4.7 Theorists

Question 1

Edwards and David

Female Primary Socialisation

Answer 1

Girls gain an advantage in education as they are spoken to more by their parents (improving language skills) and are taught to conform to formal behaviours.
Thus, by 7, they are more likely to pay attention and be self-disciplined. And, by secondary, they have a compliant motivational style.

Burns and Bracey showed that early socialisation was reflected in attitudes and behaviours through school; Girls, at secondary, are more motivated than boys and work harder.

Edwards and David claims male socialisation is differenty; at home, boys are allowed to be noisier and more attention-seeking than girls.
Thus, boys were more likely to break the rules at school and were less bothered about getting in trouble.

They observed that by the time boys started secondary school they had difficulties sitting still and concentrating. They could really only handle short term tasks and were less prepared than girls to just get on with work.

Question 2

Hannan

Peer group (secondary socialisation)

Answer 2

Girls and boys spend leisure time differently.
Boys relate to their peers by doing, whereas girls talk. Thus girls have an advantage as they have increased comprehension and writing skills.

Question 3

Crespi

Answer 3

argues that there is now a range of gender identities available to teenage girls, whereas previously these roles had been largely restricted to part time or domestic work

Question 4

Michelle Cohen

Answer 4

She said that, at the earlier stages of education, girls have always outperformed boys; dating back to when mass ed was introduced in UK.
Despite this, girls did not have the same oppurtunities in higher education as boys.

Question 5

Skelton and Francis

Answer 5

Note how explanations for female achievement are frequently discussed in terms of male underachievement focused around 3 main ideas:
1. Natural differences, such as differences in brain functions between boys and girls, explain differences in achievement
2. The feminisation of schooling gives girls distinct advantages over boys. Ideas here range from the lack of male role models to ‘female friendly’ teaching practices, curricula and assesment criteria that reflects a form of positive discrimination which favors girls.
3. Gender constructions and interpretations produce different behaviours that impact on achievement. This includes both teacher expecttions and interpretations– girls are increasingly seen as likely to achieve more than boys.

Question 6

Francis and Skelton

female identity

Answer 6

Chosen careers reflect their sense of identity.

They can gain future fulfilment from these, rather than it being a stopgap before marriage.

Question 7

Wilkinson and Sharpe

Answer 7

Feminist ideas were filtering down through education, media, and ultimately into families.
These ideas led to an increased emphasis on equal opportunities within schools.

Question 8

Jones and Myhill

Answer 8

argue that educational underachievement is defined by teachers in ways that are increasingly likely to identify boys- particularly white and black wc boys- as potential uderachievers.

Question 9

Warrington and Younger

Answer 9

found little difference between the percentage of boys and girls who leave school with no qualifications, but there are clear class and ethnic differences.

Question 10

Gillborn and Mirza

Answer 10

also argue that gender differences in achievement are small compared to class differences in achievement. Underachievement by wc and minority ethnic girls is frequently ignored by feminist and non feminists alike

Question 11

Haralambos and Holborn

Answer 11

They conclude that the difference in attainment is overestimated because, boys have been gaining ground on girls - the gap is narrowing.
Their results have been steadily improving at GCSE and A-Level (could this be due to a move away from traditional manual work to a service economy?)

Question 12

Mcdonald etal

Answer 12

The pronounced gender gap only exists in the wc class and state schools. This gap in attainment is negligible in the mcs.

Question 13

Jones and Myhill

Answer 13

argue that male identities that emphasise physical strength, sexual virility, and aggressiveness are unhelpful in terms of educational achievement. such masculinities create problems for teachers and play down the value of educational qualifications. Changes in both female identities and the workplace mean that some wc boys consider education to be irrelevant to their future.

Question 14

Myhill

Answer 14

believed that, despite doing better academically, girls are not actually receiving the best education. Their success is down to compliance and passivity.
Boys actually get a better education as they interact more with teachers.
This compliance may hinder girls in the workplace as few people get to the top jobs by being passive.

Question 15

Frosh etal

Answer 15

They based their identities under macho values. Frosh found that boys put very little value in school work. They saw it is feminine and unmanly.
They did not value schoolwork seeing it as silly and weak.
Instead, they spent more time engaging in hyper-masculine behaviour, such as bullying the academic boys (homophobic abuse) or being disruptive in class.

Question 16

Kindon and Thompson

Answer 16

Notes that boys are very overconfident. Even when a boy does not know an answer, they are still more likely to interrupt or attempt to answer. Boys usually put failure down to bad luck, whereas girls are more realistic and put in extra work to quell their self-doubts.

Francis disputes this claim and argues boys no longer see themselves as being more able than girls. Boys also have less realistic career aspirations (footballer) compared to girls (doctor), that require less academic qualis. Girls’ ambitions drive hard work.

