Les enfants jouent-ils avec des jouets influençantt le choix de leur carrière? (document en anglais)

A government minister says gender-specific toys harm girls' career opportunities. But how much do the toys children play with shape their future prospects in the job market? Everyone has memories of toys they loved playing with as a child. It might be building blocks or a train set, a doll house or a tea set. It doesn't necessarily mean those that played with them grew up to be construction workers or train drivers, housekeepers or tea ladies. However education minister Elizabeth Truss recently warned children's toys could affect their careers. She said gender-specific toys risked turning girls off science and maths and urged parents to buy their daughters Lego to get them interested in engineering. Women have made great strides in the UK workforce over the past few decades, but there are still overwhelming gender divides in some professions. Just over 80% of "science, research, engineering and technology professionals" are male, according to ONS figures. By contrast, 82% of workers in "caring, leisure and other services", and 78% of administrative and secretarial workers are female. Critics say toy marketing exploits gender stereotypes, channelling dolls, cookery sets and pink princesses towards girls, and action men style figurines, construction kits and blue racing cars towards boys. Feminists and campaign group Let Toys Be Toys have been canvassing UK retailers to "organise toys by genre not gender", saying sexist stereotyping limits children's interests. As a result, some retail giants such as Marks and Spencer, and London toy store Hamleys, have scrapped "girls" and "boys" labels. But not everyone is in collusion. A study looking at the play of young primates suggests children may be predisposed to certain play preferences.

So do the toys children play with impact their career choice?

Becky Francis, professor of education at Roehampton University, believes so. "Different types of toys give different messages about what's appropriate for boys and girls to do, and have different educational content - both elements are important and might have a bearing on schooling and career choices later," she says. A small study she conducted found boys tended to be given toys that involved action, construction and machinery, while girls were steered towards dolls and perceived "feminine" interests, such as hairdressing. The message seemed to be boys should be making things and problem solving, and girls should be caring and nurturing, she says. Also, stereotypical "boys toys" tend to be more educational, she argues. "Boys toys tend to contain didactic information, with technical instructions and fitting things together with Lego and Meccano, whereas girls' toys tend to be around imaginative and creative play, which develop different skills," she says. Research by retail group Argos found that over 60% of adults working in design-led jobs, such as architects and designers, enjoyed playing with building blocks as children. Even more - 66% - working in maths related roles, such as accountants and bankers, preferred puzzles...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25857895

Alors que les mentalités évoluent dans la société et que les différences hommes-femmes tendent à diminuer, depuis trente ans, dans les catalogues et magasins de jouets, les différences de genre ne cessent de croitre. Un certain conservatisme, depuis les années 90, pèse sur l’univers du jouet. Jeux de filles et jouets de garçons ont, dans les magasins comme Hamleys à Londres (cité dans l'article), sont différenciés à grand renfort de codes couleurs : rose pour les fillettes, bleu pour les garçons. La séparation des deux univers ludiques est flagrante et semble constituer une véritable règle marketing. En renforçant les stéréotypes de genre au travers de ses magasins de jouets,

...