The Challenge
Gender perceptions continue to shape students’ learning, academic choices, and career aspirations, often limiting their ability to reach their full potential. From early childhood, implicit and explicit messages about gender roles influence self-perception, skills development, and future ambitions. Despite increasing awareness, these biases remain deeply embedded in educational settings in Israel, reinforcing disparities and limiting opportunities. Without intentional intervention, gender-based barriers persist, affecting individual students and society’s ability to thrive and prosper.
Transforming Education Through Gender Equity
The Institute for Gender Equity in Education was founded in 2018 to drive systemic change in Israel, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. We drive change through developing research-based knowledge, training educators and change agents, and implementing systemic models that embed gender equity across educational frameworks.
We equip educators with the knowledge and tools to recognize and dismantle gender biases in their classrooms and kindergartens. By fostering gender equity in education, we lay the groundwork for a more just and inclusive society—one where every individual can develop a full range of professional, social, and emotional skills, free from gender-based constraints.
As part of the Society for Advancement of Education, a leading social-educational organization committed to excellence, equity, and quality, we operate with a mission to integrate gender equity into educational systems at scale.
Our Approach
Development of evidence-based knowledge
To transform growing awareness into structured, system-wide change, we generate research-based pedagogical knowledge and best practices rooted in real-world educational settings. Our work is conducted in partnership with leading institutions, including the Hebrew University’s School of Education, Ben-Gurion University’s Center for Research-Practice Partnerships, the Haifa University and the Gender and Education Association (GEA).
Read more about our “Equitable voices” initiative for promoting gender equity in classroom discourse.
Professional Development for Educators & Change Agents
We equip educators with the tools to identify and address gender biases in their teaching environments through comprehensive training programs. Our professional development offerings provide practical strategies that enable immediate implementation in classrooms.
Learn more about our training programs
Systemic Models for Broad-Scale Impact
We drive systemic change and ensure the sustainable implementation and mainstreaming of gender equity principles through our partnership with the Ministry of Education, with municipalities, and leading civil society organizations.
Learn more about our municipal model
Our Impact
- 2,200 educators
- 530 schools and kindergartens
- 66,000 students
Philanthropic Partnerships
Our groundbreaking work is made possible through philanthropic collaborations that enable us to develop and implement research-based educational tools to address complex social and educational challenges. Our partners include the Schusterman Foundation, the Sanser Foundation, the Trump Foundation, the Azrieli Foundation, Strauss Group, the National Council of Jewish Women, the U.S. Embassy, the Mandel Foundation, the R&D division of the Ministry of Education, and private donors.
Despite an increase in awareness and efforts to promote gender equality in all sectors, subliminal messages regarding the different abilities, interests, and roles of girls and boys persist, affecting their studies and development. Educators are not usually aware of the presence of rampant gender biases in educational spaces, and the extent to which these biases influence their students’ self-realization.
The Institute for Gender Equity in Education was founded to lead systematic change and convert existing motivation into tangible, impactful action. Educators hold the power to identify and remove the gender barriers children face from a young age, thereby paving the way towards a society where men and women fulfill diverse roles and benefit from a wide variety of professional, social, and emotional competencies.
The center is part of the Society for Advancement of Education, a social-educational organization committed to promoting excellence, equity, and quality. To read more about the Society for Advancement of Education, please click here.
Our Impact
How We Work
Developing Research-Based Knowledge
To turn the growing awareness in the field into systematic change, the center develops highly impactful, research-based knowledge and pedagogical practices, anchored in a close connection to the educational field. The center partners with the Education Department of the Hebrew University, The Center for the Study of Pedagogy Research-Practice Partnerships at Ben Gurion University, and the GEA – Gender and Education Association.
Professional Development for Change Agents in the Education System
The center trains educational teams to identify gender bias in educational spaces and implement pedagogical practices to promote equality of opportunities.
System-wide Models to Create Broad Impact
The center advances systematic change through a municipal model rooted in a local, gender, and educational approach, in addition to partnerships with the Ministry of Education and civil society organizations to embed gender equity in the educational system and programs.
Our Philanthropic Partners
Philanthropic partnerships enable the center to realize its groundbreaking approach toward a complex, socio-educational challenge through innovative, research-based, tried-and-tested pedagogical tools. The center partners with Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the Senser Foundation, the Azrieli Foundation, Strauss, the National Council of Jewish Women, the U.S. Embassy in Israel, the Mandel Foundation, the Ministry of Education’s Department of Research and Development, and private donations.
