Gender relations of adolescents in school contexts. Social networks analysis from a gender perspective

Abstract

This paper is part of wider research on gender culture assessment at school and the dissemination of good coeducational practices. In particular, the purpose of this study is to analyze the nature of the social networks that adolescents lay down according to gender issues and type of activity in the school context. For this, a sociometric test for two situations of activity is applied to 722 secondary school students from Andalucia. The results show that the students choose the girls to perform tasks based on the care, while prefer the boys for activities based on competition. The results also reveal that the task of competition defines more cohesive networks, presenting more ties and stronger relationships, while the activity based on the care and affection configures fragile and dispersed networks.