An Evaluation of Parents’ Foreign Language Teacher Choices in terms of Gender

Parents are the first role models of their children and have the potential to affect children’s perceptions regarding gender. The present study aims to investigate parents' perceptions of gender equality and to see whether their perceptions of gender influence their choices regarding their children's foreign language teachers. Adopting a mixed methods research design, 189 parents (110 mothers, 79 fathers) as selected as sample, participated in the study. Some sociodemographic questions were used to measure their views on gender roles and life values. Quantitative data was collected via the “Gender Equality Scale” and analysed using descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U test. Furthermore, Qualitative data was collected via open-ended questions and analysed using Thematic Analysis. The results of the study showed that the parents believed in gender equality and in line with this, a foreign language teacher’s professional qualifications and personality traits were emphasized over gender. While the majority showed an egalitarian approach towards gender, a sexist and discriminatory attitude was observed by 15.9% of the participants. The study's findings are extremely significant since they provide insight into how parents perceive gender roles.