Benevolent Sexism Towards Female Teachers in Schools: A Mixed Methods Study

Authors : Sultan Bilge Keskinkılıç Kara, Buse Şentürk, Melike Pınarcıoğlu

Pages : 62-74

Doi:10.25233/ijlel.1636983

View : 64 | Download : 70

Publication Date : 2025-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study investigates protective sexism behaviors directed towards female teachers in primary schools. Utilizing a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, the research was conducted with 226 teachers from public primary schools in Küçükçekmece, Istanbul, during the 2021-2022 academic year. To gather data, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory was employed for quantitative measures, while qualitative insights were obtained through an open-ended question. For the quantitative analysis, descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA were applied. Qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and document analysis. The findings revealed that teachers rated their experiences of heterosexual intimacy (HI) and gender-complementary differentiation (GCD) within protective sexism as “somewhat agree,” whereas protective patriarchy (PP) was rated as “somewhat disagree.” There were no significant variations in protective sexism levels based on gender, age, or professional experience. Qualitative results indicated that female teachers predominantly encountered protective sexism in the forms of protective patriarchy and gender-complementary differentiation. Protective sexism was notably expressed through protective patriarchy, often manifested in ways that aimed to ease women’s work lives. Both qualitative and quantitative findings suggest that protective patriarchy is the most prevalent form of protective sexism observed.
Keywords : cinsiyetçilik, korumacı cinsiyetçilik, eğitim yönetimi

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