A sorting activity to help students identify gender-specific and gender-neutral job titles.
Use this teaching resource when exploring the relationship between job titles and gender equality in the workforce. A number of questions have been included as points to be discussed on completion of the sorting activity.
Please note: The job titles on this resource have intentionally been written to show gender bias. One of the activities the students are required to do is identify the job titles that are not gender-neutral and then rename the title.
Some suggested questions to explore include:
• For those job titles that are gender-specific, can you think of a genderneutral title that would be more appropriate?
• Are there any particular jobs in the sort that you automatically think of as belonging to one gender? For example, do you ever think of a private investigator as being female?
• Are there any gender-neutral jobs in the sort that you know have had gender-specific titles in the past? For example, actor/actress, author/
authoress, nurse/male nurse.
• How does a gender-specific title affect gender equality in the workplace? Does it encourage certain attitudes, beliefs or employment opportunities?
This is a horrible resource - why should jobs be sorted into gender?
Hi Megan, You're quite right, Megan. Jobs should not be sorted into gender! In fact, that's the point of the resource - to identify and call out gender bias in job titles and to find gender-neutral alternatives that promote balance and equality. We might need to do a better job of explaining the intended purpose of the resource. Thank you for your comment. We appreciate any and all feedback that helps make our resources better.
Hi Emily, I'm sorry that your comment has disappeared. If you have suggestions for updating the resource, can you please submit a change request to this resource using the Changes & Updates tab above? This tab can be found near the comments section. Completing a change request helps keep all our suggestions together. Thanks again!