By, Jamie Hose

In parallel to time spent in education, sport often plays a strong role in young people’s development. A 2024 survey by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport found that around half (52 per cent) of all young people participate in sports clubs or fitness classes.

But whereas the classroom is often a place where both genders learn side-by-side, sport, especially at the elite level, typically separates male and female athletes.  

The reason for the divide is commonly put down to biological ability. Male and female bodies typically have different strengths due to how we develop. For example, whilst the skill of sprint running is one that both men and women can master, it is not considered fair to conduct a 100-metre race between an elite male and an elite female runner to decide who is better at it. 

And, whilst the physical act is the same, the approaches needed to coach male and female runners may also differ. 

Coming back to education, where commonly all learners are taught together, is there any merit to adopting different gender-based approaches to mentoring young people? 

Former England football manager Gareth Southgate suggests there is. Shortly before the release of his feature-length documentary on the challenges facing young men, he appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. 

While emphasising the importance of “unifying people”, Southgate said that helping young people achieve their best “might require a slightly different approach when we’re educating and developing young men compared to educating and developing young women.” 

Does he have a point? Despite learning together in the vast majority, there are marked differences between boys and girls in education. For example, as A Level results day in the UK reveals how many students are eligible to progress to undergraduate university courses, the data reveals that, for the last five years, girls have outperformed boys in exam scenarios. 

Would making gendered differences to educational mentoring improve opportunities or grades for boys? Could it contribute to reducing gender gaps in academic disciplines (bringing more women into STEM fields for example) or help to reduce the gender pay gap further down the line? And what about after university, when stepping into industry and climbing the career ladder? 

In higher education, which begins around the time people transition from adolescence to young adulthood, business schools are often the institutions most directly involved in offering leadership training, as well as being home to management researchers. 

So, how do experts and senior leaders in this area perceive the role of gender in personal development? And how do they support students in achieving success in terms of wellbeing and career outcomes? 

Adaptive and inclusive learning

According to Dr Mahima Mitra, a Senior Academic Fellow in Organisation Studies at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School, there are multiple ways that teaching could be adapted to different genders, some of which are useful and others not so much. 

Instead of focusing on fixed gender-based learning styles, Mitra says gender-responsive and inclusive teaching that focuses on how classroom norms, assessment practices, participation patterns, and labour-market expectations are influenced by gender could support more enriching pedagogy. 

“Pedagogical context, which heavily shapes individual learning styles, can be enriched through several mechanisms: creating psychologically safe classrooms, ensuring equitable participation, using diverse examples and role models, challenging stereotypical assumptions about leadership and competence, and monitoring group dynamics and assessment practices for bias,” she says. 

“Rather than designing separate gender-specific learning approaches, such practices can be more useful in providing equal opportunities for engagement, confidence-building and performance for students across the learning spectrum.” 

Professor Himanshu Rai, Director of IIM Indore, one of India’s prestigious Institutes of Management, agrees that education should avoid one-size-fits-all assumptions based on gender when it comes to teaching. 

Instead, he believes the most effective approach is adaptive learning, which is able to take into consideration how gender can be a factor that shapes learning experiences through socialisation, confidence, communication styles, and societal expectations. 

Rai explains that this involves “encouraging collaborative and experiential learning, providing regular formative feedback, and ensuring equitable?participation in discussions and leadership opportunities.” 

Educators should build welcoming environments where students feel comfortable asking questions, and where wellbeing is promoted alongside academic excellence. IIM Indore runs a Centre of Wellness and Inclusion that offers counselling, wellness programmes, and inclusive learning support to empower students to thrive. 

“The?objective?should?not?be?to?teach?men and women differently, but to design flexible learning environments that recognise diverse needs, reduce structural barriers, and enable every student to perform at their highest potential,” he says. 

Equipping students for job market success

There is, of course, more to education than knowledge and qualifications. In his documentary, Gareth Southgate: Changing the Game for Young Men, Southgate explores the struggles many young men face in their development, from poor mental health to difficulties finding employment. The documentary also looks at possible solutions, including mentorship from older male volunteers and encouraging more men to pursue teaching as a career. 

