Gender Culture, Gender Typicality, and Subjective Well-being

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Gender and Education

Abstract

Organizational features of schools shape students' perceptions and experiences through both bureaucratic and cultural mechanisms. This study explores the impact of school gender culture on boys' and girls' attachment to school and symptoms of depression. We consider multiple dimensions of school gender culture and hypothesize that traditional gender orientations and hypermasculinity undermine students' school attachment and psychological well-being. We further hypothesize that the influence of school gender culture on students will vary depending on degree to which students behave in a gender typical or atypical fashion. The proxy measures of gender culture include the gender composition of the school and school prevalences of students who prioritize marriage over college and students who are in collision contact sports. Analyses of the 1994-95 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reveal modest and nonlinear associations between school gender culture and student outcomes. The results only partly support the claim that gender-traditional and hypermasculine school context diminish attachment to school and psychological well-being, and we find little evidence that this varies with the gender typicality of the student.

Authors

• Melissa Jane Bamford, Florida State University

• John Reynolds, Florida State University