Author(s)

Jerome Rabow^1,2, Gabrielle Serano³, Sara Yazdanfar⁴

¹University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
²California State University, Northridge, USA.
³Sociology Major, California State University, Northridge, USA.
⁴Sociology Major, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

This research paper examines the way in which a university classroom focuses upon patriarchy and sexism and the responses to these issues. The 110 students in this upper division class were encouraged to examine their beliefs and values in an environment where they could be challenged by readings, other students’ reactions and web posts. These web posts were anonymous so that students could feel safe and were classified in a six-stage identity scheme developed by Hoffman (1985). Their six-stage categories were modified by the authors of this paper and were used to describe the transformation of students’ identities from sexist to anti-sexist.

Identity Transformation, Gender, Hoffman Stages of Identity, Patriarchy, Sexism, Anti-Sexist, Transformative Pedagogy

Rabow, J. , Serano, G. and Yazdanfar, S. (2017) The Transformation of Gender Identity for Women and Men in a University Classroom. Sociology Mind, 7, 72-79. doi: 10.4236/sm.2017.72006.