Gender

Question 1

Sex

Answer 1

refers to the biological differences between men and women

Question 2

Gender

Answer 2

refers to the cultural differences between – it is to do with social norms surrounding masculinity and femininity.

Question 3

Gender identitiy

Answer 3

is an individual’s own sense of their own gender. Their private sense of whether they feel masculine, feminine, both or neither, irrespective of their biological sex

Question 4

Femininity

Answer 4

Femininity (also called womanliness or girlishness) is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles generally associated with women and girls. … It is distinct from the definition of the biological female sex, as both males and females can exhibit feminine traits.

Question 5

Masculinity

Answer 5

“Masculinity” refers to the behaviours, social roles, and relations of men within a given society as well as the meanings attributed to them. The term masculinity stresses gender, unlike male, which stresses biological sex. Thus studies of masculinities need not be confined to biological males.

Question 6

Talcott Parsons 1950

Answer 6

In the 1950s Functionalist sociologist Talcott Parsons argued that these biological differences meant there were ‘natural’ social roles that men and women should fulfil in society –
• women should perform the expressive role, or caring and nurturing role.
• men should perform the instrumental role, or the ‘breadwinner’ role – going out and earning money.

Question 7

Gender sterotype

Answer 7

is a generalised view or preconception about attributes or characteristics, or the roles that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by, women and men.

Question 8

What percentage are women more liekly to go to university than men

Answer 8

35%

Question 9

At A-level :

Answer 9

Girls outperformed boys in gaining grades A*-C by 8.9%

Question 10

At GCSE level:

Answer 10

79.7%of girls achieved A*-C grades compared with 75% of biys

Question 11

EVALUATING TRENDS - Joint Council for Qualification (JCQ)

Answer 11

Figures suggest that boys’ achievement has improved in recent years, especially to those with A-levels. Since especially to those with A-levels. Since 2006 the achievement gap has narrowed .

Question 12

Colley (1998)

Answer 12

Stresses the influenve of socialistation by the family and influential peers who subscribe to gendered steryotypes

Question 13

Edwards and David (2000)

Answer 13

Indicates that parents believ certain toys, games and activities are suitable only for particular sexes.
This may result in some females being “steered away: from courses traditionally dominated by males, and vise versa

Question 14

The institiute of Physics (2013)

Answer 14

Suggests non-science teachers and career advisers often subscribe to traditional gender steryotypes
Girls in single-sex schools were 2.5 times more likeluy that those in comprehensive schools to study physics and maths at univeristy

Question 15

Kelly (1987)

Answer 15

Noted that most science teachers in comprehensive schools in the 1980s were male and focused on their achievements
Science laborities were seen as a masculine environement while scientific and technical equipment was monopilised by boys.

Question 16

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES -

Answer 16

Changes in the economy from the 1960s onward increased the number of jobs and careers available to females
Social policies in the form of equal opportunity and pay laws improved the edcuational and employment options of females
The rise of the dual-career family meant that working mums became posiitve role models fro their daughters

Question 17

Wilki

Question 18

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES -Wilkinson (1999)

Answer 18

argues that feminist ideas emphasising equality between the sexes and women having careers filtered down to girls via the media in the 1980s and 1990s (despite the fact that girls might not be conscious or openly supportive of such ideas today).

Question 19

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES -Beck (1992)

Answer 19

argues that Western societies
became increasingly individualised in the latter quarter of the 20th century. As a result, the aspirations of girls became more self-orientated compared with previous generations of women.

Question 20

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES - Sue Sharpe (1976)

Answer 20

According to surveys carried out by the Liberal feminist Sue Sharpe (1976), girls no longer prioritise traditional pathways of marriage and motherhood. Instead, they prioritise education, career and less reliance on men.

Question 21

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES - Francis and Skelton

2005

Answer 21

Interviews conducted by Francis and Skelton (2005) found that the majority of primary and secondary school female students see having a career (rather than marriage or being a mother) as the most important influence on their future
identity as a woman.

Question 22

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES -Edwards and David (2000)

Answer 22

Edwards and David (2000) suggest that gender- differentiated primary socialisation gives girls an initial advantage in both primary and secondary schools because:

Question 23

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES - Edward and Davidson (2000) - REASONING

Answer 23

• girls may have better language skills than boys (mothers talk to baby girls more frequently than baby boys); as a result, girls are more experienced at talking and listening by the time they get to secondary school
• girls are taught by their parents to conform to more formal standards of behaviour than boys, so they are less likely to misbehave in the classroom. By the age of seven, girls are more likely than boys to pay attention in class.

