Gender Achievement Flashcards
Explanations for girls improvement in education- EXTERNAL FACTORS
1) The impact of feminism
2) Changes in the family
3) Changes in women’s employment
4) Girls changing ambitions
Explain The impact of feminism
Feminism has challenged the traditional stereotypes of women’s gender role as mother, housewife etc. As a result, feminism has raised girls ambitions and expectations. Introduced laws such as the Equal Pay Act and the Sex discrimination act which makes it easier for women to achieve higher positions, provides an incentive for girls to work harder in education. McRobbie did a comparison of girls magazine in the 1970s and the 1990s, found out that in the 1970s focused more on being a good mother and in the 1990s, it had independent female RM’s.
Changes in the family
Increase in divorce rate, increase in lone parent household (typically female headed) etc has made girls want to do well in their education so that they are financially independent. These changes are affecting girls attitudes towards education.
Changes in women’s employment
Women’s employment has risen from 48% in 1959 to over 70% in 2007. Some women are breaking the barrier of the glass ceiling to high level professional jobs. These greater opportunities provide an incentive for girls to take education seriously.
Girls changing ambitions
Sue Sharpe did an interview on female students in the 1970s and the 1990s and compared the results of her study and found that most girls in the 1970s had low aspirations, wanted to be housewives and saw education as unfeminine. However, the girls in the 1990s had high goals and aspirations and wanted to be independent, prioritised their education so that they can get good jobs in the future.
Internal factors of girls achievement
1) Equal Opportunities policies
2) Positive RM in schools
3) GCSE and coursework
4) Teacher attention
5) Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
Equal opportunities policies
Policies such as GIST and WISE encouraged girls to pursue careers in non traditional areas such as engineering. The introduction of the national curriculum in 1988 meant that boys and girls had to study the same subject such as science. Boaler argues that EOP’s are a key factor in girls improvement- provides an incentive.
GCSE and coursework
Mitsos and Browne argues that girls are more successful in coursework as they are more organised with their work than boys. They also found that girls spend more time on their school work- this has contributed to girls achievement.
Teachers attention
Research has found that teachers respond more positively to girls than boys, they see girls as more co-operative and more able. This therefore leads to a self fulfilling prophecy as it raises girls self esteem and therefore achievement.
Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
some sociologists argue that removing gender stereotypes from textbooks etc has removed a barrier to girls achievement. Weiner argues that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged gender stereotypes.
Explanations for the underachievement of boys- External factors
1) boys poorer literacy skills- evidence shows that girls spend their leisure time doing their school work. Mitsos and Browne argue that women are more likely to read than men. Mothers are more likely to read to their children, this provides a RM for girls- puts boys of from reading as they believe its a ‘feminine’ thing. Poor language and literacy skills are likely to affect boys performance across lots of subjects.
The decline of traditional male jobs
The decline in manual work may result in w/c boys lacking motivation and undermining their self esteem. Mitsos and Browne argue that this decline in male employment has lead to a ‘Crisis of Masculinity’- They give up trying to gain qualifications, as they believe that they have little chance of getting a good job.
Unrealistic expectations
Research indicates that boys are often surprised when they fail their exam- put their failure down to luck rather than a lack of effort. Becky Francis points out that boys are more likely to have career aspirations that are unrealistic and only require few formal qualifications such as a footballer.
Explanations for the underachievement of boys- Internal Factors
1) The Feminisation of education- according to Sewell, boys fall behind in education because schools have become ‘feminised’. This is because schools emphasise feminine traits such as organisation which disadvantages boys. Sewell sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement, argues that it should be replaced with final exams.
Teacher interaction
Barber found out that for girls, feedback from teachers focused more on their work rather than on their behaviour. However, for boys teachers focused more on their behaviour than on their work. There was negative teacher labelling towards boys- leads to a SFP. Teachers may tend to be less strict with boys as they expect a lower standard of work from them. This allows boys to underachieve by failing to push them to achieve their potential.
