Textiles and sewing has a female-dominated reputation and this can make it difficult for teachers to get the boys/males in their class wanting to participate actively.

This research task gets the class (but the boys in particular) seeking and understanding that there are jobs in the textiles industry that are very male-dominated and that maybe what they’re learning in a textiles class at school, isn’t so girly after all.

Students select one of the male-dominated jobs listed in the task and use their research skills to identify the responsibilities, skills and tools used within the job. They explore why this job is traditionally male-dominated and discuss any gender diversity changes that could happen. Students present their findings in a report or presentation. A marking criteria is included.