When I realised that the public school my son has just started at did not offer girls the option of shorts and pants as everyday school uniform, I set about having this changed. I rocked up to the P&C and politely asked that the school add shorts and pants for girls to the uniform policy. While I expected a comment along the lines of, “Gosh, I can’t believe we don’t offer shorts for the girls, let’s make this change,” I was instead
While we all have opinions about school uniforms, and the impact they may have on girls, it is fascinating to read scholarly research in the area. Recently, I read a PhD thesis completed in 2015 by Dr Sue (Susan) Bennett of Deakin University called Gender Relations in Elite Coeducational Schools. This research involved three elite coeducational schools in Melbourne, Australia. It included interviews and informal conversations with staff and students; and observations in classrooms and during lunchtime and extra-curricular activities. Dr Bennett’s
It’s no secret that the so-called ‘pink tax’ pushes up the price of many everyday household goods. But what might surprise you is that isn’t exclusive to the items the you would find in the stationery or toiletry aisles. It’s being seen in school uniform shops around the country and parents of girls are copping it. According to Dr Amanda Mergler, co-founder of Girls’ Uniform Agenda, the group’s preliminary research shows there is a clear discrepancy between