Unlimited Potential: Report of the Commission on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood

The Fawcett Society established its Commission on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood in early 2019. Its aims were to build a new consensus on the harm that the gender stereotypes applied to children when they are young can do throughout their lives, and mobilise society to challenge them through a positive blueprint for change.

The Commissioners are drawn from politics, academia, business, government and public services, and civil society, co-chaired by Prof Becky Francis and Rt Hon. David Lammy MP.

This research shows that society foists expectations on children about what is appropriate for girls and boys to do: that girls should be passive, and boys should be active; that girls should be caring and domestic, and boys should be active and scientific; that girls should be romantic and boys should be unemotional.

Parents and families, educators, media and companies reproduce these different expectations in myriad ways, from the slogans on the clothes we give our children to wear, to what we say about them in classrooms. It’s no single thing that is responsible – stereotyping is everywhere – but it all adds up.

What it adds up to is real harm. From boys’ underachievement in reading, to the gender pay gap; from early influence on curriculum preferences to self harms and domestic abuse in adult life – the evidence is clear that the stereotypes we impart in early childhood cause significant damage to our children and to society, both now and further down the line.

This may seem hopeless, but it is not. The research conducted for this Commission shows that many parents and practitioners recognise the harm caused by stereotypes, and want support to change. Yet only half of education practitioners received any training on this issue before entering their profession, and messages from media and the commercial world undermine these efforts too. This report offers some of that advice, and recommendations to Government and others that can start to make change.

What has been clear in the Commission’s deliberations is that every part of society has role to play in removing these limitations on our children’s potential. Education practitioners, parents, and companies all need to pull together, and this report sets out positive steps that can support this to happen.