Map of Social Inequality using Human Development Indicators [Interactive Graphic]

How does the United States rank on measures of health, education, gender inequality, poverty, and other human development indicators in comparison to other countries around the world?  Use this interactive map and data from the United Nations Development Programme to help students get a better grasp on the “big picture” of social inequalities.

Link: http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/map

Socialization and Gendered Violence [Video]

A recent video called "Slap Her" went viral.  In this  video, children watch and react to the viral video and then later answer questions.

It can be hard to start a discussion about gendered violence but watching these children might get the conversation going in your classroom.  Because "Slap Her" shows boys refusing to hit a girl, the interviewer addresses issues of "being a man" and violence but he also asks the kids about reversing the situation. What if a girl were asked to hit a boy? I think the video also shows how strong socialization is - these young children have internalized norms about what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a man, and how that relates to violence. The kids do have a strong message.  "Don't Slap Anybody" and "If you hit people, you are dumb".

Gender and Teaching Evaluations [Interactive Graphic]

As sociologists, we know that people are evaluated differently based on their gender, but it can be hard for students to visualize this out of context.  This tool allows them to visualize gender and evaluations in a very relevant way: through professor ratings. Ben Schmidt looked at the evaluative words used in Rate My Professor reviews and compiled the results in this series of interactive charts. 

You can search for any word. The resulting graph will show you the difference between male and female professors in a variety of disciplines.    You can see one example above.  According to evaluations, men are funnier than women are more likely to be labeled as "genuises". Males are also more likely to be rated as intelligent and smart (though the gaps are smaller). . Males were also more likely to be "weird" in every discipline other than Physics.  Females were always more likely than males to be rated as  "nice" and to be rated as "mean".

  

Thanks to Dr. Schmidt, assistant history professor at Northeastern University, for putting together this data visualization.
Link: http://benschmidt.org/profGender/#