Examine participation rates/attendance lists for different areas of provision (look at trends over the past 5 years) and disaggregate by gender and/or SIMD - notice any patterns.
• Consider if there are certain activities that reveal a bigger gender difference in participation.
• Use anecdotal conversations with staff, volunteers, and learners to explore gendered perceptions and/or assumptions around activity choice. For example, do more men attend groups on IT compared to arts and crafts/cooking groups and if so, why might that be? You might wish to explore activity promotion and image, associated careers and the contexts for learning.
• Investigate the future job or training intentions of learners by sector and disaggregate by gender. Compare any gender differences in progression pathways.

Reflect on participation

How could practitioners’ unconscious perceptions and assumptions about an activity influence learner participation?

• Consider discussion with others and/or external partners to constructively challenge unconscious bias and uncover missed opportunities.
• Examine the factors that influence who might choose to participate e.g. any gender stereotypical images/phrases, contexts, marketing, self-identity.
• Investigate if learners’ attitudes towards the related activities are changed by attending an opportunity and notice any patterns.
• Do participation policies reflect an inclusive environment and meet the needs of all learners?
• Do all learners have the opportunity and space to share their views regarding whether the learning environment is inclusive of their needs?
• Consider what additional responsibilities an adult learner may have (for example, looking after dependents or caring responsibilities), depending on gender, that may impact on their participation and how has this been explored.

41% of people who provide unpaid care to a relative, friend or neighbour are men; 59% are women - this is likely to impact access and availability to participate [7]

Personal learning and achievement

• Girls who left school had higher levels of attainment at SCQF Level 5 or above, compared to boys in 2019/20 [8]
• The proportion of men with low or no qualifications is higher than that for women. Since 2007 the proportion for women has fallen at a faster rate than for men [2]
• A higher proportion of women are enrolled in Higher Education than men [9]
• Black and minority ethnic women are slightly more likely than black and minority ethnic men to be current or recent adult learners. The opposite is true for white men and women [10]
• Investigate achievement trends over the past 5 years and look for patterns within individual activities, groups and across all provision.
• Disaggregate data by gender and/or SIMD and other key characteristics to look at who receives targeted support to achieve. Does this reveal any gender differences with respect to learning needs and/or health and wellbeing?
• Explore how achievements are recognised and recorded within your setting. Do the systems you use recognise a range of achievements or only those which are SQA accredited?
• Examine positive destination data and identify if there are patterns in the types of destination by gender. Are there any groups that are less likely to arrive at a positive destination?
• Are there certain achievements that are celebrated more than others?

The term personal learning and achievement is used to encompass all learning and achievements both within and outwith formal education as an integral part of an individual's lifelong learning journey.

The term ‘wider achievement’ is often used to describe learning outwith the formal curriculum, we have not used this term in this resource because we want all children, young people’s, and adult’s personal achievements to be supported and recognised equally.

Reflect on personal learning and achievement

• Consider how unconscious bias might feed into any assumptions and expectations about who might achieve highly and who might need more support?
• How might this bias impact interactions, opportunities, advice offered and so on?
• How might this in turn affect a learner’s self-belief, confidence, and achievement long term?
• Consider the value assigned to different achievements. Are there gendered patterns in terms of who gains these 'high value' achievements?
• Consider the potential benefits of undertaking audit activities and discussions with external partners to seek an objective view.

Health and wellbeing

• Just under three quarters of all suicides in Scotland are men and almost half (46%) were aged 35-54. Death by suicide is approximately three times more likely among those living in the most socio-economically deprived areas than among those living in the least deprived area [11]
• Heteronormative gender roles may have an impact on LGBT+ young people with 58% of bisexual and 70% of gay/lesbian young people report experiencing homophobic or biphobic bullying at school and 57% of transgender students reporting transphobic bullying at school [12]
• Many girls are disengaging from sport and exercise in their teens compared to boys. Self-belief, capability, and body image concerns can be significant issues for all girls, but more so for girls who stop taking part [13]
• In 2019, the proportion of men drinking at hazardous or harmful levels was twice that of women [14]
• Examine data relating to health and wellbeing disaggregated by gender and look to the past five years to identify any patterns in the data.
• Explore the gender balance of referrals to CLD programmes - are there gender differences in who is referred to certain health and wellbeing CLD supports or are these offers equally balanced across genders?
• Examine data relating to health and wellbeing, focusing on recognising any differences in the type and frequency of health and wellbeing issues experienced by gender.
• Are there aspects of SHANARRI that are more commonly assessed to be lower for one gender over others?

