GEMINI Newsletter no. 1

Exploring gender, media,
and education through research

Two groundbreaking reports now available

15 August 2024

Dear educators, media scholars, and gender equality advocates,

The GEMINI project has reached a pivotal milestone with the publication of two major research reports that delve into how gender is both represented and perceived within contemporary screen serials — and how these narratives can be harnessed as powerful educational tools in European high schools. Conducted across four diverse European territories — Ireland, Italy, Denmark, and Romania — these reports offer a nuanced, comparative view of how young people and educators engage with media representations of gender.

As Europe faces ongoing debates around gender identity, equality, and representation, the findings from these reports provide not only a snapshot of current cultural attitudes but also a practical roadmap for educational innovation. Here, we share key insights from each report and explain how they form the intellectual backbone of GEMINI’s training and pilot activities.

Understanding production and representation in European serial drama

The first report Understanding young adults and gender equality through serial drama investigates how gender issues are addressed during the production serial drama and how these issues are then represented onscreen. Through a combination of desktop production studies and close analysis of representative series, the research brings to light the complex interplay between industry intentions and cultural narratives.

While research on gender representation, adolescence, and serial drama exists independently, the GEMINI report is one of the few to draw these areas together. The result is an original contribution to media studies that takes into account the very different national landscapes of the four countries involved.

One of the central findings is that gender is frequently addressed in serial production — sometimes deliberately, other times more incidentally. Through 11 carefully selected case studies, the report examines how gender was handled during the making of various European and international series. These range from Denmark’s more mature target audience to the glaring absence of national content for youth in Romania. The influence of U.S. serial formats across all four countries is also made evident, underscoring a broader shift in European youth taste regimes toward American cultural models.

But the report doesn’t stop at analysis — it goes further to offer direct applications for educators. Each of the 11 series is broken down into an easily teachable format using the “one series, one scene, one issue” model. This approach makes it simple for teachers to bring contemporary serial drama into their classrooms, offering students a way to critically engage with familiar content through the lens of gender and media literacy.

Importantly, the teaching framework developed from this research is flexible and context-sensitive. By building each example into a pedagogical triangle that connects media analysis with societal issues and personal reflection, the toolkit empowers both teachers and students to explore new content independently. It’s a model designed not only for adaptation across different cultural settings, but also for long-term sustainability in high school curricula.

Listening to the Audience: Students’ and Teachers’ Engagement

The second report Understanding Young Adults’ Perception and Detecting Teachers’ and Trainers’ Awareness dives into the perspectives of the two most critical stakeholders in GEMINI’s mission: students and teachers. Conducted using a mixed-method approach, this report combines focus groups, in-depth interviews, and a transnational survey to assess how young adults and educators perceive and engage with gender issues in serial dramas.

Through a series of structured focus groups, researchers engaged with high school students in all four partner countries to understand their viewing habits and reactions to gender representations. While many shared common patterns of serial consumption — with platforms like Netflix dominating their media diets — the way gender issues were understood varied widely depending on local cultural norms.

Across the board, however, students demonstrated a high level of interest in gender and diversity topics. Many were able to identify both progressive and stereotypical portrayals within the serials they watched and showed an openness to discussing these issues when given the space to do so. This reinforces the core GEMINI idea that serial dramas are not just forms of entertainment — they’re also potential gateways for civic engagement, self-expression, and social critique.

Equally revealing were the findings from in-depth interviews with secondary school teachers. Most educators expressed enthusiasm for using serial drama in the classroom to tackle gender issues but also highlighted the barriers they face in doing so. Chief among these challenges were institutional constraints, such as lack of technological infrastructure and inconsistent copyright regulations. Socio-cultural resistance, especially from parents, was also cited as a common obstacle.

Nonetheless, teachers acknowledged the tremendous potential of serial dramas as pedagogical tools. They noted that students are often more engaged when lessons incorporate media they already consume in their personal lives. When used thoughtfully, serials can encourage reflection, discussion, and a deeper understanding of gender-related dynamics that students encounter both onscreen and in everyday life.

The final section of the audience research report analyzes data from a multilingual transnational survey, offering quantitative insights into the perceptions and emotional responses of European youth toward gender in media. The results were striking: students largely saw serials as having a dual role — capable of both reinforcing stereotypes and promoting inclusive models of society. They also viewed serial drama as emotionally influential, shaping their views in subtle yet powerful ways.

These findings are critical not only for understanding the cultural moment but also for informing the next stages of GEMINI’s work. By identifying what students are already thinking and how teachers are willing to respond, the report creates a strategic link between research and practice — one that will underpin future training sessions, toolkit refinement, and classroom implementation across Europe.

A Foundation for Change

Together, these two reports form the backbone of GEMINI’s first research phase and serve as a springboard for the next wave of implementation activities. By blending theoretical insight with actionable teaching strategies, GEMINI is creating a scalable, adaptable approach to integrating gender education into the high school experience through the language of serial drama.

As the project moves forward, we are committed to continuing this dialogue with educators, students, and stakeholders across Europe. These reports represent more than academic outputs — they are tools for change, designed to make classrooms more inclusive, discussions more critical, and young people more empowered to think deeply about the media they consume.

We invite you to explore the full reports on the GEMINI website and to join us in this transformative journey.

With enthusiasm and solidarity,
The GEMINI Project Team