EDUCATION: Gender - Internal factors

Question 1

What are the 5 internal factors for gender differences in achievement

Answer 1

• Equal opportunities policies
• Positive role models in school
• GCSE and coursework
• Selection and league tables
• Challenging stereotypes
• Teacher attention

Question 2

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICIES

• What
• Give 2 examples and how they support equal opportunities
• What does Boaler say about equal opportunities?

Answer 2

WHAT: Boys and girls being entitled to the same opportunities is now part of mainstream thinking
EXAMPLES:
- GIST (Girls into science and technology)
- WISE (Women into science and engineering)
both encourage girls to pursue careers into non-traditional areas
BOALER: Says many barriers have been removed and schooling has become more meritocratic, so girls who generally work harder than boys achieve more

Question 3

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICIES.2
Other examples of equal opportunities policies and how this impacts education achievement among genders
- Feminist scientist visiting schools…
- Introduction of the national curriculum…
- Careers advice…

Answer 3

FEMINIST SCIENTISTS: acts as role models for girls
NATIONAL CURRICULUM: Made boys and girls study the same subjects, which wasn’t the case before
CAREERS ADVICE: Provided is now non-sexist, and girls interests in science have been developed

Question 4

POSITIVE ROLE MODELS

- how does the increase in female teachers and heads impact educational achievement among genders

Answer 4

Increase in female teachers = role models for girls showing them women can achieve position of importance
- Also to become a teacher, the individual must take a lengthy education journey herself = encouragement for girls attainment in school

Question 5

GCSE AND COURESWORK

• What is argued
• What does Gorard say
• How does Mitsos + Browne support Gorard
• How do oral exams benefit girls
• How does Elwood criticise this

Answer 5

WHAT: Changes in pupil assessment have favoured girls and disadvantaged boys
GORARD: Gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 - 89. When GCSES and coursework was introduced was when it increased sharply
MITSOS + BROWNE: Girls are most successful in coursework as they are better organised
ORAL EXAMS: Benefit girls as they are generally better developed in their language skills, which is the result of early socialisation. They are likely to be encouraged to be neat and tidy

ELWOOD: Although coursework has some influence, its unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap as exams have much more influence on final grades

Question 6

TEACHER ATTENTION

• Jane + French
• Francis
• Swann - how does Swanns idea influence teachers perceptions of boys and girls and what does this cause

Answer 6

JANE + FRENCH: boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands
FRANCIS: boys were disciplined more harshly, teachers had lower expectations for them
SWANN: Gender differences in communication styles; boys dominate whole class discussion, girls are better at listening.
- Boys = more hostile environment in groups
- Girls = turn taking speech
- This may be why teachers respond more positively to girls = self-fulfilling prophecy promoting girls self-esteem = higher achievement

Question 7

CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES

• What is argued
• How did reading schemes in the 70’s and 80’s portray women
• Physics books?
• Maths books?
• What does Weiner argue `

Answer 7

WHAT: The removal of gender stereotypes from learning materials has removed a barrier to girls achievement
READING SCHEMES: portrayed women as housewives and mothers
PHYSICS BOOKS: Showed them as frightened by science
MATHS BOOKS: Depicted boys as more inventive
WEINER: Since the 80’s teachers have challenged these stereotypes

Question 8

SELECTION AND LEAGUE TABLES

• What
• What does Jackson say
• What does Slee say
• Define liability students and how does this influence schools perceptions of boys and girls

Answer 8

WHAT: Marketisation policies = more competitive climate - girls seen as desirable because they achieve better results
JACKSON: League tables makes boys less desirable = negative self-fulfilling prophecy - because girls are more likely to go to good schools, they are more likely to do well
SLEE: since boys are less attractive to schools = more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and 4x more likely to be excluded than girls
LIABILITY STUDENTS: Obstacles to the school improving its league table scores - they give the school a rough tough image that deters high achieving girls from applying