Question 17

Francis

Answer 17

argues that changes within the school and wider society have altered the way girls construct femininity, they no longer see it mainly in terms of the home.

Question 18

Walker

Answer 18

identified changing conceptions of masculinity, in terms of ‘finding a role in a fast changing world’ as a challenge that many young men are unable to resolve in the education system. Masculinity (laddishness) emphasises and values things such as physical strength and sexual virility. Such ideas clash with educational achievement and can lead boys to get into trouble in school and underachieve.

Question 19

Lees

Answer 19

Described 3 types of attitude towards school and education among girls:
* pro-school girls, who valued school as an enjoyable place for socialising with friends, but who were generally anti-education; qualifications were not particularly important
* Pro education girl who fell into 2 main groups: those who valued education as enjoyable and worthwhile and those who took a more instrumental approach to their studies; qualifications were a necesarry means towards a desired end. They didnot value school for ‘its own sake’.
* Anti education girls who were also anti school; saw school as a waste of time, an unpleasant and uncomfortable period in their life that they had to get through before escaping into the adult world of work and family.

Question 20

Blackman

Answer 20

captured how tensions within the school contribute to subultural development:
* Boffin boys were generally conformist and pro school, with a group identity based on working hard and aspiring to social mobility.
* Boffin girls worked hard and were pro-school, although their conformity was occasionally instrumental. If what they saw as poor teaching for example, clashed with their academic aspirations, the latter took priority.
* New Wave girls shared this instrumental approach, but had a more ambivalent attitude towards school. While Boffin girls specialised in academic superiority, New Wave girls had wider interest and tastes. They geneally conformed academically but unlike Boffin girls, they were sexually active and more confident in their ability to challenge ideas and practices, particularly those they saw as patriarchal and sexist.
* Mod boys were generally ambivalent, walking a fine line between deviance nd conformity. These boys were generally anti school but pro education. They wanted academic qualifications but did not particularly value their schooling.

Question 21

Helen Wilkinson

Feminist

Answer 21

Claims that the increase in female aspiration and the depression of male expectation is due to the post-industrialisation of the past 30 years.

The economy and workforce have become increasingly feminised.
The increase in opps for women in the service sector means girls believe they can have more choice, providing them with the incentive of economic independence and a career.

Wilkinson states that female aspirations underwent a “genderquake”.

No longer restricted to family and motherhood; many now value qualifications and aspire to have careers.

Question 22

Sue Sharpe

(in support of Wilkinson)

Answer 22

She surveyed wc girls in London:

• (Just Like a Girl, 1976): Girls held trad views about womanhood, valuing marriage and children above careers.
• 1994: Priorities had changed - valued economic independence and careers over family.

Question 23

Beck

Answer 23

sees the changes in the family and education (increase of divorce, increase of lone parenthood, etc) as part of the risk society. The growth of risk and uncertainty has led to increased insecurity for both sexes. Relationships and jobs are insecure and cannot be relied upon in the long term as in the past - this creates a more individualised society.

It means women have to be more self-reliant and financially independent.
This increases the incentive to do well at school so they don’t have to be reliant on a husband in future.

Question 24

Epstein

Answer 24

Leads the ‘poor boys’ discourse, he blames the schools for male underachievement.
They ignore the learning needs of boys and fail to appreciate and understand their masculinity.
Some argue that schools should be made more masculine.

Female-dominated schools, exerting an emphasis on neatness and tidiness, may have a negative impact of boys.
They may feel alienated.

Question 25

Sukhanda et al

Answer 25

Claim that boys find schools to be alien places. Boys feel that they receive less support and encouragement from teachers. Teachers have higher expectations of girls and are more critical of boys for non-academic reasons (behaviour, scruffiness…).

Question 26

Coffey and Delamont

Answer 26

Believe schools to be patriarchal. The discourse of schools was fundamentally male - hierarchical and competitive. Further, most senior staff were men.
Many secondary schools were very masculine: authoritarian, regulatory, and sexist (some schools did not allow girls to wear trousers).

Question 27

Anne Colley

Answer 27

feels that stereotypical trends in subject choice are actually a problem, since the type of subjects girls choose (which then impact what they can do at uni) often leads to lower-status and lower-paid professions than boys.

Men often opt for STEM subjects whereas women tend to go into the Humanities, Arts, and Languages.
This could be a likely contributor to significant career differences between men and women.

Colley argued that the reason for this difference is partly to do with wider society. The influence of the family is significant - for example many parents believe there are toys only for one gender.

Colley also blames the education system for the difference in subject choice; Wider cultural views and stereotypes may permeate through the system - tradiional ideas about masc and fem may be held by teachers. These views are transmitted to students through teaching styles - girls in same-sex schools are 2x more likely to study Maths at uni.