In addition to providing wellness support, Professor Himanshu Rai says higher education institutions must adopt a more personalised, integrated approach to careers support, preparing for lifelong employability. 

He says employability should be embedded in curricula through project-based learning, internships, industry consulting projects, and opportunities to solve real business problems, helping students to develop the practical skills employers are looking for. 

Career services should also become more personalised and data-driven, going beyond a narrow focus on CV writing and interview preparation by offering career coaching and labour market intelligence.  

Institutions should also create mentorship opportunities by connecting students with alumni and industry professionals. These connections give students practical insights, expand their professional networks, and help build confidence for when they transition into employment, says Rai. 

“At IIM Indore, employability is cultivated throughout the student journey rather than being confined to the final year. The Career Services Office provides continuous career development through expert talks by industry leaders,?personalised?career guidance, one-to-one mentoring, networking opportunities, and comprehensive placement preparation. Equally important, our curriculum is regularly reviewed and updated based on feedback from employers, industry experts, recruiters, and alumni.” 

At Aalto University School of Business in Finland, the Careers Services team also emphasises the importance of providing networking and mentorship opportunities, as well as integrating the use of digital platforms in their communication and training strategies. 

“We always offer a wide range of career services, and we listen to student feedback and act on it to expand our services. For example, in addition to the CV workshops and mentoring programs we’ve added, we’re planning to introduce a more casual and accessible form of mentoring,” says Tanja Makkonen, Senior Manager of Aalto’s Careers Services. 

The team organises career events and recruitment fairs throughout the year, creating opportunities for Aalto students to connect with employers in their sectors of interest. More personal support is also available through training sessions to help students develop their job search skills, as well as career surveys and alumni stories published by the Careers Services team. They also use social media to share information with students directly. 

“We’ve started sharing tips on summer job and trainee applications via Instagram Live in collaboration with employers and added guidance to job search training sessions on how to use AI effectively in job searching,” adds Milja Koski, Manager and Team Lead. 

Dr Mahima Mitra at Oxford Saïd also highlights the importance of supporting students in developing career management skills through modules on networking, personal branding, career planning, and strategies for job searches. 

There should also be training on how to translate academic experiences into employability narratives, she says, as this can help graduates communicate their capabilities to potential employers. 

Beyond these career support modules, she emphasises a “whole institution” approach, in agreement with Himanshu Rai’s perspective that employability should be integrated into the curriculum itself. This includes through live business projects, consultancy assignments, simulations, case competitions, and client-based dissertations. 

Furthermore, she says that strengthening higher education institution and industry partnerships can be particularly impactful in this context, not simply for generating placements or internships but for co-designing student learning experiences. 

A personal touch

Can such a personal approach be adopted when cohorts span into hundreds? At SDA Bocconi School of Management, cohorts are kept to a very intentional size and make-up. Each class includes a solid mix of professional background, nationality, experience, ambition and gender, allowing the students to learn as much from the person sitting next to them as they might from the professor leading their lecture. 

“The program is a small and highly diverse learning community, around 120-130 participants, 35-40 nationalities,” shares MBA Academic Director Stefano Pogutz. “Teams are intentionally reshuffled across terms, so students repeatedly work with different cultural assumptions, communication styles, and professional mindsets.”  

Keeping the cohort beneath a number threshold has the additional benefit of students getting the chance to know the faculty and vice versa. This relationship is invaluable when it comes to providing tailored career advice and guidance. 

Flexible support for all students

While the impact of gender on student experiences in learning should be taken into consideration, these insights suggest that flexible support is the surest path to enriching the learning journey. 

Careers services should provide in-depth insights into the job market and offer opportunities and guidance that help students to connect with alumni and organisational leaders in sectors that they are interested in. The resulting possibilities for mentorship can expand students’ networks and enable them to step confidently into the workforce after graduation. 

Strong support should also be provided for students’ wellbeing, creating an environment of psychological safety where they feel empowered to question and take intellectual risks. This is key to recognising the value of each student and fostering their personal development in a setting that welcomes all who want to learn. 

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