Education Topic 4(gender differences in achievement)

Question 1

Girls external factors- Impact of feminism

Answer 1

**McRobbie **studied girls magazines and found that in the 1970s, they emphasised the importance of getting married. However, nowadays, they contain images of strong, assertive and independent women.

Feminists have campaigned for women’s rights and changes in the law (eg. equal rights)

Question 2

Girls external factors- Changes in women’s employment

Answer 2

Changes in the law have improved the position of working women, for example the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975).

Question 3

Girls external factors- Girls changing ambitions

Answer 3

Sharpe interviewed girls and found that their ambitions in the 1970s were to marry and have children, and saw their future in terms of a domestic role. However, in the 1990s, the girls priorities had changed to careers and wanting to be independent.

Question 4

Girls internal factors- GCSE and Coursework

Answer 4

Mitos and Brown found that girls do better than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised.
Gorad found that the gender gap in achievement increased sharply when GCSE was introduced in 1988.

Question 5

Girls internal factors- Equal opportunities policy

Answer 5

GIST and WISE programmes to encourage girls into science and technology.

National curriculum - girls and boys largely study the same subjects (eg. by making science compulsory).

Question 6

Girls internal factors- Role models

Answer 6

There are more female teachers, which feminises the learning environment and encourages girls to see school as part of a ‘female gender domain’.

Question 7

Girls internal factors- Teacher attention

Answer 7

Swann found that boys dominate class discussions, whereas girls are better at listening and cooperating. Teachers respond more positively to girls and give them more encouragement.

French and French found that teachers paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons, but boys received more attention overall because they were disciplined more often.

Question 8

Girls internal factors- Selection and league tables

Answer 8

Marketisation policies have led to increased competition between schools. Schools therefore have the incentive to recruit more able students. Girls are generally more successful than boys, so are more attractive to schools.

Question 9

Boys external factors- boys literacy

Answer 9

Parents spend less time reading to sons because it is seen as a ‘feminine’ activity.
Boys leisure interests do not encourage language and communication skills, whereas gitls ‘bedroom culture’ does.

Question 10

Boys external factors- Decline in manual labour

Answer 10

Globalisation had led to the decline in heavy industries (eg. shipbuilding, mining and manufacturing) in the UK. This has led to a male ‘identity crisis’, giving them little motivation to get qualifications for a job.

Question 11

Boys internal factors- feminisation of schooling

Answer 11

Boys fall behind because education has been ‘feminised’, meaning schools no longer nurture masculine traits.

The introduction of coursework has disadvantages boys.

Lack of male primary school teachers - only 1 in 6 primary school teachers are male.

Question 12

Boys internal factors- Laddish subcultures

Answer 12

There is peer-pressure on boys to demonstrate their masculinity by being ‘anti-school’.