- Brief created: 2021
- For leadership
- United Kingdom (UK)
“This class is not for you”: An investigation of gendered subject construction in entrepreneurship course descriptions
Based on:
Journal Article (2018) ↗
This research considers the exclusionary nature of gendered language within entrepreneurship training and education in universities.
Brief by:
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Research collaborators:
We analysed of 86 course descriptions from 81 universities in 21 countries, and examined the degree to which course descriptions use gendered language, how such language constructs gendered subjects, and the resultant implications.
We found that course descriptions are predominantly, but not exclusively, masculine in their language. More importantly, the distribution of feminine and masculine language is uneven across course descriptions. Context variables such as regional or national culture differences do not explain this distribution. Instead, the phenomenon is explained by course content/type; whereby practice-based entrepreneurship courses are highly masculine, compared to traditional academic courses, where students learn about entrepreneurship as a social phenomenon.
We conclude that universities and educators have not taken into account recent research about the real and possible negative consequences of positioning entrepreneurship in a stereotypical, masculinised fashion through gendered language.
We argue that critically reviewing the language used offers an inexpensive opportunity to improve recruitment of more diverse cohorts and description accuracy.
Key findings
We found that course descriptions are predominantly, but not exclusively, masculine in their language.
We conclude that universities and educators have not taken into account recent research about the real and possible negative consequences of positioning entrepreneurship in a stereotypical, masculinised fashion through gendered language.
Proposed action
Raise awareness of the exclusionary power of gendered language
Reviewing how entrepreneurship/self-employment may be gendered (and masculinised) in promotional and training materials
Developing gender sensitive training/education for the whole organisation
This research could be used to inform publicity materials that are aimed at women (particularly those encouraging entrepreneurship/self-employment courses/training)
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“This class is not for you”: An investigation of gendered subject construction in entrepreneurship course descriptions
Cite this brief: Jones, Sally. '“This class is not for you”: An investigation of gendered subject construction in entrepreneurship course descriptions'. Acume. https://www.acume.org/r/this-class-is-not-for-you/
Brief created by: Dr Sally Jones | Year brief made: 2021
Original research:
- . W., & Jones, S., ‘“This class is not for you”: An investigation of gendered subject construction in entrepreneurship course descriptions’ 25(2) https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-07-2017-0220. – https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/168232530/Warhuus_2018_This_class_is_not_for_you.pdf
Research brief:
This research considers the exclusionary nature of gendered language within entrepreneurship training and education in universities.
We analysed of 86 course descriptions from 81 universities in 21 countries, and examined the degree to which course descriptions use gendered language, how such language constructs gendered subjects, and the resultant implications.
We found that course descriptions are predominantly, but not exclusively, masculine in their language. More importantly, the distribution of feminine and masculine language is uneven across course descriptions. Context variables such as regional or national culture differences do not explain this distribution. Instead, the phenomenon is explained by course content/type; whereby practice-based entrepreneurship courses are highly masculine, compared to traditional academic courses, where students learn about entrepreneurship as a social phenomenon.
We conclude that universities and educators have not taken into account recent research about the real and possible negative consequences of positioning entrepreneurship in a stereotypical, masculinised fashion through gendered language.
We argue that critically reviewing the language used offers an inexpensive opportunity to improve recruitment of more diverse cohorts and description accuracy.
Findings:
We found that course descriptions are predominantly, but not exclusively, masculine in their language.
We conclude that universities and educators have not taken into account recent research about the real and possible negative consequences of positioning entrepreneurship in a stereotypical, masculinised fashion through gendered language.
Advice:
Raise awareness of the exclusionary power of gendered language
- This should be measured To evaluate whether changing the gendered language used in promotional materials impacts on applications for entrepreneurship courses/training.
Reviewing how entrepreneurship/self-employment may be gendered (and masculinised) in promotional and training materials
- This should be analysed prior to making change. Then an evaluation needs to be made whether changing the gendered language used in promotional materials impacts on applications for entrepreneurship courses/training.
Developing gender sensitive training/education for the whole organisation
This research could be used to inform publicity materials that are aimed at women (particularly those encouraging entrepreneurship/self-employment courses/training)
- To support gender analysis of existing entrepreneurship promotional and training materials. And across a variety of settings and organisations where gender sensitivity may be required in recruitment.