Gender Flashcards
What are some examples of gender equal opportunities policies? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> GIST (Girls Into Science/Technology), and WISE (Women Into Science/Engineering); both 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 also been provided.
=> Introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988; removed one source of gender inequality by making girls and boys study mostly the same subjects, which was often not the case previously.
=> Boaler’s study.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What is Boaler’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Sees the impact of equal opportunities policies as a key reason for the changes in girls’ achievement.
=> Many of the barriers have been removed and schooling has become more meritocratic (based on equal opportunities).
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What have been the changes in positive role models in schools? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> There has been an increase in the proportion of female teachers and headteachers.
=> These women in senior positions may act as role models for girls, showing them women can achieve positions of importance and giving them non-traditional goals to aim for.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Gorard’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Found that the gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 until 1989 when it increased sharply (due to the introduction of GCSEs).
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Mitsos and Browne’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Conclude that girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organized than boys.
=> Girls:
Spend more time on their work;
Take more care with the way it is presented;
Are better at meeting deadlines;
Bring the right equipment and materials to lessons.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Elwood’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
Despite the argument that today’s assessment system is seen to help girls achieve greater success than boys, it is unlikely the introduction of coursework is the only cause of the gender gap because exams have so much more influence than coursework on final grades.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was French and French’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
Boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Francis’ study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Found that while boys got more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers.
=> Teachers tended to have lower expectations of them.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Swann’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Boys dominate in a whole-class discussion.
=> Girls prefer pair work and group work where they are better at listening and cooperating.
=> When working in groups, girls’ speech involves turn-taking and not the hostile interruptions that often characterize boys’ speech.
=> This might be why teachers respond more positively to girls, whom they see as cooperative than to boys who they see as potentially disruptive.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Weiner’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Since the 1980s, teachers have challenged stereotypes and in general, sexist images have been removed from learning materials (e.g. stereotypes have been removed from textbooks, reading schemes, and other learning material).
=> This may have helped to raise girls’ achievement by presenting them with more positive images of what women can do.
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What was Jackson’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Marketization policies have created a more competitive climate in which schools see girls as desirable recruits because they achieve better exam results.
=> The introduction of exam league tables has improved opportunities for girls: high achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low achieving boys are not.
=> This tends to create a self-fulfilling prophecy
THIS IS AN INTERNAL FACTOR.
What impacts have there been as a result of feminism? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> Since the 1960s, the feminist movement has challenged the traditional stereotype of a woman’s role as solely that of a mother and housewife in a patriarchal nuclear family.
=> Has had considerable success in improving women’s rights and opportunities through changes in the law.
=> Feminism has raised women’s expectations and self-esteem.
THIS IS AN EXTERNAL FACTOR.
What was McRobbie’s study? Is this an internal or an external factor?
Studied girls’ magazines and discovered in the 1970s; they emphasized the importance of getting married whereas in today’s society, they contain images of assertive, independent women.
THIS IS AN EXTERNAL FACTOR.
What impacts have there been as a result of changes in the family? Is this an internal or an external factor?
There have been major changes in the family since the 1970s. These include:
An increase in the divorce rate;
An increase in cohabitation and a decrease in the number of first marriages;
An increase in the number of lone-parent families;
Smaller families.
THIS IS AN EXTERNAL FACTOR.
What impacts have there been as a result of changes in women’s employment? Is this an internal or an external factor?
=> The 1970 Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for women of equal value
=> The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act outlaws discrimination at work.
=> The proportion of women in employment has risen from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013.
=> Some women are now breaking through the glass ceiling – the invisible barrier that keeps them out of the high-level professional and managerial jobs.
THIS IS AN EXTERNAL FACTOR.
