Gender and Subject Choice Flashcards
How as AS and A levels affected gendered subject choice?
- Boys are more likely to opt for maths and sciences while girls do English or languages. Differences are also mirrored in subject choices at university.
- However these patterns aren’t new. Institute of Physics (2012) found proportion girls who do physics has been consistent at 20% for over 20 years. This makes effectiveness of policies (WISE and GIST) to be questions as they are made to encourage girls to do physics
How does early socialisation affect gendered subject choice?
Murphy and Elwood (1998) show how differences in socialisations, leading to difference reading tastes, which leads to different subject choices. Boys read hobby books while girls prefer stories. This explains why boys prefer STEM subject and girls English
Describe gender domains
- Browne and Ross (1991) argue gender domains (tasks that are seen as female or male ‘territory’) are shaped by early socialisation. e.g. men mending a car while women take care of the sick
- Children feel more confident in their own gender domain
How does gendered subject images affected gendered subject choice?
- Kelly argues that science is seen as a boy subject as science teachers are likely to be men, examples in textbooks often draw on boys’ interest and in lessons boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the laboratory
- Colley (1998) argues computer science is also a boy subject as it involves machines (male gender domain) and tasks tend to be abstract and lacks groups works, which girls favour.
How does single-sex schooling affect gendered subject choice?
Same sex schools are less likely to hold subject images. Leonard (2006) highlights how many students make less traditional subject choices. When analysing 13,000 individuals, girls in girls’ schools were more likely to do maths and science and boys in boys’ were more likely to take English and languages
How does gender identity and peer pressure affect gendered subject choice?
- Paetcher (1998) found pupils who see sports as within the male gender domain, girls who are ‘sporty’ have to cope with the image that contradicts the conventional female stereotype
- The absence of peer pressure in single-sex schools explains why both genders choose less traditional subjects
How does gendered career opportunities affect gendered subject choice?
- Over half of women’s employment falls into 4 categories: clerical, secretarial, personal services and cleaning, while only a sixth of men are in these jobs.
- Sex-typing of employment means boys and girls have different ideas of acceptable jobs, this means they will choose different subjects
Link gender, vocational choice and class
- WC pupils may make decisions that are based on a traditional sense of gender identity.
- Fuller (2011) found most WC girls studied by her, had ambitions to go into jobs such as child care or hair and beauty, reflecting their WC habitus.
- These ambitions may arise out of work experience, which are gendered and classes. Fuller found placements in feminine WC jobs (nursing and retail work) were the norm for girls in her study. She concludes that the school was implicitly steering girls toward certain types of job through work experience placements it offered them .
Describe a study that supports gendered subject choice
- Murphy (1991) set primary and lower secondary pupils open-ended tasks where they were asked to design boats and vehicles and to write estate agents’ adverts for a house
- Boys designed powerboats and battleships with elaborate weaponry and little living accommodation. Girls designed cruise ships, paying attention to social and domestic details
- Boys designed sports cars and army vehicles whereas girls designed family cars
- When writing adverts, boys focused on ‘masculine’ spheres like garage spaces whereas girls focused on ‘feminine’ ones such as decor and kitchen design
- Link to early socialisation?
