Nurturing gender-equitable masculinities: lessons for transforming norms through education systems

This ALIGN Report tackles the role of formal education in promoting gender-equitable values, especially among boys. It draws on evidence, mostly from lower and middle-income countries, to examine the most effective routes to support gender norm change in the classroom.  

Delivering gender-transformative education at scale is possible, but requires specific attention to three dimensions of education: how and what content is taught in the curriculum, specific teacher training provision, and wider school policies and leadership.  

The research surfaces the ways in which education systems can learn from promising approaches and outlines key entry-points for scaling up their impact. Whole school approaches that mainstream commitment to gender equality throughout the school’s values and practices, play an important role in reinforcing the messages students encounter through the curriculum.

As the proliferation of anti-gender messaging reaches boys at an increasingly younger age, schools and teachers can play a significant role in nurturing gender-equitable masculinities and promoting gender equal norms for future generations.

Key messages: 

• Working with boys on gender equality and masculinity norms requires effective teaching. Engaging students emotionally helps boys to challenge taken-for-granted ideas and behaviour, while using interactive and practical activities promotes better learning. By starting from students’ experiences and their own analysis of injustices, teachers can overcome resistance and motivate students to help change society.
• Systematically including gender-equality education in teacher education and training is vital. These courses should create space for teachers to reflect on gender norms in their own contexts and include practical strategies for integrating gender equality content into their practices and teaching, as well as how to use resistance as a learning tool.  
• School leadership is pivotal in communicating support for gender equality. They can ensure school policies and systems are consistent with gender-equitable values and norms.
• Moving beyond civil society-based models is critical to scaling up impact in schools. Grassroots organisations led the way in developing new curricula and pedagogical approaches, but the next step requires integrating gender equality modules into public education systems more consistently. Political will, effective training, accountability systems, a long-term commitment and reliable financing underpin any effective routes to scale.