Gender and Educational Achievement Flashcards
What are the two main issues of gender and achievement?
1) The increased attainment of girls
2) The relative underachievement of boys
Give 3 statistics that show girls’ higher levels of educational attainment.
1) In the late 1980s girls began to gain more GCSEs than boys
2) In the mid 1990s girl outperformed boys in A levels
3) There are more females than males at uni
Give 3 reasons as to why changes in primary socialisation would affect educational attainment.
1) Toys
- Certain toys are aimed at certain genders teaching them different things (e.g. trucks for boys)
2) Activities
- Due to the increase in feminism, boys are more likely to get involved in housework showing decrease in emphasis on the housewife role
3) Parental expectations
- More mothers are getting jobs and so they are more likely to want their child to succeed as they did
Give 2 reasons as to why effort and behaviour would affect female educational attainment.
1) 1990s - Attitude to learning
- Girls were encouraged to do more homework and were more concerned with presentation which made them well suited to coursework
2) Reading
- Can gain a large range in vocabulary and knowledge - girls are more likely to read
Name 2 Sociologists and their findings on female expectations and how this can affect female educational attainment.
1) Sue Sharpe (1976-1994)
- Investigated women’s changing ambitions finding that in 1976 women were more interested in the housewife role and in 1994 women were more interested in supporting themselves with a job
2) Francis and Skeleton (2005)
- Found with a predominantly female workforce they increasingly require degree-level qualifications
Give 2 reasons as to why changing occupational opportunities would affect female educational attainment.
1) Manual to non-manual labour
- Due to the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) it allowed women to enter non-manual jobs, widening their opportunities
2) Changing patterns in female employment
- The ‘feminisation of labour market’ influenced females educational choices to pursue a wider range of careers
Give 3 reasons as to why Feminism would affect female educational attainment.
1) Since the 1960s, women have higher self-esteem
2) Women are more likely to try harder in education to get the top grades so that they can get the top jobs to provide for themselves
3) Since the 1980s there have been less stereotypical gendered images in school books
Give 3 reasons as to why changes in educational organisation would affect female educational attainment.
1) Gender related initiatives
- GIST (girls in science and technology) and WISE (women in science and engineering) were introduced to encourage girls to go into areas that were traditionally male dominated
2) Changes in assessment patterns
- Introduction of coursework benefited girls due to their planning and presentation skills
3) Lack of female role models
- Stanworth (1983) said the biggest bias against girls is the lack of female teachers leading them to not do well
- However in recent years the number of female teachers and heads has increased providing positive role models
Summarise 3 external factors for female educational attainment.
1) Impact of feminism
2) Changes in women’s employment
3) Primary socialisation
Summarise 4 internal factors for female educational attainment.
1) Equal opportunities
2) Positive role models
3) Teacher’s attitudes
4) Changing stereotypes in curriculum
Give 3 reasons as to why changes in the job market would affect male educational attainment.
1) Fewer manual jobs
- Since 1980s there have been a decline in heavy industries (e.g steel) resulting in many males losing their jobs leading to the culture of masculinity
2) Impact of women working/need for soft skills
- Allows women to combine work and childcare in temporary jobs, rise in the service sector
3) The growth of NEETS
- ‘Not in educational employment or trading’ affects men more than women
Name 2 Sociologists and their findings on ‘laddish’ behaviour and how this can affect male educational attainment.
1) Francis (2001)
- Due to girls moving into more traditionally masculine areas they often top positions and so boys respond to this by becoming ‘laddish’ to construct themselves as non-feminine
2) Paul Willis (1977)
- Found that boys rejected school by acting up and messing around and so are more likely to take ‘boyish’ subjects to seem cool
Give 3 reasons as to why teacher’s expectations of boys would affect male educational attainment.
1) Teachers expectations
- Becky Francis found that boys got disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers who tended to have lower expectations of them
2) Lack of male role models
- Majority of boys surveyed said that a male teacher made them behave better, 42% saying they work harder and only 16% of primary school teachers are male
3) Over-emphasis on ‘girl friendly’ education
- Goard argues that instead of coursework there should be more outdoor adventure marking assessments as schools don’t nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness
Give 3 reasons as to why the ‘laid back’ approach would affect male educational attainment.
1) Over-estimating ability
- Barber 1996 found boys tend to over-estimate their abilities and so are under-prepared for exams
2) Unrealistic ambitions
- Boys are 9 months behind girls in maturity and so may make the wrong decisions on realistic career paths
Summarise 3 external factors for male educational attainment.
1) Changes in job market
2) Primary socialisation
3) Laid back approach
