Training of university students in gender and sexuality as a preventive strategy against classroom sexism

Abstract

In our schools, sex education is a matter that still needs to be addressed. Above all, if we consider that its objectives should include the development of a responsible sexuality, free from prejudice and respectful of differences and not only focused on the preventive model. An essential part of this content should be the analysis of sexism present in our society and its consequences in daily life, among other things. This work analyses the knowledge and attitudes of 668 students at the University of Huelva regarding sexism, double standards and the erotophilia/erotophobia dimension, conducts that favour the appearance of undesirable behaviours such as discrimination on the basis of sex. To this end, they filled in a sociodemographic inventory and three specific questionnaires (EROS scale, Double Standard scale and Ambivalent Sexism questionnaire). The results are consistent with those of other studies in which heterosexual males scored significantly higher on all the studied variables, notably the hostile sexism scale, especially in students carrying out their training in the area of physical education and sport who declared their heterosexuality and right-leaning political orientation. In turn, the erotophilia variable is identified as a predictor of achieving lower scores in double standards and in sexism, allowing us to conclude that a positive attitude towards sexuality that encourages increasing knowledge of the same makes us less prejudicial and less discriminatory. They thus provide new evidence of the importance of training in sexuality for future educators if the aim is to transfer tolerant and egalitarian attitudes to the classroom.