This workshop is primarily aimed at doctoral students and emerging researchers interested in gender and education, although it is open to any delegate who would find it useful to attend. It is led by two convenors of Network 33, Gender and Education.

The newly-established Gender and Education Network is an important and diverse network in EERA which brings together and aims to create an intellectual home for those whose work focuses in some way on gender. It has strong alliances with other networks, and arranges joint symposia at the main ECER conference. The Network offers an open interdisciplinary space so that members across ECER can engage in opportunities for constructive dialogue, collaborative research, and pedagogic praxis. In this it aims to strengthen links in the search for the common ground that unites us.  

The workshop will explore ways of using theory to provide robust explanations of empirical studies. In focusing on the work of Network 33, which considers gender and education in relation to research, theory, practice and pedagogy across all sectors of education and in informal education, gendered and feminist lenses will be prioritised. NW33 treats gender as a broad and inclusive category covering a range of issues, approaches and perspectives. It includes issues such as gender dynamics in the classroom, gender and power, intersecting gendered inequalities and gender and academic disciplines, LBGTI experiences of education and sexuality issues in education. Overall, theorising in this field explores how education is affected by wider gendered structures, inequalities, identities and experiences. Most contemporary theory is underpinned by the notion that at every level gender intersects with and is shaped by sexuality, LGBTI, ethnicity, social class and disability and so forth. However, theorising such complex phenomena is a difficult task.  A wide range of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives are used to explore intersecting gender inequalities and education. These include feminist theory, queer theory, intersectionality, race and ethnicity studies, disability, and post-coloniality.

The first part of the workshop is focused around short, informal presentations (15 minutes each) from each of the facilitators. Carol Taylor will talk about her interdisciplinary research on gender, bodies and space in classroom practices and consider how theory informs our interpretation of power in relation to student-teacher interactions and curriculum practices. Andrea Abbas will discuss her attempts to theorise intersecting gender inequalities in her empirical studies.    

The main part of the workshop (1 hour) will follow a collaborative discussion-based format in which key questions about how we research and build theory about gender and education will be explored. Participants will be invited to actively contribute, to bring their own experiences and concerns to the debate, and there will be ample time for questions.

The final part of the workshop (30 minutes) will be dedicated to ‘collaborative conversations’ focusing on specific topics concerning gender and education. This will enable participants – with the support of the convenors – to begin to develop collaborations (for example to think about developing symposia or round table discussions) for future ECER conferences, network with peers with similar interests, and develop ideas for individual or joint research plans. The workshop will end with some ‘top tips’ for early career researchers and doctoral students.    

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