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Gender equality recommendations

Equality in Projects
  • Add equality as a cross-disciplinary objective.
  • Select content from the gender perspective, not from an androcentric or biased perspective. Try to ensure the visibility of the contributions made by women to the different fields of knowledge.
  • Reflect on the presence of women in the curriculum and their contributions to knowledge.
  • Eliminate gender stereotypes in content, texts, and images.
  • Propose activities that promote the critical analysis of inequalities throughout the entire project.
Equality in Images
  • Use a greater number of images in which the human figure at different ages appears to serve as a positive reference for students. Include each sex in equal proportions.
  • Ensure that male supremacy is not conveyed in group images.
  • Show people with different physical traits that are similar to the students' reality while avoiding stereotypes.
  • Take care when depicting professional activities in order to avoid stereotypes such as male doctor / female nurse.
  • Take into account the recommendations from guides on non-sexist language and images in terms of clothing depicted, accessories, attitudes, use of space, etc.
  • Use counter-stereotypical images.
Equality in Written Language
  • Avoid using masculine generalizations and singular masculine terms to refer to collectives made up of both sexes. In order to accomplish this, change the wording using linguistic devices such as periphrasis and metonymy so that the same thing is said in another, more inclusive way.
  • Use inclusive vocabulary without gender connotations such as "students," "teachers," "individuals," "friends."
  • Use nouns that are not gender specific –such as "officer"– instead of gender-specific nouns like "policeman" or "policewoman."
  • Don't overuse the slash to differentiate between genders (for example: boys/girls).
  • Eliminate stereotypes in the use of the written language, especially when using adjectives and words referring to professions (for example, “bold boys” and “quiet girls").  

Recommendations from the "Cedec Guide of Recommendations for Non-Sexist Educational Materials in Open Educational Resources" written by Prudencia Gutiérrez Esteban, Inés Rodríguez Sánchez, and María Rosa Luengo González of the Department of Education at the University of Extremadura.

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