gender DEA

Question 1

external factors increasing girls achievements

Answer 1

-impact of feminism
-changes in women’s employment
-changes in the family
-girls changing ambitions

Question 2

impact of feminism

Answer 2

-since 1960s, feminist movement has challenged the traditional stereotype
-feminism has raised womens expectations and self esteem
evidence: McRobbies study into girls magazine. in 1970s, they emphasised the importance of getting married and not being ‘left on the shelf’. nowadays they contain images of assertive, independent women

Question 3

changes in the family

Answer 3

major changes in the family since the 1970s:

increase in divorce rate
increase in cohabitation, decrease in number of fams
increase in number of lpf + smaller families
these changes affects girls attitudes:

e. g increased numbers of female-headed lpfs may mean more women take on a breadwinner role which creates a new adult role model for girls. to achieve independence, women need well-paid jobs and therefore good qualification
- increase in divorce rates may suggest thats its unwise to rely on a husband to be their provider - encourages girls to look after themselves and their own qualifications

Question 4

changes in womens employment

Answer 4

• 1970 equal pay act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value. 1975 sex discrimination act outlaws discrimintaion at work
• since 1975, pay gap between men and women has halved from 30% to 15%
  women are breaking the glass ceiling
  these changes have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work rather than as housewives. greater career opportunities and better pay are incentives

Question 5

girls changing ambitions

Answer 5

sharpe : 70s - girls had low aspirations, believed educational success was unfeminine. gave priorities as ‘love, marriage,husbands,children, jobs and career’
90s - ambitions had changed, different order of priorities. sharpe found that girls more likely to see their future as independent woman with a career

Question 6

internal factors increasing girls achievements

Answer 6

-equal opportunity policies
-positive role models in schools (more female teachers and heads)
-GCSE + coursework
-challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
-teacher attention
-selection and league tables

Question 7

equal opportunities policies

Answer 7

• policies such as GIST and WISE encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM and non-trad areas
• introduction of national curriculum, 1988 removed one source of gender inequality by making girls and boys study mostly same subjects

Question 7

boaler

Answer 7

many barriers have been removed and schooling become more meritocratic, so that girls who generally work harder than boys, achieve more

Question 8

positive role models in school

Answer 8

• increase in the proportion of female teachers and heads. women in senior positions may act as role models, showing that women can achieve positions of power, giving girls more to aim for

Question 9

gcse and coursework

Answer 9

gorard, mitsos and browne

Question 9

gcse and coursework

Answer 9

gorard, mitsos and browne

Question 10

gorard

Answer 10

gender dea was fairly constant from 1975-89, when it increased sharply when coursework was introduced

Question 11

mitsos and browne

Answer 11

conclude girls are more successful in coursework because they’re more conscientious and better organised than boys - these characteristics are the result of early gender role socialisation

Question 12

evaluation of gsce and coursework - elwood

Answer 12

although coursework has some influence, it’s unlikely to be the only cause of DEA because exams have much more influence on final grade

Question 13

teacher attention (labelling)

Answer 13

french, francis, swann

Question 14

french

Answer 14

analysed classroom interaction and found that boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands

Question 15

francis

Answer 15

while boys got more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers who has lower expectations of them

Question 16

swann

Answer 16

gender diff in communication styles
- teachers respond more positively to girls who they see as cooperative - SFP, girls self esteem raised as well as achievement levels

Question 17

challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

Answer 17

• removal of gender stereotypes in school resources has removed a barrier in girls achievement
• research in 70s-80s found reading schemes portrayed women as mostly housewives, frightened by science and boys as more inventive

Question 18

weiner

Answer 18

since 1980s, teachers have challenged such stereotypes - may have helped to raise girls achievements by presenting them with more positive images of what women can do

Question 19

selection and league tables

Answer 19

jackson, slee

Question 20

jackson

Answer 20

high-achieving girls are more attractive to schools, whereas low-achieving boys aren’t
- tends to create SFP because girls more likely to be recruited by good school = more likely to do well