Question 24

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES - Burns and Bracey (2001)

Answer 24

found that secondary school girls generally work harder and are more
motivated than boys. On average, girls put more effort into their work and spend more time on homework.

Question 25

EVALUATION OF EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Answer 25

— Despite 30 years of gender equality in education, employment remains deeply segregated in terms
of men dominating particular types of jobs (e.g. science and engineering), top jobs and pay, while the
majority of low-paid and part-time workers are women (2016).

— The fact that working-class girls underachieve, and still follow traditional gender paths into low-paid,
low-skilled jobs and early motherhood, suggests social class may be more important than gender as a differentation

Question 26

EVALUATION OF EXTERNAL INFLUENCES - Radical Feminists

Answer 26

• ( Radical feminists argue that most of the changes to the education system are largely cosmetic because, regardless of improvements in girls’ education and achievement, the glass ceiling is still firmly in place. Job opportunities for females are still limited by patriarchal assumptions that men should be the main breadwinners and a woman’s place remains in “the home

Answer 27

— Equal opportunity policies have raised the consciousness of both teachers and female pupils and created a more girl-friendly environment in schools, which has positively encouraged female achievement both inside and outside of school.
— The national curriculum, introduced in 1988, was gender neutral. It encouraged boys and girls to study the same subjects.

Question 28

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — Arnott (1998)

Answer 28

argues that most girls prefer
open-ended, process-based tasks
- especially project and source-based work such as coursework.

Question 29

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — Gorard (2005)

Answer 29

— Argues introduction of coursework into GCSE curricula in 1989 benefitted girls because they are more conscientious and have better organisational skills than boys.
— RECENT REDUCTION in both GCSE & A-LEVEL may be partly responsible for recent narrowing gender gap in exams/ educational performance
— Inc in female teachers = more posiitve role models

Question 30

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — Weiner(1995)

Answer 30

Argues that gendered stereotypes,

were removed from classrooms and textbooks.

Question 31

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED —Fuller (2009)

Answer 31

suggested that teachers see some girls (especially middle class girls) as “ideal students” and interact with them in a positive way, improving their self-esteem, motivation and success rates.

Question 32

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — The marketisation of education

Answer 32

May have benefitted females because girls may be seen by academically successful schools as better recruits than boys. This is because they are
perceived as more hard-working and less likely to be disruptive.

Question 33

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — EVALUATION - Sue Johnson (2014)

Answer 33

notes that women’s history still has a very low profile in many schools.

Question 34

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — EVALUATION — Fiona Terry (1989)

Answer 34

found a lack of women’s history skewed students’ understanding of the subject,
marginalised women and ensured they had low status.

Question 35

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — EVALUATION— Fuller overall observation

Answer 35

observations of classes and interviews with students in a single-sex school found mixed evidence with regard to the influence of teacher labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 36

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — EVALUATION— Fuller - Working Class

Answer 36

Working-class girls had low expectations in terms of jobs. This meant they chose not to push themselves and often left school as early as possible.

Question 37

GIRLS SUCCEEDING: INTERNAL INFLUENCES — SCHOOL BASED — EVALUATION— Fuller - Middle class

Answer 37

Middle-class high achievers largely accepted teachers judgements
about their ability. However, they still believed they could succeed - even when teachers were less positive about their progress.

Question 38

OFFICIAL STATISTICS:

Answer 38

2015 - girls are out performing boys - 61.7% of girls achieved at least 5 A*- C GCSEs grades including English and maths compared to 51.6% of boys

10% gap

Question 39

Explaining the status of boys

Answer 39

•they proposed wider society - Hartley and
Sutton(2011) They proposed wider society,
parents and the media contributed to boys
under performance by routinely using
phrases like ‘silly boys’, ‘school boy pranks’

Question 40

The family and peers -

Answer 40

activities undertaken in the
home maybe sex-stereotyped, boys
underachievement may be due to poorer literacy and
language skills. One reason for this maybe that
parents may be spending less time reading to their
sons. Another maybe that is mothers who do most of
the reading to you children come to see reading as a
feminine activity. Boys may have an ‘outdoor’ lifestyle,
sport etc. with other boys, girls tend to have a
“bedroom culture’ centred on staying in and talking
with friends. See above for the role of family structure
and the potential issue of single parenthood - male
role model?

