Equality Polices: Gender & Ethnicity Flashcards
Gender
Since the 1970s, however, policies such as Girls Into Science & Technology (GIST) & Women Into Science & Engineering (WISE) have been introduced to try to reduce gender differences in subject choice & encourage girls to pursue careers in these non-traditional areas. Female scientists have visited schools, acting as role models; efforts have been made to raise science teachers’ awareness of gender issues; non
sexist careers advice has been provided & learning materials in science reflecting girls’ interests have been developed.
Similarly, the National Curriculum was introduced in the 1988 ERA at which point girls took the same subjects as boys & were given an equal chance of success across the curriculum,
Ethnicity
Assimilation policies in the 1960s & 70s focused on the need for pupils from minority ethnic groups to assimilate into mainstream British culture as a way of raising their achievement, especially by helping those for whom English was not their first language. A related policy is that of compensatory education.
Multicultural education (MCE) policies through the 1980s & into the 1990s aimed to promote the achievements of children from minority ethnic groups by valuing all cultures in the school curriculum, thereby raising minority pupils’ self-esteem & achievements.
Social inclusion of pupils from minority ethnic groups, & policies to raise their achievement, became the focus in the late 1990s. Policies include:
• Detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity.
• Amending the Race Relations Act to place a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality. • English as an Additional Language programmes.
Ethnicity A03
However, MCE has been criticised by critical race theorists as mere tokenism – the idea that it picks out stereotypical features of minority cultures for inclusion in the curriculum, but fails to tackle institutional racism. The New Right also criticise MCE for continuing cultural divisions.
critics argue that some minority groups who are at risk of underachieving, such as African Caribbean pupils, already speak English & that the real cause of their underachievement lies in poverty or racism.
