GENDER AND ATTAINMENT

Question 1

What are the factors outside school?

Answer 1

1) Impact of Feminism
2) Girls changing ambitions
3) Literacy and Language skills and early gender socialisation
4) Changes in the family
5) changes in the employment structure

Question 2

How has the feminist movement changed the role of women in society?(factors outside school)

Answer 2

Since 1960s - feminist movement challenged traditional stereotype of women’s role of mum & housewife in patriarchal nuclear family & inferior to men outside home work education & law.
Had success in improving women’s rights & opportunities through changes in law = raised women’s expectations & self esteem.
Reflected in media images & messages = McRobbie 1994 - study of girls magazines. In 1970s = emphasised importance of getting married & not being left of shelf but now they contain images of assertive, independent women.
Changes encouraged by feminism = affect girls self image & ambitions to family & careers = explain improvements in educational achievements.

Question 3

How are Girls changing ambitions?(factors outside school)

Answer 3

Views = supported by research.
Sue Sharpe 1994 - interviews with girls in 1970s & 1990s = major shift in way girls see their future. In 1974 = girls had low aspirations; believed educational success was unfeminine & ambition = unattractive. Gave priorities as love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs & careers in that order. By 1990s = girls ambitions had changed & had different order of priorities - careers & being able to support themselves. Girls more likely to see their future as independent woman with career rather than dependent on husband.

Question 4

Explain literacy and language skills and early gender socialisation(factors outside school)

Answer 4

Aliberal discourse through which the teacher’s authority is implicit and invisible. This child centred discourse involves ‘pseudo-adultification’: the teacher speaks to the pupil as if they were an adult and expects them to be kind, sensible and respectful of the teacher. From identifying the two types of languages, Read had drawn out two conclusions from her findings: the fact that most teachers favoured a ‘masculine’ disciplinarian discourse of control disproves the claim that the culture of the primary school has become feminised, this is similar to Tony Sewell’s arguments. Additionally, the fact that female teachers were just as likely as males to use ‘masculine’ discourse to control pupil’s behaviour disproves the claim that only male teachers can provide the stricter classroom culture in which boys are said to thrive. Hence, this opposes the view that the internal factor of role models creates gender differences in educational achievement.

Question 5

Changes in the family (factors outside school)

Answer 5

Changes in family since 1970s:
- increase in divorce rate.
- increase in cohabitation & decrease in number of 1st marriages.
- increase in number of lone parent families.
- smaller families.
Affecting girls attitudes towards education = increased numbers of female headed lone parent families = take on breadwinner role = new role models for girls - financially independent woman. Women need well paid jobs & good qualifications. Increase in divorce = don’t want to rely on husband.

Question 6

Changes in the employment structure (factors outside school)

Answer 6

1970 - equal pay act = illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value.
1975 - sex discrimination act = outlaws discrimination at work.
Since 1975 - pay gap between men & women has halved from 30% to 15%.
Proportion of women in employment = risen from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013. Growth of service sector & flexible part time work = opportunities for them.
Some = breaking through the glass ceiling - invisible barrier that keeps them out high level professional & managerial jobs.
Changes = encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work rather than housewives. Greater career opportunities & better pay & role models = incentive for girls to gain qualifications.

Question 7

Internal factors & gender differences in achievement

Answer 7

Factors inside school = play part in explaining gender differences too. Include - equal opportunities policies, positive role models in schools, GCSE & coursework, teacher attention & classroom interaction, challenging stereotypes in curriculum & selection & league tables.

Question 8

Equal opportunities(inside schools)

Answer 8

Policymakers now aware of gender issues & teachers more sensitive to avoid stereotyping. Belief that boys & girls are entitled to same opportunities = part of mainstream thinking & influences educational policies.
GIST - girls into science & technology.
WISE - women into science & engineering = encourage girls to pursue careers in non traditional areas. Female scientists visit schools acting as role models; efforts made to raise science teachers’ awareness of gender issues; non sexist careers.
National Curriculum in 1988 - made boys & girls do same subjects.

Question 9

Positive role models(inside schools)

Answer 9

Increase in female teachers & heads = positive role models for girls = show them women can achieve positions of importance & giving them non traditional roles to aim for. Teachers must take lengthy & successful education too.

Question 10

GCSE & coursework(inside schools)

Answer 10

Way pupils are assessed favoured girls & disadvantaged boys.
Gorard 2005 - gender gap in achievement was constant from 1975 to 1989 when it increased sharply. GCSE introduced = bringing coursework as major part of subjects. Gender gap = product of changed system of assessment rather than any general failing boys.
Mitsos & Browne 1998 - concluded girls = more successful in coursework as they’re more conscientious & better organised than boys. Girls: spend more time on their work, take care with way it’s presented, better at meeting deadlines & bring equipment & materials to lessons. Factors help benefit from introduction of coursework in GCSE, AS & A level.

Question 11

Teacher attention (inside schools)

Answer 11

Way teachers interact with boys & girls differs.
Jane & French 1993 - analysed classroom interaction, found = boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands.

Question 12

Challenging stereotypes in curriculum(inside schools)

Answer 12

Removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks, reading schemes & other materials = removed barrier to girls achievement. Research in 70s & 80s = reading schemes portrayed women as housewives & mums.

Question 13

Selection & league tables(inside schools)

Answer 13

Marketisation policies = created competitive climate in which schools see girls as desirable recruits as they achieve better exam results.
Slee 1998 - boys = less attra gives to schools he’s used they’re more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties & exclusion = seen as liability students - obstacles to school.

Question 14

2 views of girls’ achievement(inside schools)

Answer 14

Liberal feminists - celebrate progress made so far in improving achievement.
Radical feminists - recognise girls achieving more but emphasise system remains patriarchal & convey message it’s still a mans world: sexual harassment of girls continues in schools & education still limits girls subjects choices & career options.

Question 15

Identity, class & girls’ achievement(inside schools)

Answer 15

Girls achieve more highly = doesn't mean that all are successful. Social class differences in girls achievement.
2013 - only 40.6% of girls from poor families achieved 5 A*-C GCSEs but 67.5% who weren't poor.

Question 16

The feminisation of education(inside schools)

Answer 16

sociologists Barbara Read disagrees with this ideology that the absence of male teachers is a major factor causing boys’ underachievement. As she studied the type of language teachers use to express criticism or disapproval of pupils’ work and behaviour, she identified two types of language or ‘discourse’: a disciplinarian discourse whereby the teacher’s authority is made explicit and visible, for example, through shuting and ‘exasperated’ tone of voice or sarcasm. Secondly, a liberal discourse through which the teacher’s authority is implicit and invisible. This child centred discourse involves ‘pseudo-adultification’: the teacher speaks to the pupil as if they were an adult and expects them to be kind, sensible and respectful of the teacher. From identifying the two types of languages, Read had drawn out two conclusions from her findings: the fact that most teachers favoured a ‘masculine’ disciplinarian discourse of control disproves the claim that the culture of the primary school has become feminised, this is similar to Tony Sewell’s arguments. Additionally, the fact that female teachers were just as likely as males to use ‘masculine’ discourse to control pupil’s behaviour disproves the claim that only male teachers can provide the stricter classroom culture in which boys are said to thrive. Hence, this opposes the view that the internal factor of role models creates gender differences in educational achievement.