Gender and family education: social representations of some students in the commune of Adjarra (Benin)

Gender and gender equality issues are a current concern in Africa. They raise different perspectives and interpretations and go beyond the simple biological distinction between man and woman. Gender is influenced by factors such as culture, society, history, social norms. Indeed, from its first moments of socialization, the individual is assimilated to sexual behaviors established and imposed by the social norms of his environment. Family education is one of the vectors of reproduction of these beliefs, opinions and knowledge. It is in this dispute that this study is conducted to analyze the impact of sociocultural realities on family education and its impact on gender-related social representations among students of the National Institute of Physical and Sports Education (INEPS) and the Faculty of Letters, Languages, Arts, and Communications (FLLAC) in the commune of Adjarra in Benin. The documentary research, the questionnaire and the interviews formed the basis of the research methodology. Analysis of the data reveals that socio-cultural norms create gender roles and stereotypes that are transmitted from parents to children through family education. Therefore, the education received by these students has a negative effect on their representations of gender. It is then the sum of opinions, knowledge and beliefs specific to a culture, a category or a social group and related to objects of the social environment.