4. Gender and achievement

Question 1

External: 1. Impact of feminism

Answer 1

• Since 1960s feminist movement challenged traditional stereotype of women’s role of mum & housewife in patriarchal nuclear family & inferior to men outside home work education & law. Had success in improving women’s rights & opportunities through changes in law = raised women’s expectations & self esteem.

(McRobbie 1994): study of girls magazines, in 1970. Emphasised importance of getting married & not being left of shelf but now they contain images of assertive, independent women. Changes encouraged by feminism = affect girls self image & ambitions to family & careers = explain improvements in educational achievements.

Question 2

(E) 2. Changes in the family

Answer 2

Since 1970 there has been an increase in divorce (40%), increase in lone parent families (90% female), increase in cohabitation and more women staying single. Divorce rate may suggest to girls that it is unwise to rely on their husbands to be their provider encouraging girls to rely on their selves and their own qualifications. Girls want this independence as well and to do this need a well-paid job so strive to get good qualifications.

• In modern day society both men and women typically share the domestic roles equally.

Question 3

(E) 3. Changes in women’s employment

Answer 3

• The 1970 Equal Pay Act which makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value. Since 1975, the pay gap between men and women halved from 30% to 15%. The proportion of women in employment had risen from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013.
• These changes have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work, rather than as housewives. Greater career opportunities and better pay for women are incentives for girls to gain qualifications.

Question 4

(E) 4. Girls’ changing ambitions

Answer 4

• (Sue Sharpe’s) interviews with girls in show a major shift the way girls see in the future. In 1974, girls had low aspirations and believed educational success was unfeminine and considered as unattractive. In 1990, girls had changed their priorities, prioritised their careers and being able to support themselves.
• Fuller’s (2011) study saw some girls who saw educational success as a centre aspect of their identity .

Question 5

Class, Gender and Ambition

Answer 5

Some working class girls continue to have gender stereotyped aspirations for marriage and children
- Diana Reay: the limited aspirations reflect the limited job opportunities for that social class.

Question 6

(Internal) 1. Equal Opportunities Policies

Answer 6

Feminist ideas have impacted the school system, now there is the belief that boys + girls are equally capable and should be allowed the same opportunities- this has changes education policies.
- GIST (Girls In Science + Technology) - encourages careers in non-traditional gender careers.
- 1988 National Curriculum - removed inequality by making boys and girls study mainly the same subjects.

Kelly: Making science compulsory = equal opportunity
Boaler: Equal opportunity policies is the reason for changes in girls achievements as the barriers are removed and makes it more meritocratic. Girls who try harder get better grades than boys.

Question 7

(I) 2. Positive Role in School

Answer 7

Increase in proportion of female teachers and heads. In 1992, 22% of heads were female and in 2012, 37% of heads were female in secondary schools. Shows girls they can achieve non-traditional goals.

Question 8

(I) 3. GCSE and Courework

Answer 8

Some sociologists argue that changes in the way pupils are assessed have favoured girls and disadvantaged boys.

Gorard
- Introduction of GCSEs increased the gender gap as coursework was brought in

Mitsos and Browne
- Girls more successful in coursework because they are better organised, spend more time on work, meet deadlines, take care of presentation and are better equipped

Question 9

(I) 4. Teacher Attention

Answer 9

• Jane and Peter French (1993) : Analysed classroom interaction and found boys receive more attention as they need more reprimands.
• Swann (1998): Also found gender differences in communication styles.Boys dominate in whole class discussion, whereas girls prefer pair work and group work. They are better at listening and cooperating compared to boys who aren’t.
• This could explain why teachers respond more positively to girls, as they are more cooperative than boys. May lead to self-fulfilling prophecy in which successful interactions with teachers promote girls’ self esteem and raise their achievement levels.

Question 10

(I) 5. Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

Answer 10

• Some sociologists argue the removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks and learning materials has benefited girls’ achievement.
• Gary Weiner (1995) that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged stereotypes. The removal of sexiest images in learning materials have helped raise girls’ achievement by presenting them with more positive images if what women can do.

Question 11

(I) 6. Selection and league tables

Answer 11

• Marketisation policies have created a competitive climate, where schools select pupils based on exam results.
• David Jackson (1998) notes that the introduction of league tables has improved opportunities of girls: high achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low achieving boys aren’t.
• Roger Slee (1998) argues that boys are less attractive to schools because they are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and four times more likely to be excluded. Boys are seen as ‘liability’ students.

