GENDER Flashcards
Statistics for 2014/2015 girls vs boys GCSE
Percentage of girls achieving 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE was 10.7% higher than for boys. The same gap dropped to 9.9 the following year; however, girls still achieved higher
How much more likely are women going to university than men
35%
How has feminism played a part
The feminist movement has generated new ideas of and attitudes to women’s roles in society.
Previously, boys were expected to study and later go on to work and support their families financially while girls were taught to take domestic responsibilities, which often did not require extensive or high education.
Feminists challenged the idea that a woman’s role in society can only be fulfilled as a wife and mother.
Changing aspirations
Sue Sharpe (1994)
Sharpe did interviews with girls in the 1970s and in the 1990s. She was interested in their aspirations and values in life. She found that in the 1970s, girls predominantly valued finding love, having a husband, a family and a home to direct. These attitudes seemed to have changed.
In the 1990s, girls valued career achievement and financial independence highly
What needs to be done (liberal feminists)
- not equality in education or workplace
- equality of opportunity-policies can further the cause, and the challenging of sexist attitudes and stereotypes in school can also contribute to the development of equality.
What needs to be done (radical feminists)
- system too patriarchal so policies can only do very little
- girls subjected to sexism in schools
- male teachers more likely to be in charge such as headteacher
Cultural factors
- changing job opportunities (women taking on masculine roles)
- legal and opportunity changes (sex discrimination act 1975
what did Kelly find (1981)
textbooks presented images of mainly male scientists; there were very few female role models for school children interested in pursuing a career in science, and the classes were dominated by male teachers and students. She concluded that this resulted in sciences being perceived as ‘male’ subjects
What national projects were set up to encourage girls doing science
GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) and GATE (Girls And Technology Education) were the two most important programmes supporting girls’ involvement in science and technology.
National curriculum
boys and girls have access to all the same subjects
subject choice A-levels 2016
Chemistry- same
physics- male
maths- male
history- girls
sociology- girls
art- girls
English- girls
External factors reasoning for different gender subject choices
- Gender socialisation (Murphy and Elwood) boys spend time outside and fixing things making them want to take science
Internal factors reasoning for different gender subject choices
- Mitsos and Browne think-
Gender stereotypes in textbooks
The lack of female role models in science and mathematics textbooks
Gender stereotyping by teachers
The domination of the science equipment in the classroom by male teachers and students
Single sex and mixed schools
- Smithers points out that people think single-sex schools are better because they do well at the league tables. However, it is not the single-sex nature of them which makes them do well, but the socio-economic background of their students.
- more girls take science at single sex schools
Main reasons for gender differences in achievement (Harris et al.)
Boys are suffering from low self-esteem and poor motivation
Girls are much more willing to struggle to get through difficulties in their studies
Girls are more hard-working on the long term, while boys get distracted much more easily
Boys find it harder to organise their time effectively when doing coursework
Girls spend more time on homework
Girls are more concerned about getting qualifications for their future careers than boys
