gender and educational attainment

Question 1

% of students who achieved grade 5+ in english and maths gcse 22/23

Answer 1

boys - 43%

girls - 48%

Question 2

Sue Sharpe ‘just like a girl’ - procedure

Answer 2

interviewed 15 year old girls in the 1970’s and again in the 1950’sw asking them about their priorities for the future in terms of family, employment and career

Question 3

Sue Sharpe - 1970’s findings

Answer 3

WC children - love, marriage and children were at the top

lacked incentive to work hard

Question 4

Sue Sharpe - 1990’s findings

Answer 4

WC children - career now the main concern

Question 5

Wilkinson 1994

Answer 5

increased attainment of girls is part of the ‘genderquake’ (changes in the attitudes towards female roles in society)

(link to fertility and birth rates in an essay)

Question 6

4 changes in the law which have helped improve womens rights

Answer 6

Equal pay act (1970)
improved maternity and flexible working rights since the 990’s
sex discrimination act
The Equality act (2010)

Question 7

The Equality act (2010)

Answer 7

sex, being married and being pregnant and on maternity leave are all protected characteristics

Question 8

Equal Pay Act (1970)

Answer 8

employees that do equal work or work of equal value must be payed the same as the worker of the opposite sex

Question 9

Sex Discrimination act (1975)

Answer 9

renders discrimination against women unlawful, except from where it is special treatment in favour of women based on pregnancy, where being a man or a women is a genuine occupational qualification or due to numbers in the workforce

Question 10

Improved maternity and flexible working rights since the 1990’s

Answer 10

Employment protection act (1975) - UK’s first maternity leave legislation

many women sacked for becoming pregnant until the late 1970’s

Question 11

examples of significant changes in the family which may affect girls attitude towards education

Answer 11

increased divorce rate
increased lone parent families
smaller families
increase in cohabitation and fall in marriage

Question 12

changes in women’s position which may affect girls attitude to education

Answer 12

women no longer financially reliant on men

qualifications give women financial security in the future

most lone parent families headed by a woman - breadwinner role

women delaying having children and having fewer of them - career pursuit

above - greater variety of role models for girls to look up to

Question 13

Individualisation and the risk society - Beck

Answer 13

today’s society is characterised by risk, uncertainty and increased individualism

lives subject to constant change - relationships and work
more self-reliance and self-sufficeince (women are the forefront of this)

Question 14

individualisation (Beck)

Answer 14

more responsible for their own fate, security and future
more self-sufficient and self-reliant

Question 15

individualisation and the risk society - beck - impact on the attainment of girls

Answer 15

education seen as a means to future financial independence

allows women to be self-sufficient in the risk society

Question 16

Becky Francais (2000) - procedure

Answer 16

observed 4 classes in 3 different schools

Question 17

Becky Francais (2000) - findings

Answer 17

boys dominate the classroom - so have more attention than girls

8/12 classes - boys were noisier -lead to them having more negative attention - caused harsher and more frequent discipline

girls were quieter when not paying attention

Question 18

how did the introduction of the National Curriculum (1988) impact girls - Collie

Answer 18

allowed girls to learn the same subjects as boys and have equal access to all areas of the curriculum

however, still gendered subject choices made at GCSE and A level

Question 19

Give the names of 2 programmes which advocate women in stem

Answer 19

GIST - Girls Into Science and technology

WISE - Women Into Science and Engineering

Question 20

GIST

Answer 20

project in the 1980’s to try and address gender differences in subject choice and encourage more girls to choose sciences at school

Question 21

WISE

Answer 21

campaign for gender balance in subject choice at school

inspire girls to choose maths physics and computing

works with businesses and educational institutions to encourage more girls to retain stem subjects post 16

Question 22

Weiner (1995) - textbooks

Answer 22

in the past - girls only portrayed in textbooks as wives and mothers and science books only features male scientists

greater equality in the content and imagery used in teaching

led to the greater achievement of girls - positive images of what they can achieve

Question 23

Mitsos and Browne (1998) - coursework

Answer 23

girls are better at coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys.

may be taught this through primary socialisation where they are taught to be neat and tidy

Question 24

Mitsos and Browne (1998) - contesting points A03

Answer 24

unlikley to be a major influence in terms of the gender gap

exams have more influence on the final grade than coursework

2015 onwards - most GCSE and A-levels do not include coursework

Question 25

how may the introduction of league tables helped improve the opportunities for girls and their attainment

Answer 25

girls seen as desirable recruits because they achieve better exam results - admit more girls to maintain reputations and funding levels Slee

Question 26

Slee - selection and league tables

Answer 26

boys may be seen as liability students - giving the school a bad image and deterring high achieving students

Question 27

gender role socialisation

Answer 27

the process of learning the behaviour expected of males and females in society early socialisation within the family may impact the development of gender identity, and therefore subject choice.

Question 28

gender domain

Answer 28

tasks/activities associated with gender based on your experiences

Question 29

Kelly - Gendered subject images (1987)

Answer 29

science is seen as a boys subject - science teachers and examples in textbooks are more likely to be male, boys dominate in the classroom when children are taught in single sex schools they are less likely to make gendered subject choices

Question 30

Kelly - AO3 contesting point

Answer 30

relevance? what has happened since 1987 that may have increased girls in stem

Question 31

Archer - gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 31

working class girls gained status within their groups through their appearance - may explain why more girls choose vocational courses such as hair and beauty

Question 32

what do peer groups in schools reinforce

Answer 32

hegmonic (dominant ideas about gender roles and norms) masculinity and femininity

Question 33

Mac an Ghail - gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 33

boys use verbal abuse within their peer groups to reinforce dominant ideas of masculinity

Question 34

Francis and Skelton (2005) - learning styles

Answer 34

discuss the idea that boys and girls have different learning styles and these are matched up by the particular demands of different subjects boys favour learning styles that involve memorisation of rules and facts - prefer whole class learning and giving answers at speed (competitive) girls prefer open ended tasks that require pupils to think for themselves