Female Attainment: Gender And Education Flashcards
External Factors pt 1: influencing different exam achievement levels
Impact of….
- Impact of feminism
Feminists have challenged stereotypes of women’s role in society, encouraged a broader role than a ‘housewife’ and focus on employment. Publicly raised awareness about domestic violence, inequality etc by using images,role model
Girls are now more focused than boys
External factors pt 2: changes in…
- Changes in family
Women are more likely to see a need to be economically independent, may be due to..
More likely to head lone-parent household
More likely to petition for divorce
More likely to cohabit for longer to ‘trial run’ relationship
These factors rely on women needing to be financially independent. Children being raised in a dual-income/lone-parent household - see role model
External factors pt 3: changes in..
Changes in female employment
1970 Equal Pay Act + 1975 Sex Discrimination Act have improved position of women in labour market. The increase in service sector jobs e.g. Hospitality has given women more opportunities as favour skills-communication, team-work shown by women more than men
‘The Glass Ceiling’ has begun to break as more women are reaching higher level positions
External factors pt 4: Girls…
Girls changing ambitions
Wilkinson argues women undergone ‘genderquake’ as their attitude changes compared w/mother and grandmother. No longer see life being restricted by family, saw importance of economic independence
Sue sharpe compared girls from 1970s + 1990s
1970s: low aspirations, educational success was unfeminine, top priorities-marriage,love,husband
1990s: high aspirations, educational success was a priority, marriage wasn’t key concern
External factors: girls aspirations pt 2
Beck argues as our society has continued to emphasise individualism and independence,a career has become more important in women’s ‘life-project’ as it can provide sign or economic self-sufficiency
Fuller found educational success was central to a girls own identity, believed that education was meritocratic believing their future was in their own hands - aiming for employment
Internal Factors:
1. Equal Opportunity policies
Stanworth and Spender found in past, boys were questioned more than girls, work graded higher than girls w/same material, more attention was given to boys - expected more
GIST(Girls Into Science + Technology)
WISE(Women Into Science + Engineering)
National curriculum removed some gender inequalities, made core subjects of science + tech compulsory so girls able to develop skills/interest
Internal factors
2. Positive role models in schools
Been an increase in female teachers in schools, these can act as positive role models,motivating girls to get high qualifications
Schools have tried to actively recruit female staff in delivering traditional male subjects
Internal factors:
3. GCSE and Coursework
Mitsos and Browne claim that coursework helps girls as: spend longer re-drafting work, are more organised at meeting deadlines, able to concentrate longer than boys so spending longer on presentation, more organised in having correct equipment needed to produce required work
Argue these differences are due to gender role socialisation in the family which encourages girls to be tidy,patient whilst boys - active and chaotic
Internal factors:
4. Teacher Labelling
French argues boys receive more attention than girls within classroom as usually they're reprimanded more. Found boys tended to be disciplined more harshly + teachers had lower expectations of them Swann found boys tried to dominate whole-class discussions often interrupting other students while they're making contributions whilst girls preferred to work in pairs+small groups, felt they could listen better+cooperate w/out boys trying to control
Internal factors:
5. Challenging stereotypes in the Curriculum
Textbooks in 1970s often portrayed males+females doing V.traditional roles especially in schools
In male/female subjects most/all images would’ve been of the sex of the student most likely to take that subject reproducing an expectation
Internal factors:
6. Selection and League tables
Marketisation has created a climate of competition between schools which has resulted in a desirability for schools in recruiting more girls as they’re more likely to achieve higher grades in exams
Boys are 4x more likely to be excluded than girls resulting in lower grades in exams as they missed work- don’t want to run a risk on ‘liability students’ who could lower position in league table+deter more desirable students from attending
3 things liberal feminists would say
WISE and GIST
Female Teachers - positive role models
Same subjects - able to do what they want to
3 things radical feminists would say
Patriarchal ideology: dominance of equipment+physical environment, headteachers (mostly male), segregated
Dress code: gender ‘female’, stigmatised if challenge gender roles
Subject choice: encouraged to do ‘feminine’ subjects
Identity, class and girls achievement Archer
Outlines w/c girls are likely to underachieve, the girls were keen to gain a sense of status and recognition from peers, gave symbolic capital
Girls use strategies to gain status
1. Having a boyfriend: focus on ‘settling down’, gaining feminine jobs and having kids
2. Being loud: brought the girls status so would often challenge teachers, seen as aggressive, -ve label
3. Hyper-heterosexuality: involve constructing ‘glamorous’ appearance w/makeup etc. Would avoid -ve label (slut) schools saw ‘ideal female pupil’ as de-sexualised and m/c
Explanation for different subject choice
- Gender role socialisation
Browne and Ross state kids develop ideas of ‘gender domains’ based on early experiences there are the areas of life, they begin to associate as being for males and those for females e.g. Child-care for ‘girls’/ mending cars for ‘boys’
Kids tend to feel more confident when working on tasks they perceive to be part of their ‘gender domain’, pay more attention to these subjects+develop an interest in them n choose to study them
- Gendered subject images: refers to whether a subject is perceived to be masculine/feminine
Kelly argues science is seen as male as:
1) Teachers tend to be male 2) E.g. Given tend to reflect make interests 3) Boys monopolise equipment+the space within the lessons
Colley says things about ict, involves machines it falls into male gender domain but not girls’ domain
Those who attended single-sex schools instead of co-educational schools tended to hold less stereotyped views+more likely to take Alevels associated w/the opposite gender e.g. Girls 2.5x likely to choose Alevel physics if attended single-sex schools
- Gender Identity + peer pressure
The pressure from other students around them may influence a student to choose a particular subjects, often not working to choose subjects out of their gender domain to avoid -ve response
Dewar found that girls who were seen as ‘sporty’ had to cope w/having an u conventional gender domain, called ‘lesbian’ and ‘butch’ by male students
- Career opportunities
Employment is highly gendered, students choose subjects that they feel will help contribute their chances of gaining employment
Women’s jobs often involve work similar to their duties in the home e.g. Childcare, nursing
W/c girls were more likely than m/c to choose childcare as it reflected w/c habitus, reflected what they perceived to be a realistic option for them as a career, school work experience- own assumptions
Sexual and gender inequalities
Argued that schools help reinforce stereotypes recreating dominance of heterosexuality and masculinity, gives subordinate status to femininity and gay identities which could be referred as ‘hegemonic masculinity’
Sexual and gender identities
Double standards
Sue lees
Girls: socially confident, social partners and dress in a ‘sexual’ manner - slag
Boys: seen as a ‘lad’, to be passive and be sexually controlling
Sexual and gender identities
Verbal Abuse
Lads being called ‘gay’: discrimination
-> straight guy, inferior - 2nd rate
Girls being called ‘slag’,’slut’
Sexual and gender identities
Male Gaze
Men look women up and down
Surveillance technique by boys
Control, constantly watched - observed by men
Sexual and gender identities
Male Peer Groups
W/c lads (paul willis)
M/c sixth forms - lads
‘New Englishman’
-> respect, worked, conformed by hierarchy
Sexual and gender identities
Female Peer Groups
W/c girls - nervous of being called a ‘slut’
-> no girl wanted this association
M/c - pre school ‘beffin identity’
Sexual and gender identities
Teachers and discipline
Untraditional females/males assume heterosexuality
