Gender and Achievement Flashcards
What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex = biological differences e.g. male VS female
Gender = learned socialised differences e.g. masculine VS feminine
What are the external factors impacting female achievement?
- Rise in Feminism
- Increased female employment/legislation
- Changing ambitions
What is the rise in feminism?
AO1
- Increased feminism has hightened the expectations and self-esteem of women
- McRobbie: compared teen girls’ magazines from the 1970s and 90s and found more images of female independence
- Girls are now pushed to value education rather than see their job as being in the home
How can we analyse the rise in feminism?
AO3
- More empowering depictions of females in media that are intelligent and take education seriously e.g. Ambitious Girl book series, Project MC squared
What is changes in women’s employment?
AO1
- Webb et al: women are breaking through the glass cieling - number of women in employment has increased and the gender pay gap has decreased
- This has been aided by laws like Equal Pay Act and Equality Act
How can we analyse employment?
AO3
72% of women now work
What is changing ambitions?
AO1
- Girls now have higher aspirations for themselves and so value education as a way of achieving their goals
- Sharpe’s Like a Girl study found that girls now aspired to be independent and have careers rather than just get married and have kids
How can we analyse Sharpe?
AO3
- Not relevant to all CAGE groups e.g. WC class and Bangladeshi women are still likely to be unemployed and rely on a male breadwinner
- Laws like the Equality Act 2010 further encourage them to want to join the workforce
How can we evaluate Sharpe?
AO3
Difference feminists - march of progress has not happened for everyone
What are the internal factors impacting female achievement?
- Teacher relationships
- More female role models
- Examination style
What did Myhill find about teacher relationships?
AO1
- Females are passive and compliant in nature
- Teachers respond more positively to this and see girls as more cooperative and boys as disruptive - this leads to the halo effect for girls and self fulfilling prophecy for boys
How can we analyse Myhill?
AO3
- Francis: boys felt more disciplined and picked on by teachers
- Swann: boys dominate class discussions - can be seen as hostile interruptions
- In 2021 DfE found that boys are 3 times more likely to be permanently excluded
How can we evaluate Myhill?
AO3
- Edwards and David: this is because boys are allowed to be noisier and more attention seeking during socialisation - this translates to misbehaviour
- Wilkinson: this is no longer true due to the gender quake
What did Gorad find about testing?
AO1
- The gender achievement gap spiked when GCSEs were introduced bringing their coursework as a major part of assessment
- The gender gap in achievement is due to this changed system as the ways girls work fits it better
How can we analyse Gorad?
AO3
Not relevant today - coursework is not common among many subjects and even then is only worth 20-30% of the overall grade
How can we evaluate Gorad?
AO3
- AGAINST - Elwood Although coursework may have had some influence it can’t be the main factor as it’s typically only worth 30% of a grade
- SUPPORT - Myhill: Girls are more organised so being graded on long-term projects favours them - even the current switch from modular to linear exams favours them as they are better at working towards a long-term goal (exam) than boys
How do role models impact female achievement?
AO1
- 73.8% of teachers are female
- Girls have more positive role models within education to look up to
- This motivates them to succeed
How can we analyse role models?
AO3
96% of female headteachers are white - not a role model for ethnic minority students