LA REPRODUCCIÓN DE ESTEREOTIPOS SEXUALES EN LAS ESCUELAS: UN MECANISMO DE EXCLUSIÓN DE LAS MAESTRAS DEL CARGO DE DIRECCIÓN

Abstract

This article analyses one of the reasons why limits are placed on the access of schoolmistresses to powerful and managerial positions and it is difficult for them to keep their position. This analysis takes account of the fact that there is a widespread feminisation of primary education as well as a masculinisation of the managerial positions. This is due to the existence and repetition of sexual stereotypes in schools that will explain the absence of schoolmistresses in the management teams and the survival of the sexual division of labour in schools. This is also a way of legitimising such division both in the private and public domains and reproducing the patriarchal social order. The existence and repetition of gender stereotypes are closely linked to the original model of a schoolmistress (sweetness and goodness, care and attention are characteristic features of a mother) in contrast to that of a schoolmaster (knowledge and authority).