Teachers have claimed that girls in many second-level schools are being excluded from subjects seen as traditionally male such as woodwork, metalwork, technical drawing and construction studies.
The ASTI is planning to raise the issue with the Department of Education next week. It wants a full review of what subjects are available for girls in the second-level system. It said the small numbers of girls taking these subjects at Leaving Cert level was a major cause for concern.
Ms Maire Mulcahy, assistant general secretary of the ASTI, said girls, particularly those in coeducational schools, were often not encouraged to take these subjects because they were perceived as male-dominated areas. The union wanted to see subjects judged on their importance and overall merit, not on their appeal to either gender.
The union's equal opportunities committee has submitted a paper on the matter to the Department of Education.
This claims there is evidence that schools sometimes timetable these subjects so that girls cannot access them.
The union said this was mostly unintentional, but school authorities tended to direct boys into these disciplines, while girls were persuaded to stick with subjects they historically liked.
The union said that, by the timetabling of certain subjects together, girls were not given a chance to sample subjects such as woodwork and technical drawing.
The ESRI had already established this in a research report entitled Co-Education and Gender Equality.
This said boys tended to stay away from home economics and music. The ASTI said it wanted to see the full range of subjects open to all students.
The union has already run projects and competitions among students to emphasise that subjects should be available to everyone.