gender differences

Question 1

gender gap in achievement - starting school ao2

Answer 1

teacher assessments showed that girls were out performing boys in literacy, language and maths

Question 2

gender gap in achievement - key stage 5 ao2

Answer 2

the gap at A level is much narrower that at GCSE but girls do still outperform boys

Question 3

external factors (4)

Answer 3

feminism
changes in the family
changes in women’s employment
changes in girl’s ambitions

Question 4

external factors - feminism

Answer 4

the feminist movement has improved the rights of women as well as raising expectations and self-esteem/ motivation.
women were no longer bound to the mother/ housewife role

Question 5

external factors - feminism ao3

Answer 5

traditional gender roles in regards to motherhood still exist

Question 6

external factors - changes in the family

Answer 6

major changes include: increase in divorce, increase in number of lone-parent families

increase in divorce may suggest to gils that its unwise to rely on a husband to be their provider, so seek well-paying jobs and qualifications

Question 7

external factors - changes in women’s employment

Answer 7

include: equal pay act

these changes have encouraged girls to see their future as more than housewives and mothers but having a great career and financial independence

aspirations to get these jobs = do well in education

Question 8

external factors - changing girls ambitions

Answer 8

sue Sharpe - girls are more likely to see their future as an independent t woman with a career than dependent on their husband

aim for a career that would enable them to support themselves

Question 9

external factors ao3

Answer 9

there are class differences in how far girls ambitions have changed
some Wc girls continue to have gender-stereotyped aspirations for marriage

Question 10

internal factors(6)

Answer 10

equal opportunities
role models
GCSe and coursework
teacher attention
challenging stereotypes
league tables/ selection

Question 11

internal factors - equal opportunities

Answer 11

GIST (girls into science and technology)
WISE (some into science and engineering)
encourage women to get involved in STEM subjects

national curriculum 1998 - boys and girls study the same subjects

Boaler - impact of equal opportunities are. key reason for changes in girls achievement

Question 12

internal factors - role models

Answer 12

increase in female teachers and heads
act as role models
showing women can achieve important positions
by seeing teachers as role models the individual understands they must undertake a successful education to have successful careers

Question 13

internal factors - coursework and GCSE

Answer 13

assessments favour girls and disadvantage boys
Gorard - the gap in achievement increased when GCSE and coursework was introduced

mitos and Browne - believed girl soo better than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and organised

Question 14

internal factors - GCSE and coursework AO3

Answer 14

Elwood - although coursework has some influence it is unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap because exams have more influence over final grades

Question 15

internal factors - teacher attention

Answer 15

Jane and Peter French - boys get more attention as they attract more reprimands

Francis - boys got more attention but were disciplined more harshly and has less expectation of them

Swann - girls speech involves turn taking, boys involves hostile interruptions
teachers respond more positively with girls as they see them as more cooperative than disruptive boys = promotes girl self-esteem = self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 16

internal factors - selection and league tables

Answer 16

marketisation policies have led to competition between schools

schools see girls as desirable as they achieve better exam results and boys unattractive because they suffer from behavioural difficulties and are 4x more likely to be excluded

so girls get recruited to better schools = receive better educations = achieve more

Question 17

internal factors - changing stereotypes

Answer 17

the removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks and reading schemes has removed a barrier to girls’ achievement

research from 1980s - books portrayed woman as housewives and mothers , scared of science and in maths books boys were inventive

Weiner - teachers challenge stereotypes
and in general sexist image shave been removed from learning materials = helped raised girls achievement by presenting them with more positive images of what women can do

Question 18

internal factors AO3 - liberal feminists

Answer 18

celebrate the progress that has been made for girls but believe there’s stilll work to be done

Question 19

internal factors AO3 - radial feminists

Answer 19

recognise girls are achieving more but they emphasis that its in spite of the patriarchal nature lot the education system rather than due to major changes in education
they use this as evidence for patriarchy in education:

