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Liberal Feminist Role In Reforming The American Education System

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There are several different types of feminism’s with varying ideologies, however almost all feminists are in agreement that gender is socially constructed based on biological attributes. Liberal feminism is an ideology that strives to make women’s legal and political rights equal to men’s through their actions. Although some of the most common issues liberal feminist face include abortion rights, sexual harassment, and job opportunities, the education system in Western society is one of the largest issues affecting women. Liberal feminists contend that women are denied equal access to education because they are discriminated based on their sex, therefore reforming the American education system is vital to granting women equal learning opportunities. Three of the most significant themes regarding the education system in America from a liberal feminist perspective include; differential treatment in the classroom, gendered courses of study in college, and occupational segregation in teaching careers. …show more content…

This discrimination starts almost immediately as girls enter coed public schools and persists through the remainder of their education. A liberal feminist would contend that the gender roles and bias in Western society are at fault for the discrimination and unequal treatment of girls in the classroom. The idea that males and females learn differently due to their gender differences further reinstates the impact of socialization. Elizabeth Fennema suggested that; “…the Autonomous Learning Behaviors model, which suggest[s] that because of societal influences (of which teachers and classrooms were main components) and personal belief systems (lowered confidence, attributional style, belief in usefulness), females do not participate in learning activities that enable them to become independent learners of mathematics” (Fennema

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