Gender and achievement

Question 1

Trend

Answer 1

Girls have been doing better than boys at all key stages since 1980s.

Question 2

Internal factors

Answer 2

Equal opportunities policies

Positive role models at school

GCSE and coursework

Teacher attention and classroom interaction

Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

Selection and league tables

Question 3

Equal opportunities policies

Answer 3

Greater awareness of the fact that girls and boys are equally capable and teachers try to avoid stereotypes
- initiatives such as GIST which aim to encourage girls to choose science related education + careers.

Prior to the introdution of the NC, girls tended to choose subjects such as english + art, while boys tended to choose maths and sciences. The NC establishes gender equality.
- makes them study same subjects

criticism - however despite GIST girls are still choosing more ‘feminine’ subjects

Question 4

Positive role models at school

Answer 4

increase in female teachers + head teachers. These women in positions of authority can act as positive female role models to girls

criticism - most senior teachers are male so boys also have positive male role models

Question 5

GCSE and coursework

Answer 5

1988 - introduced CW - since then girls outperformance over boys has risen.
- some argue that this is due to the fact that girls are better organised and tend to spend more time and care over their work - result of gender socialisation

criticisms - CW has been replaced with controlled assessments which can’t be re-drafted, but girls are still doing better

Question 6

Teacher attention + classroom interactions

Answer 6

teachers respond more positively to girls - giving them more praise
- may lead to self-fulfilling prophecy - increasing girls self esteem + confidence.

Question 7

Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

Answer 7

Research - textbooks portrayed men + women in traditional stereotypical roles. since then these sexist images have been removed from textbooks and teachers tend to challenge prejudice.

criticism - feminists would argue that education is still patriarchal, e.g history lessons focus of men

Question 8

Selection + league tables

Answer 8

MOE has increased competition between schools:

• girls seen as more desirable candidates sd their exam results are better
• tend to be offered places at high performing schools

criticisms - this only benefits m/c as w/c girls get rejected by good schools.

Question 9

External factors

Answer 9

Impact of Feminism

Changes in the family

Increase in women’s employment opportunities

Girls’ changing ambitions

Question 10

Impact of Feminism

Answer 10

• Feminist movement has improved the position of women in society by leading to changes in the law which have established legal equality between men + women. (Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Act)

The feminist’s movements have raised women’s ambitions + expectations

Criticisms - doesn’t affect all girls - traditional e/m

Question 11

Changes in the family

Answer 11

the increase in divorce + LPFs has created a new type of positive role models for girls (financially independent)

To achieve this independence, women need well-paid jobs which need more qualifications - encourages women to stay in education

criticism - NR would say that lone mothers are -ve role models as they are dependent on benefits

Question 12

Increase in women’s employment opportunities

Answer 12

New employment laws

• Equal Pay Act, 1970
• Sex Discrimination, 1975

increased the number of women working which has
led to the growth of the service sector which tends to employ women.
- gives girls an incentive to get qualification a there are employment opportunities for them in the job market.

Criticisms - Quarternary sector prefers to employ men

Question 13

Girls changing ambitions

Answer 13

Sue Sharpe carried out two sets of interviews with school girls
- 1970s - girls prioritise marriage, love, husbands & children. They saw education as unfeminine

• 1990s - findings were the exact opposite

Criticisms - not affected all girls - e/m

Question 14

Boys underachievement

Answer 14

Boys are achieving in school - but at a much slower rate to girls

Question 15

Poor literacy skills

Answer 15

boys have poorer literacy + language skills than girls

• studies show that most of the reading done to children at home is done by mothers so the activity becomes associated with femininity. Thus boys reject it.

Also, parents spend less time reading to their sons

Question 16

Decline in traditional men’s jobs

Answer 16

since 1980s - decline in industries which traditionally employed men

Mitsos and Browne - claim this has led to a crisis of masculinity (men are unsure of what it means to be a man)

lack of traditional male jobs makes boys believe that will not be able to get a job - lack motivation - give up on qualifications

Question 17

Feminisation of education

Answer 17

Sewell - schools don’t encourage masculine characteristics e.g. competitiveness + leadership, instead they encourage traits associated with feminity such as attentiveness + methodical work
- argues that CW is a major reason for boys underachievement as they tend to lack organisational skills.

Question 18

Lack of positive male role models

Answer 18

• lack of +ve male role models at home - large no. of boys are being brought up in LPF’s
• at school, only 16% of teachers = male

criticism:
Read - studied primary school + the way in which both female and male teachers discipline both female + male students.
she found that both teachers use the masculine disciplinarian discourse (raised voices) to ensure students behave
- shows that schools have not become feminised
- shows that both female and male teachers can be authority figure in reaction to students

Question 19

Leisure

Answer 19

Boys leisure pursuits such as football and console games do not contribute to developing literacy skills.

on the other hand, girls have a bedroom culture - staying in and talking to friends - develops communication

Question 20

‘laddish’ counter-school subcultures

Answer 20

EPSTEIN - high achieving w/c boys are labelled as ‘swots’ by their peers and tend to be harassed and subjected homophobic abuse

FRANCIS - boys try to avoid being labelled as ‘swots’ because educational achievement is seen as feminine so they do little or no schoolwork and mess about in lessons.

