Abstract:

This study aims to describe teacher candidates’ sexist attitudes based on various demographic variables. It is a quantitative research conducted with 550 early childhood teacher candidates. The research was designed as a correlational study and the participants were selected using convenience sampling. They were studying at a state university’s preschool and primary school teacher education program in the Central Anatolia Region during the 2015-2016 academic year. “Ambivalent Sexism Inventory” and a general information form were used as data collection instruments. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation were utilized. According to the findings, there are significant differences in the candidates’ hostile sexist attitudes based on their gender, type of residence, maternal educational status, income, and their hometown’s dominant political view. On the other hand, there are no significant differences in the teacher candidates’ hostile sexist attitudes based on their class, age, parents’ education, family employment status, and participation in any seminar or study. Benevolent sexism is found to be significantly different based on teacher candidates’ class, age, and participation in lecture/seminar/workshop. Finally, the teacher candidates’ benevolent sexism does not significantly differ based on type of residence, maternal and paternal educational status, and family employment status.

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