Question 12

(I) Two view of girls’ achievement

Answer 12

• Liberal feminist: celebrate the progress made so far and that further improvements will come
• Radical feminists: the system remains patriarchal: sexual harassment of girls in schools continues, education still limits girls subject choice, male teachers still dominate powerful roles, women are underrepresented in the curriculum for example the history syllabus

Question 13

Identity, Class and Girls’ Achievement: Symbolic Capital

Answer 13

• Feminists such as Louise Archer et al (2010), believe one reason for these differences is the conflict between working class girls’ feminine identities and the values and ethos of the school. She uses the concept of ‘symbolic capital’ to understand the conflict and refers to the status, recognition and sense of worth that we are able to obtain from others.
• She found performing their working class feminine identities, the girls gained symbolic capital from their peers. However, brought them into conflict with school as it prevented them from acquiring educational capital and economic capital.

Question 14

Identity, Class and Girls’ achievement

Answer 14

• According to Archer, from the schools point of view, the ‘ideal female pupil identity is a de-sexualised and middle-class one that excludes many working class girls.
• Having boyfriends brought symbolic capital but it also got in the way of schoolwork and lowered girls’ aspirations. Lost interest in studying masculine subjects such as science or gaining a professional career. Instead these girls wanted to settle down, work locally in feminine jobs.
• Some working class girls adpoted ‘loud’ feminine identities which led them to be outspoken, for example questioning teachers’ authority. This failed to conform to the school’s stereotype of the ideal female pupil identity as passive and submissive to authority and brought on conflict with teachers.

Question 15

Identity, Class and Girls’ achievement

Answer 15

• Working-class girls are faced with a dilemma: either gain symbolic capital from their peers by conforming to a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity or gaining educational capital by rejecting working class identity and conforming to the school’s middle class notions of a respectable, ideal female pupil.
• Archer argues that working class feminine identities and educations, success conflict with one another. Working class girls’ investments in their feminine identities are a major cause of their underachievement.

Evans study of 21 working-class girls: they wanted to go to university but only to gain earning power to provide for their families. This reflects their WC feminine identities

• Girls in university are disadvantaged by gender and class identities.
• This reflects working-class feminine identity and Skeggs argue that caring is a crucial role of their identity.
• Evans (2009) found that girls wants to go to earning power to help their families.
• Economic necessity was a reason to stay because of debt averse.
- This limits choices of university and the market value.

Question 16

Boys and achievement

Answer 16

• DCSF (2007), Playing for success are all campaigns to get more boys into reading. Mothers often read to their children before bed so they associate reading with being effeminate. Poor language and literacy are likely to affect boys performed across a wide range of subjects. In response to this problem, government has introduced a range of policies to improve boys’ skills.
• Since 1980s there has been a decline in heavy industries, such as iron & steel & engineering resulting in the globalisation of economy. Mitsos & Browne claim that this decline in male employment opportunities has led to an identity crisis for men. Boys believes that they have little prospect for getting proper job, which undermines motivation & self esteem, thus causing them to give up trying to get qualifications.
• Sewell: Boys fall behind because education has become feminised - schools no longer nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness and leadership. Instead they favour trait girls typically have such as discipline and attentiveness. He also sees that coursework is a huge source of difference in achievement, some coursework should be replaced with exams and a greater emphasis on outdoor activities.
• shortage of male primary school teachers have resulted in a lack of male role models at school and home as well as an increase in lone parent families means no male figures.

Question 17

Boys and achievement

Answer 17

• Absence of male role models may not be a major factor in boys underachievement. Francis 2006 - 2/3 of 7-8 year olds believed gender teachers don’t matter.
• Growth of laddish subcultures has contributed to boys underachievement. Epstein 1998 examined the construction of masculinity in schools. Working class boys likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies & subjected to homophobic verbal abuse if appeared to be swots. Boys are concerned about being labelled as swots, and see this as a threat to their masculinity. According to Francis, laddish subcultures is becoming increasingly widespread l she argues as girls move into traditional masculine areas such as careers boys respond by ‘becoming increasingly laddish to construct themselves as non-feminine.
• Critics of feminism state policies to promote girls’ achievement are no longer needed as girls possess ‘girl power’ and take men’s jobs. Ringrose (2013) argues that this moral panic has caused a major shift in educational policy. By narrowing equal opportunities policy down simply to failing boys, it ignores the problems of disadvantaged working class and minority ethnic groups. As well as narrowing gender policy down solely to the issue of issue of achievement gaps, it ignores other problems faced by girls in school.

