This is how you should raise your sons, according to research - and Justin Trudeau

From the first pink or blue babygro, parents treat boys and girls differently. It might be a conscious thing, it might not. But it has a major role to play in shaping children's futures.

By encouraging timeworn stereotypes – giving girls dolls to play with, or telling boys not to cry – we are reinforcing society’s expectations of gender roles.

It's a matter close to many hearts, including that of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is credited with creating the world’s first gender-balanced cabinet after he took power in 2015, and has campaigned on the importance of getting women into high-powered roles.

The BBC recently followed a social experiment which attempted to find out what happens when you iron out the differences in the way boys and girls are treated.

Bikers and babydolls

Working with the London Psychometric Lab at University College London, the programme assessed differences in boys’ and girls’ behaviour and psychological traits, from confidence to self-esteem, empathy and social skills.

While the experiment didn’t look to provide a definitive solution to inequality between men and women, it did demonstrate how unconscious gender bias can be. For example, when boys wore girl’s clothing and vice versa, unknowing adults automatically gave the “girls” dolls to play with, while the “boys” were encouraged to ride bikes.

It also showed how children, even those as young as seven, are already influenced by stereotypes. One boy claimed men were better because they were “stronger and had more jobs”, while another stated that boys shouldn’t cry.

On the programme, scientists argue there is no obvious neurological explanation for the gender divide, with no significant difference between male and female brains. Both are highly plastic and largely influenced by childhood experiences.

Raising feminists

Speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained how he planned to raise both his sons and daughter as feminists.

He said that his wife told him that as well as encouraging his daughter to be ambitious, he should “take as much effort to talk to his sons ... about how he treats women and how he is going to grow up to be a feminist just like Dad”.

While such attempts at closing the gender gap are laudable, the difficulties of promoting gender equality have been highlighted by a number of recent events to hit the news.

A male Google engineer who tried to argue that biological differences accounted for the scarcity of women in technical and leadership roles in Silicon Valley, was given very little truck by many. However, there were also significant numbers who voiced agreement with him.

Elsewhere, underlining the extent to which the toy industry actively drives the gender divide, US retailer Target announced in 2015 it would no longer label toys for boys or girls. Research has shown children actually show little gender preference for toys until they become old enough to feel peer pressure.

The global gender gap

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016 demonstrates how slowly the world is making progress towards equality between men and women.

In fact, a year-on-year comparison shows that of 142 countries included in the report, only 68 increased their overall gender gap score compared to last year, while 74 saw it decrease.

Gaps between women and men with regards to economic participation and political empowerment remain particularly acute.