Question 21

slee

Answer 21

boys = less attractive to schools because they’re more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are more likely to be excluded
- boys may be seen as a ‘liability students’ - give schools a rough look

Question 22

WC girls hyper heterosexual feminine identities

Answer 22

Boyfriends, being loud, putting effort into their appearance

Question 23

Evans in her study- successful wc girls

Answer 23

Of 21 WC girls in sixth form

Found that they wanted to go to HE to increase earning not for themselves but for their families- reflecting their WC feminine identities

Question 24

Archer (wc girls )

Answer 24

that the conflict between WC girls feminine identities and school values conflict, preventing them from gaining educational capital

this conflict is symbolic violence

Question 25

Skeggs (1997)

Answer 25

“Caring” is a crucial part of the WC female identity and this contributed to the choices of the girls in Evans’ study

Question 26

WC girls self exclusion from elite unis due to

Answer 26

them wanting to stay home to care for their families which is part of their feminine identity

Question 27

liberal feminist view of girls achievement

Answer 27

-Celebrate progress and believe in March of progress and equality being gradually achieved

Question 28

radical feminist view of girls achievement

Answer 28

emphasises that the system remains patriarchal due to
-sexual harassment in schools
-education still limiting girls subject choices and career options
-male teachers still more likely to be heads
-women underrepresented in many areas of the curriculum eg their contribution to history

Question 29

boys and DEA

Answer 29

• literacy
• globalisation and the decline of traditional mens jobs
• shortage of male primary school teachers
• laddish subcultures

Question 30

DCSF (2007) - literaccy

Answer 30

parents spend less time reading to their sons
-its mothers that do most of the reading so its seen as a feminine activity

Question 31

evaluation of literacy

Answer 31

govt has introduced a range of policies to improve boys achievement - so this ought to lead to progress e.g reading champions

Question 32

globalisation and the decline of traditional mens jobs

Answer 32

led to much manufacturing companies relocating to developing countries to take advantage of cheap labour

Question 33

mitsos and browne - boys DEA

Answer 33

decline in male employment opps has led to ‘identity crisis for men’.
many boys now believe they have little prospects of getting a proper job - undermines their motivation and self esteem so they give up

Question 34

mitsos and browne, boys DEA - evaluation

Answer 34

the decline has largely been in manual WC jobs that require few if an qualifications

Question 35

feminisation of education - sewell

Answer 35

• boys fall behind because schools don’t nurture ‘masculine’ traits e.g leadership
• also sees coursework as major cause of gender DEA

Question 36

shortage of male primary school teachers

Answer 36

lack of male role models cause for underachievement

Question 37

yougov

Answer 37

only 14% of primary school teachers are male, 39% of 8-11 year oldboys have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher. most boys said presence of male teachers make them behave better and 42% said it made them work better

Question 38

evaluation of feminisation of education + shortage of male primary school teachers
— read

Answer 38

• teachers favour a ‘masculine’ approach/disciplinary course of control which disproves sewell’s claim
• female teachers just as likely to use a ‘masculine’ discourse to control pupils behaviour

Question 39

laddish subcultures - epstein

Answer 39

WC boys likely to be harassed, labelled as ‘sissies’ and subjected to homophobic verbal abuse if they appear to be ‘swots’
- supports francis’ findings that boys more concerned than girls about being labelled by peers, laddish culture is becoming increasingly widespread

Question 40

ringrose

Answer 40

moral panic reflects a fear that WC boys will grow up to become a dangerous, unemployable underclass that threatens society/social stability - led to policy shift which led to:
1. equal opps policies now ignore the problems of disadvantaged WC and EMs
2. ignores other problems faced by girls in school e.g sexual harrassment,bullying etc

Question 41

mc veigh

Answer 41

similarities in girls and boys achievement are far greater than the differences, especially when compared with class or ethnic differences

Question 42

connoly

Answer 42

certain combinations of gender, class, ethnicity have more effect than others

Question 43

osler

Answer 43

focus on underachievement of boys has led to a neglect of girls
- boys disengagement often takes form of public displays of ‘laddish’ masculinity that attract attention from teachers and policymakers