Education- Gender and Differential Achievement Flashcards
Who generally get better results in primary school National Curriculum tests?
Girls
Who generally get better results in most GCSE subjects?
Girls
Who are generally more likely to pass their A-levels?
Girls
Who are generally more likely to go on to university?
Women
What do Mitsos and Browne say?
Teaching has become feminised
What does education becoming feminised mean?
Women are more likely to be class teachers (especially in primary schools) which gives girls positive role models
How have textbooks and teaching resources changed?
They are less likely to stereotype girls into passive roles
How did the National Curriculum help the feminisation of education?
It forced girls to do traditionally ‘male’ subjects such as science
What do Swann and Graddol think?
High female achievement is a result of the quality of interaction they have with teachers- teacher spend time with girls to help with work but teacher spend time with boys to focus on behaviour management
What does Jackson say?
Schools label boys negatively which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
What problems does Archer say that girls still face at school?
- High-achieving Asian girls get negatively labelled as being incapable of independent thought
- Black working-class girls are negatively labelled as loud and aggressive
- Ongoing achievement of girls is ‘fragile and problematic’
How does the way that girls are socialised help them at school?
They are socialised to be quieter, to listen to authority figures and to read more which is better suited to a classroom environment
How have policies changed the values of society and attitudes in school?
The Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act have created more equal opportunities
What did Sharpe find about girls’ ambitions?
They now want careers and qualification and to be financially independent, also by seeing other women go out to work it provides a positive role model
How did feminism benefit girls in education?
Caused a change in female expectations and made people more aware of inequality
How have changes in the labour market created opportunities for women?
Increase in size of service sector (traditionally female-dominated) and shrinking of primary sector (traditionally male-dominated)
How have changes in family structure changed female aspirations?
Women generally marry and have children later in life so they can peruse a career first, move towards more equal roles within households so women can seek work outside of the home
Why might an identity crisis cause boys to underachieve?
Rise of female independence, decline of breadwinner role, rise in male unemployment might mean that boys don’t see the point of school and form anti-school subcultures
What do interpretivists say about why boys underachieve?
Teachers have lower expectations of boys which can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy
What can the feminisation of education mean for boys?
They don’t have as many role models in the classroom
How might boys see reading?
As ‘girly’
How can not reading affect boys?
They may not develop vital communication skills
What was Willis’ study?
- Looked at why working-class children get working-class jobs
- Studied ‘the lads’
- Rejected school and formed anti-school subculture
- Coped with underachievement by having a subculture where education didn’t matter
What did Mac an Ghaill say?
Subcultures are complicated and boys could join a macho lad subculture because of a crisis of masculinity but could also join pro-school subculture and be proud of academic achievement
What was Fuller’s study?
Studied a group of African-Caribbean girls in London who formed a subculture that worked hard to prove negative labelling wrong
What kind of A-level subjects do boys and girls tend to take?
Girls tend to choose essay-based ones like English and religious studies
Boys tend to choose technical ones like maths and physics
How might gender socialisation influence subject choice?
Ideas of femininity and masculinity can create different expectations and stereotypes of what pupils should study
What did Kelly find?
Science is seen as a masculine subject and boys dominate the science classroom
How might parental expectations influence subject choice?
May encourage children to do what is traditional for their gender
How might teachers influence subject choice?
If a subject has more male teachers, they’re role models for boys
