Education- gender differences

Question 1

what are external factors?

Answer 1

• impact of feminism
• changes in the family
• changes in women’s employment
• girls changing perceptions and ambitions

Question 2

what is the impact of feminism?

Answer 2

• changes encouraged by feminism may affect girls self image and ambitions with regard to the family and careers

Question 3

what are impacts of changes in the family and why?

Answer 3

• increase in divorce rates, mean more lone parent families, women need to take on a breadwinner role
• thus make them want to achieve

Question 4

what are impacts of changes in women’s employment?

Answer 4

• 1970 equal pay act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value
• therefore girls see the future in terms of paid work rather than a housewife

Question 5

Sharp (1990s) on girls ambitions

Answer 5

found girls were now more likely to see the future as an independent women with a career rather than dependent on their husbands

Question 6

what are internal factors with gender differences?

Answer 6

• equal opportunities policies
• positive role models
• coursework
• teacher attention
• stereotypes in the curriculum
• selection and league tables

Question 7

what are equal opportunity policies?

Answer 7

• GIST (girls into science and technology)
• WISE (women into science and engineering)
• introduction of national curriculum, making boys and girls choose mostly the same subjects

Question 8

how do positive role models in schools impact gender achievement?

Answer 8

• increase in proportion of female teachers and head teachers
• act as role models for girls
• argues primary schools have become feminised with mainly female staff

Question 9

Eriene Mitsos and Ken Browne (1998) on coursework

Answer 9

• they conclude that girls are more successful in coursework as they’re more organised than boys

Question 10

Becky Francis (2001) on teacher attention?

Answer 10

• found while boys got more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers, who tended to have lower expectations

Question 11

how have selection and league tables impacted achievement?

Answer 11

• marketisation policies have created a more competitive climate in which schools see girls as desirable recruits as they achieve better exam results

Question 12

David Jackson (1998) on selection and league tables

Answer 12

• notes that the introduction of exam league tables, which place higher value on academic achievement, has improved opportunities for girls
• self fulfilling prophecy

Question 13

what are radcial feminists view of girls achievement?

Answer 13

• they emphasise that the system remains patriarchal
• sexual harassment of girls continue at school
• male teachers are still more likely to become heads of secondary schools

Question 14

why do boys have poorer literacy and language skills?

Answer 14

• parents spend less time reading to their sons

- boys leisure activities such as football and computer games, do little to help their language skills

Question 15

why has feminisation of education impacted male achievement?

Answer 15

• schools don’y nurture ‘masculine’ traits such as competitiveness and leadership

Question 16

what have laddish subcultures caused?

Answer 16

• contributed to boys under achievement
• W/C boys are likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies and subject to homophobia
• therefore tend to reject schoolwork

Question 17

Andrew Stables and Felicity Wikeley (1996) on national curriculum options

Answer 17

• where there’s a choice boys and girls choose differently

Question 18

what are explanations of gender subject choices?

Answer 18

• early socialisation
• gendered subject images
• peer pressure
• gendered career opportunities

Question 19

Eileen Byrne (1979) on early socialisation

Answer 19

• shows teachers encourage boys to be tough and show initiative and not be weak
• whereas girls are expected to be quiet

Question 20

Jannette Elwood (1998) on early socialisation

Answer 20

• boys read hobby books and information texts, while girls are more likely to read stories about people
• explains why boys prefer science and girls English

Question 21

why does Kelly argue science is seen as a boys subject?

Answer 21

• teachers are more likely to be men

- boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the laboratory, acting as if its theirs

Question 22

how does peer pressure effect subject choice?

Answer 22

• others may apply pressure to an individual if they disprove of his or her choice
• e.g. boys tend to opt out of music and dance as they fall out their gender domains

Question 23

how do pupils experience within schools reinforce their gender and sexual identity?

Answer 23

• verbal abuse
• male peer groups
• teachers and discipline
• the male gaze
• double standards

Question 24

how do male peer groups reinforce gender and sexual identity?

Answer 24

• use verbal language

- boys in anti-school subcultures often accuse boys who want to do well of being gay

Question 25

what is the male gaze?

Answer 25

• the way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects

Question 26

what do feminists see double standards as?

Answer 26

• as an example of a patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and devalues women