What works, for whom, and how? A rapid review of programs to shift adolescent gender norms and attitudes in and through schools

This rapid review of thirty rigorously evaluated school-based programmes aimed at shifting adolescent gender norms and attitudes finds that most are effective, providing practitioners with first clear evidence base on what works, for whom and how.

Gender norms, the unwritten rules that shape how boys and girls are expected to behave, underpin many of the inequalities that persist between women and men, from workplace representation to gender-based violence. Schools reach huge numbers of young people at a formative age, making them a promising place to shift these norms, but until now there has been no dedicated review of the quantitative evidence on whether school-based programmes designed to shift norms and attitudes actually succeed in doing so.

This rapid review, commissioned by the ShiftEd Alliance, screened almost 30,000 citations and identified 30 rigorously evaluated studies of programmes delivered in or through schools in low- and middle-income countries. Twenty-four of these thirty programmes, or 80 per cent, led to significantly more equitable gender norms or attitudes among participating adolescents.

The review finds that multi-level programmes, which combine work with adolescents alongside activities for parents, teachers or the wider community, tend to produce stronger results than programmes working with students alone. Participatory approaches that get young people actively discussing and questioning gender roles also feature consistently among the most successful programmes, while brief or light-touch gender content is usually not enough to shift attitudes.

The authors are clear that many questions remain unanswered, including whether changes in attitude last over time, whether they translate into changed behaviour, and which specific programme ingredients matter most. The review sets out a research agenda to help close these gaps.

This resource is from the ShiftEd Alliance, a global coalition of twelve organisations working across Africa, Asia and Latin America to generate the evidence, tools and momentum needed to shift adolescent gender norms in the classroom and beyond.

Key messages

• Of thirty rigorously evaluated school-based programmes, 24 (80 percent) significantly improved adolescents' gender norms or attitudes.
• Multi-level programmes, which engage parents, teachers or communities alongside adolescents, tend to produce stronger effects than working with students alone.
• Participatory, facilitated group discussions that encourage critical reflection are a consistent feature of successful programmes.
• Brief or 'light touch' gender content is usually too small a dose to shift attitudes; sustained engagement matters.
• Teachers, non-governmental organisation staff and peer facilitators can all deliver effective programmes; no single facilitator type stood out across included studies, but no studies directly compared different facilitators.
• Programmes work for both girls and boys, and across a wide age range, though how to tailor them by age or sex needs further research.
• Little is known about whether attitude change lasts over time or leads to longer term changes in behaviour, marking a key gap for future research.