Question 41

Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s

jobs:

Answer 41

Since the 1980’s there has been a signiticant
decline in heavy industries such as iron and steel,
mining and engineering. Traditionally, these sectors of
the economy mainly employed men. Some argue that
this has caused an identity crisis for men
not being
able to identify their job prospects will have significant
impact on motivation to gain qualifications - this may
be interacting with class, as these are manual jobs and
but it does bring up the question of qualification as
measurement as previously these jobs would have
required few qualifications.

Question 42

INTERNAL FACTORS FOR GIRLS - socila processes in the classroom - Stanworth (1983)

Answer 42

found that teachers learned boys names more quickly, held higher academic and career expectation of boys and tended to upgrade boys work whilst downgrading that of girls.

Question 43

INTERNAL FACTORS FOR GIRLS - socila processes in the classroom - Spender (1982)

Answer 43

argued that girls were ‘invisible’ in the classroom, receiving less teacher attention than boys do and having sexist abuse largely ignored and unpunished.

Question 44

TEACHER EXPECTIATION - Becky Francis (2001)

Answer 44

claims that teachers are less likely to see boys as the ‘ideal students’- lower expectation + more likely to be labelled as disruptive

Question 45

TEACHER EXPECTIATION - Fuller (2009)

Answer 45

suggests teachers see girls as the “ideal” (particularly MC girls) boosting their ego and self esteem

Question 46

CONTRADICTION TO FULLER Ward 2015

Answer 46

student identity buffers teacher perception and indicates that labellelijg theory is too “deterministic”
FULLERS own interview and observations were completed at a sinfke sex school
economical factors maybe result in WC girls leaving school for lack of choice

Question 47

The organisation of teaching and learning - Delivery and assessment of the curriculum (Delamont, 1999).

Answer 47

The way in which the curriculum is delivered and assessed favours
girls’ learning styles.

Question 48

FAILING BOYS EXTERNAL INFLUENCES: Edward and David (2000)

Answer 48

Argue that boys mature more slowly than girls becuase primary socilasation in the family encourages boys to be more boisterous and attention seeking
THEREFORE they may have a lack of attention in the classroom.
PARENTS READ LESS TO BOYS

Question 49

FAILING BOYS EXTERNAL INFLUENCES:Burns and Bracy (2001)

Answer 49

Found that the socialisation of boys may lead to over- confidence. found that:
boys suprised when they fail in exams - tend to put their faliure down to bad luck NOT lack of effort

Question 50

FAILING BOYS EXTERNAL INFLUENCES: Frosh (2001)

Answer 50

Found that boys behavious tends to be shaped by their perr groups.
That boys regarded school work as “feminine”
Engaged in hyper-manly behaviour E.G BULLYING the more acacdemic biys

Question 51

FAILING BOYS SCHOOL-BASED INTERNAL INFLUENCES

Answer 51

• boys do less well in coursework due to lack of organisation
• educational policy has been aimed at improving girls’ educationall opportunities at the expense of boys’ educaation

Question 52

FAILING BOYS SCHOOL-BASED INTERNAL INFLUENCES: Becky Francis (2001)

Answer 52

Claims that teachers are less likely to see and label boys as “ideal students”
TEACHERS LABEL THEM AS DISRUPTIVE

Question 53

RESEARCH ON DELIVERY AND ASSESMENT OF CURRICULUM:Mitsos and Browne (1998)

Answer 53

BOYS prefer: Exams, individual work and competitive risk taking

GIRLS prefer: Coursework, group work, organised and communicative work

Question 54

SCHOOL-BASED INTERNAL INFLUENCES: Mitsos and BROWNE (1998)

Answer 54

Suggests that teachers have lower expectations of boys: unorganised, late, rushed etc
THESE EFFECTS CONSEQUENTLY DEPRESS THEIR ACHIEVEMENT

Question 55

SCHOOL-BASED INTERNAL INFLUENCES: Jackson (2006)

Answer 55

Labelling of boys lead to self-fulfilling prophecy, as some boys reat to teacher labelling by turning anti-school subcultures