The decline in girls’ mental wellbeing in recent years may be related to substantial gender gaps in factors that relate to mental wellbeing, such as participation in sports and pressure of school work. [15]

Reflect on health and wellbeing

• Consider the ways in which gendered expectations might influence your own health and wellbeing as a practitioner and how this could impact upon provision / service delivery.
• Consider the opportunities that are currently in place to support learners' and practitioners' health and wellbeing and reflect on whether these are gender equitable.
• Reflect on the extent to which unconscious practitioner expectations/views about emotional intelligence and emotional maturity might impact interactions with learners of different genders.
• How might practitioner unconscious perceptions and assumptions about an area, topic, or activity (including how 'difficult' it is) influence learners’ confidence and sense of belonging in this area?
• Explore if there are differences in the areas of provision learners see as being 'for them'.

One in five children in Scotland will have experienced domestic abuse by the time they reach 18 years old. [16]

Workforce and volunteer development

• Women make up 75% of the Community Learning and Development workforce [17] and 72% of admissions to CLD university programmes in 2021/22 [18]
• Women are less likely than men to be in higher-paid management positions [17]
• The CLD workforce has a gender pay gap similar to Scotland which rises for disabled women and black and minority ethic women [17, 19]
• There is under-representation of black and minority ethnic practitioners within the CLD workforce (97% of the CLD paid workforce are white) [17]
• Volunteering is slightly more common among women (28%) than men (24%) but varies by age [6]
• Examine the gender balance of your staff and volunteers. Is there an equal balance of men and women? Explore the possible reasons for any disparities.
• Examine the diversity within staff and volunteers, in terms of life experience, ethnicity and SIMD data, for example.
• Look into the availability of workforce development opportunities - is professional learning available, accessible, and inclusive for all (including those who have non-binary and transgender identities)?
• How could a 'grow your own staff model' support equitable access to professional CLD sector related qualifications?
• Examine the gender balance of senior management teams and investigate any potential pay gaps between staff.
• How do recruitment processes (for both paid staff and volunteers) mitigate for unconscious bias?

Reflect on workforce and volunteer development

• Is your organisational culture accepting, welcoming accessible and safe for people of all genders?
• Explore whether the attitudes, behaviours, policies, and practices within the organisation reflect the value placed on gender balance and equality.
• Are practitioners involved in the recruitment of volunteers and paid staff aware of their own bias towards gender and/ or other protected characteristics?

Further information and support

For further, practical resources please visit Improving gender balance and equalities 3-18 (education.gov.scot) or contact a member of the team at the addresses below:

• Email Oonagh McGarry
• Email Julie Beckett

You can follow us on Twitter:

• @EdScotIGBE
• @EdScotCLD

References

[1] Crawley, M. & O'Meara, L. (2002) Gender Equality in Community Development. National Development Plan Ireland, Dublin: The Stationery Office. Accessed 08/09/22

[2] Scottish Government (2022) National Indicator Performance: National Performance Framework. Edinburgh. Accessed 08/09/22

[3] Skills Development Scotland (2022) Modern Apprenticeship Statistics For the full financial year 2021/22. Glasgow/ Accessed on 09/09/22

[4] Thomas, M. and MacLeod, L. (2021) The School Experience of Young People Pre and During Covid-19. Includem: Glasgow. Accessed 08/09/22

[5] Scottish Government (2021a) Summary statistics for schools in Scotland 2021 edition. Accessed on 08/09/22

[6] Scottish Government (2019a). Scotland’s People Annual Report. Scottish Household Survey. Edinburgh. Accessed on 08/09/22

[7] Scottish Government (2015) Scotland's Carers. Edinburgh. Accessed on 08/09/22

[8] Scottish Government (2021b) Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No.3: 2021 Edition (Last updated: February 2021). Edinburgh. Accessed on 08/09/22

[9] Scottish Funding Council (2021) Report on widening access 2019-20. Edinburgh. Accessed on 05/06/2024

[10] Hall, S., Jones, E., Evans, S. (2021) Adult Participation in Learning Survey 2021. Learning and Work Institute: Leicester. Accessed on 09/09/22

[11] Public Health Scotland (2021) profile of deaths in Scotland 2011- 2019: report from the Scottish Suicide Information Database (ScotSID). Edinburgh. Accessed on 09/09/22

[12] LGBT Youth Scotland (2022) Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People. Accessed on 08/09/22

[13] Sport England (2022) Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls: Tackling teenage disengagement. Women in Sport: London. Accessed on 09/09/22

[14] Scottish Government (2020) Scottish Health Survey 2019 - volume 1: main report Edinburgh. Accessed on 09/09/22

[15] Scottish Government (2019b). Scotland’s Wellbeing – Delivering the National Outcomes. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. Accessed on 12/09/22

[16] Scottish Government and COSLA (2018) ‘Equally Safe: Scotland's strategy to eradicate violence against women’ Edinburgh. Accessed on 12/09/22

[17] CLD Standards Council for Scotland (2019) Working with Scotland’s Communities 2018. Rocket Science UK. accessed on 08/09/22

[18] CLD Standards Council for Scotland (2022) Annual Report April 2021-March 2022. Glasgow. Accessed on 08/09/22

[19] Equality and Human Rights Commission (2018) Pressing for progress: women’s rights and gender equality in 2018. Accessed on 08/09/22