STEREOTYPICAL ATTITUDES TOWARD GENDER-BASED GRADE-LEVEL ASSIGNMENT OFJAPANESE ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL TEACHERS

In Japanese elementary schools, principals and vice-principals determi ne the assignment of teachers to lower, upper, or middle grades. In th is study, we examined principals' and vice-principals' attitudes towar d gender in grade placement of teachers. The results showed that an ov erwhelming majority of principals and vice-principals held the stereot ypical attitude that women are best suited to teach lower grades and m en are best suited to teach upper grades. Moreover, we assumed that th is attitude was related to perceptual distortions or stereotyping by p rincipals and vice-principals regarding women's teaching preferences a nd women teachers' leadership ability.