Student and Teacher Culture and Composition and the Development of Gender Role Attitudes among Young Adolescents

Research has shown that gender role attitudes develop during adolescence; however, the relevant predictors remain a matter of debate. In adolescence, the school environment gains in importance. Thus, the present study investigates how students’ and especially teachers’ culture and composition predict the development of gender role attitudes in young adolescents. The study addresses this question using a sample of 7360 Flemish students (44.8% girls), who were surveyed three times after entering secondary education between 2012 (Mage = 13.14, SD = 0.56) and 2014. Latent change models reveal that boys’ initial gender role attitudes are associated with the students’ gender role culture; however, boys with more traditional gender role attitudes do not develop in an even more traditional direction at the beginning of secondary education. In contexts with a more privileged student SES composition, boys develop less traditional attitudes, while a traditional gender role culture among teachers supports the development of more traditional gender role attitudes among boys. Girls with more traditional gender role attitudes find themselves within student contexts with a more traditional culture. However, the development does not vary with the students’ gender role culture. Overall, boys seem more susceptible to students’ cultural and compositional characteristics.