Question 21

Expectations of schools

Answer 21

teachers are less strict w/boys, they are more tolerant of their disruptive behaviour, expect less from them etc.
- at the same time, boys are more disruptive so get sent out of lessons - miss out on learning

Polling company [Kirkland Rowell] - carried out research in 500 secondary schools
Findings:
- 67% of parents wanted their daughters to go to university, for boys the figure was 62%.

These parental expectations have been transferred to children – 80% of girls said they wanted to go to university compared to 75% of boys.

Myhill and Jones – carried out semi-structured interviews with 144 students (in Year 1 – 10) about their perceptions of whether teachers treat boys and girls differently.

Findings:
-boys are treated more negatively than girls.

Question 22

Reasons for boys underachievement

Answer 22

Literacy skills
Lower expectations and disruptive behaviour
Decline of traditional male jobs
Feminisation of education
Leisure pursuits 
Lack of +ve male role models 
Laddish subcultures

Question 23

How do schools help influence gender identities of their students?

Answer 23

Verbal abuse
male peer groups 
teachers + discipline 
male gaze 
Double standards 
female peer groups

Question 24

Verbal abuse

Answer 24

Connell - boys use verbal abuse such as name calling to put girls down

Paetcher - boys use name calling of girls and ‘effeminate’ boys to maintain male power and reinforce gender norms

Question 25

Male peer groups

Answer 25

Epstein and Willis - boys in counter-school subcultures see high achieving boys as effeminate.

Mac an Ghail - w/c boys’ understanding of masculinity is tied w/toughness and being macho - they bully any hard working boys.

m/c boys masculinity is tied with effortless achievement and being a ‘real Englishman’

Question 26

Teachers and discipline

Answer 26

Haywood and Mac an Gail - male teachers tend to tease boys if they do less well in exams than girls
They tend not to discipline boys if they verbally abuse girls.

Askew and Ross - male teachers have a protective attitude towards female teachers.
- thus reinforcing the view that women are weak

Question 27

Male gaze

Answer 27

[way in which men look women, seeing them as sexual objects and judging them on their appearance]

• male gaze at school reinforces the boys’ masculinity by devaluing femininity and helps keep girls ‘ in their place’.

Question 28

Double standards

Answer 28

lees - boys boast and exaggerate their sexual prowess, while girls who dress provocatively are described as ‘slags’.

so there is a double standard in expectations of boys + girls behaviour

Question 29

Female peer groups

Answer 29

Girls use shaming as a form of social control against each other thus regulating each others’ identities.

Currie - found that girls risk either being labelled as sluts and excluded from friendship groups if they seem competitive over boys.
- similarly, girls who don’t compete for boys face frigid shaming.

Raay - found that girls who want to do well at school project boffin identity which is characterised by a lack of interest in boys or popular culture

Question 30

What factors influence boys + girls choice of subjects

Answer 30

Primary socialisation

Gendered subject images

Peer pressure

Gendered career opportunities

Question 31

Primary socialisation

Answer 31

Norman - from an early age, boys + girls are dressed differently and given different toys.
Parents tend to reward boys for being active + girls 4 being passive.

Byrne - this continues at school where teachers encourage boys to be active + tough, while girls are expected to be quiet and helpful.

Browne and Ross - gender domains - activities boys + girls see as appropriate to their sex.
This affects how they react to specific tasks, e.g. girls find Maths tasks easier if they are about calculating the price of food.

Question 32

Gendered subject images

Answer 32

[different subjects are seen as either boys or girls subjects]

Kelly - science - boys’ subjects because teachers tend to be men + textbooks use examples which appeal to masculine gender domains.

boys monopolise the use of equipment

Question 33

Peer pressure

Answer 33

can encourage/discourage students from taking certain subjects
e.g boys are discouraged from picking drama

Question 34

Gendered career opportunities

Answer 34

• most jobs are either seen as men or women’s

women = those which involve caring and reflect the activities of a housewife.

men = opposite

This can affect subject choice as it gives students ideas about which jobs are suitable and acceptable for which sex.

Question 35

Archer et al

How do we explain the underachievement of some girls

Answer 35

w/c females - tend to underachieve in comparison to m/c.

Archer et al - argues this is because of the difference in w/c girls identities and the values promoted by schools.

w/c girls’ identities + self-worth are based on 3 things:
1. hyper-sexualised femininity - created through clothing, hairstyles & makeup.

2. Boyfriends - gains them symbolic capital from their friends, but it distracted them from their school work
3. Being loud - being outspoken, independent + assertive.

These factors gain them symbolic capital in the eyes of their peers. However, it brings them into conflict with the school
- therefore these girls face a dilemma - they can either conform to their friend’s expectations and gain symbolic capital from them (fail) or gain educational capital by rejecting their w/c identity

Question 36

Evans

[how do we explain the underachievement of some girls]

Answer 36

Evans - found that their w/c identity held them back even though they did have some aspirations.
- girls wanted to go uni but not for their own benefit. They wanted to gain a higher income to help their families - caring is a major part of their identity.

As they were expected to help out their familiar, they chose uni’s closer to where they lived - limited choice + quality of degree.