Deakin University study finds men with private education have ‘negative’ attitudes to women

Shocking revelations about attitudes towards women and consent taught at private boys’ schools are under the microscope as part of a landmark study.

Men who attended elite private schools will be probed on how their exclusive education impacted their attitudes towards women, consent and sexism in an Australian-first study.

Deakin University researchers are interviewing male alumni from colleges including Hawthorn’s Scotch College and St Kevin’s College in Toorak, asking participants what they recall being taught about the issues during their schooling.

Group Load Fence called for people to tie a Ribbon to St Kevin’s College gates to support those who have called out suffering at the hands of the school. Picture: Sarah Matray

Preliminary findings have so far revealed some “negative” attitudes towards women and “limited” consent and gender education.

A research overview stated the study aimed to “place further scrutiny on elite boys’ schools and the men they have produced over time” after several women levelled allegations of sexual assault and historical rape against prominent Australian politicians, who attended prestigious secondary colleges, in 2021.

Julia Gillard and Bob Hawke are the only two prime ministers out of 20 since WWII to not have attended boys only secondary schools.

Lead researcher Dr Claire Charles said the accusations against high-profile politicians who went to prestigious all-boys’ schools sparked the need to investigate what powerful alumni and potential future leaders were taught about women.

It is believed to be the first piece of research in Australia that exclusively examines the influence of single-sex education on men’s views of gender and women.

“There were multiple references to girls and women that were negative or dismissive, disapproving, or even detached,” Dr Charles said.

“Participants say they either didn’t learn anything about women, or the more recent alumni said experiences of agenda curriculum was really narrow.”

Former Attorney-General Christian Porter, the man at the centre of a historical rape allegation, attended Hale School in Western Australia, where other alumni include former Liberal Party federal director and senior advisor to John Howard Tony Nutt.

Men who attended boys schools across the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s and recent graduates participated in the questioning, which also asked them if they were aware of the Let Her Speak Campaign pioneered by Chanel Contos, or former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ case against Bruce Lehrmann for allegedly raping her in Parliament House in 2019.

The study has found the men did not know about the events that dominated the news cycle last year, but the ones that could recall them either minimised the rape allegations or did not consider them ‘male’ problems.

Men in the study were asked if they were aware of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ case against Bruce Lehmann for allegedly raping her. Picture: Damian Shaw

But co-author and educational leadership lecturer at Monash University Dr George Variyan said respondents were familiar with St Kevin’s students being caught on camera singing a sexist chant on a Melbourne tram in 2019 and even recalled a sexist school culture.

The men, who also reported “very little” contact with girls and women during their school years, did not criticise any of their colleges.

Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

“Women tend to see the issues, and then often the men tend not to see the issues because you can be blind to stuff that doesn’t affect you, so it’s about trying to make those conversations visible,” Dr Variyan said.

“Our early findings show that over the years, boys’ education around gender is really lacking and limited. It’s quite a narrow kind of understanding of what women’s roles are and the complexities of gender identity.”