Goodbye to sex equality. A new approach to research on sex and gender

Abstract

This study is part of wider research being conducted amongst school-age students in Ecuador, and one of the aims it pursues is to identify the cultural and socio-educational keys that may influence the vocational development and subsequent choice of career by both males and females, according to their beliefs, values and life experiences based on inequality between the sexes. Presentation is made of the initial data from the exploratory stage on differences of sex and gender in cognitive skills and attitudinal factors of femininity, masculinity, submission and male chauvinism, or machismo, involving a sample of 1120 adolescents (aged 16-18) of both sexes studying secondary education(2 nd year of the bachillerato) at schools in Ecuador. Application has been made of the Masculine-Fetninine Personality Traits Inventory (IMAFE) questionnaire, and the eight subtests of the Differential Aptitudes Tests (DAT). Information is provided as forthcoming from the correlations between IMAFE factors, between four subtests of the DAT: verbal reasoning (VR), abstract reasoning (AR), space relations (SR) and numerical ability (NA), and between the scores for both instruments. Based on these initial data, it is worth noting that consistency has been found with recent research findings on profiles of undifferentiated traits between sexes as regards different levels of socio-cultural development. This last observation is an alternative focus for the approach to gender issues.