Question 18

Gender, Class and Ethnicity

Answer 18

• McVeigh- similarities in girls’ and boys’ achievement are bigger than the differences, especially compared with class or ethnic differences. E.g. the class gap in achievement is 3x wider than the gender gap. As a result, boys and girls of the same social class achieve similar results.
• The extent to which gender influences achievement is dependent on the individual’s ethnic group. As Fuller shows, many black girls are successful at school because they define their femininity in terms of educational achievement.

Question 19

Gender and Subject Choice

Answer 19

• National Curriculum gives children little choice in subjects until age 16, however once possible they tend to follow ‘gender routes’. Boys tend to chose maths and physics while girls chose subjects like sociology, english, and languages. Boys & girls subjects. Boys do maths & physics, girls do Spanish & English. National curriculum gives pupils little frees to choose or drop subjects.

Question 20

Gender and subject choice

Answer 20

• Boys and girls and men and women are socialized to understand themselves in “masculine” or “feminine” roles. This includes dependence and nurturing for women and independence and intellect for men. This socialization starts from an early age. Norman (1988) shows this. Janette Elwood (1998) shows how these lead to different subject choice, such as why boys prefer science subjects and girls prefer english.
• Browne and Ross (1991) argue that childhood beliefs about ‘gender domains’ are shaped by their early experiences and expectations of adults. In the study of Browne and Ross’ - when asked to design a boat boys drew powerboats or battleships while girls drew cruise ships. Showing how the genders tackle a task differently.
• The gender image a subject ‘gives off’ affects who will want to choose it. Science is seen as a boy’s subject as science teachers are more likely to be men and boys monopolise apparatus and dominate laboratories. Kelly argues this.
• Pupils who go to a single sex school make less gender specific subject choices and hold less stereotypical views. Leonard (2006) found girls in these schools were more likely to pick science and maths at A Level.

Question 21

Gender and subject choice

Answer 21

-Paechter (1998) found that they see sports as a male gender domain.
○ This contradicts with female stereotypes.
• Dewar (1990) found that men calls girls lesbians if they are interested in sports.
○ Peer pressure is a powerful influence on gender identity.
○ They can police the subject choices which adopts appropriate gender identity.
○ The absence of peer groups explains why girls in single-sex are likely to choose male subjects.
- There is less pressure to conform to restrictive stereotypes.

• Employment is highly gendered: jobs tend to be ‘sex-typed’ as men’s and women’s. Women’s jobs often involve work similar to that performed by housewives, e.g. childcare and nursing. Whereas, men are more on the labour side, this includes engineering, construction etc.

Question 22

Pupils sexual and gender identities

Answer 22

• Ways pupils experiences in school help construct & reinforce their gender & sexual identities. Connell (1995) calls hegemonic masculinity, dominance of heterosexual masculine identity & subordination of female & gay identities.
• Double standards: Lees (1993) identifies a double standard of sexual morality in which boys boast about their sexual exploits yet if girls did the same they would be labelled ‘slags’ if they didn’t have a steady boyfriend or speak or act in a certain way.
• Verbal abuse: Paetcher sees name calling as helping to shape gender identity and maintain male power, the use of labels such as ‘gay’, ‘queer’ or ‘lezzie’ are ways in which pupils police each other’s sexual identities.
• Male gaze: Mac an Ghaill examined how peer groups reproduced a range of different class-based masculine gender identities. They see the make gaze as a form of surveillance through dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued.
• Male peer groups: They use verbal abuse to reinforce masculinity and so this justifies male power and devalues women as a form of social control. Mac an Ghaill (1994) found how peer groups reproduce class-based masculine identities. Working-class macho lads were dismissive of other working-class boys who worked hard to refer to them as ‘dickheads’.
• Female peer groups: Females ‘police’ each other - too much of a sexualised identity where they compete for boys and they risked slut shaming. Girls who don’t compete for boyfriends risk frigid shaming.
• Teachers and discipline: Mairtin Mac an Ghaill saw teachers help reinforce gender identities as male teachers have told boys off for ‘behaving like girls’ and male teachers often ‘rescue’ female colleagues from disruptive students.