1/3 of 16-18yr olds experienced unwanted touching in school

Question 20

girls identity and achievement - symbolic capital

Answer 20

feminist Archer
the status, recognition and sense of worth that we are able to obtain from others

by performing their WC female identities girls Gaines SC - however this bought them into conflict with the school = preventing educational capital

strategies girls followed to create a valued sense of self:
hyper-heterosexual feminine identity
having a boyfriend
being ‘loud’

Question 21

girls identity and achievement -hyper- heterosexual feminine identities

Answer 21

Archer

girls spent time and money constructing ‘glamourous’ identities

those that did = got status but got into conflict with school for wrong appearance (jewellery etc)
led to school defining them as ‘not one of us’ and incapable of educational success
Bourdieu calls this ‘symbolic capital’ - they harm done by denying symbolic capital

Question 22

girls identity and achievement - boyfriends

Answer 22

Brough symbolic capital
got in the way of schoolwork and lowered expectations - lost interest in going to uni and studying ‘masculine’ subjects and instead wanting to settle down and have kids

e.g having to drop out of school because they’re pregnant

Question 23

girls identity and achievement - being loud

Answer 23

wc adopted loud feminine identities
questioned teachers authority
failed to conform to schools stereotype of ideal female pupil
brought conflict with the school a they saw them as aggressive

Question 24

girls identity and achievement - WCs dilemma

Answer 24

either gain symbolic capital or educational capital

Archer argues WC female identities and educational capital conflict with each other. WC girls investments into identities is a major cause of underachievement

Question 25

girls identity and achievement - 'successful' WC girls

Answer 25

Evans girls wanted to go to university to increase their earning power, not for themselves but to help their families cost and fear of debt also determined whether they went to uni or not

Question 26

boys and achievement - 5 factors effecting boys achievement

Answer 26

boys and literacy globalisation and the decline in traditional men's jobs feminisation of education shortage of male primary school teachers laddish subcultures

Question 27

factors effecting boys achievement - globalisation and the decline of traditional mens jobs

Answer 27

decline in heavy industries as the result of globalisation of the economy these sectors mainly employed men Mitsos and Browne - this decline has led to a identity crisis for men boys now have little prospect of getting a proper job = undermines their motivation and give up trying to get qualifications

Question 28

factors effecting boys achievement - boys and literacy

Answer 28

the gender gap is mainly the result of boys poor literacy skills parents spend less time reading to sons, and it usually the mothers that do so reading becomes seen as a feminine activity boys leisure activities (football) do little to develop language and communication skills girls bedroom culture of staying in = does develop these skills

Question 29

factors effecting boys achievement - globalisation and the decline of traditional mens jobs AO3

Answer 29

the decline has largely been in manual WC jobs that require few qualifications so its unlikely that the disappearance of the jobs would have much impact on boy's motivation to gain qualifications

Question 30

factors effecting boys achievement - feminisation of education

Answer 30

Sewell - boys fall behind because education is 'feminised' schools do not nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness but celebrate 'feminine' qualities of attentiveness coursework is a major cause of failure - some should be replaced with final exams and there should be a greater emphasis on outdoor adventure

Question 31

factors effecting boys achievement - shortage of male primary school teachers

Answer 31

there's a lack of role models at home and at school only 14% of primary school teachers are male this is because the culture of primary school has become feminised because its staffed by female teachers - whoa re unable to control boys' behaviour male teachers are better able to impose the strict discipline boys need

Question 32

factors effecting boys achievement - shortage of male primary school teachers AO3

Answer 32

Read studied the type of language teacher use: disciplinarian discourse - explicit and visible liberal discourse - implicit and invisible found: most teachers favoured a disciplinarian discourse of control disproves the claim that school is feminised and female teachers were just as likely to use this discourse as males

Question 33

factors effecting boys achievement - laddish subcultures

Answer 33

Francis boys were more concerned than girls about being labelled by peers as swots because this label is more of a threat to their masculinity in WC culture masculinity = tough, manual work a so they tend to reject school work to avoid ridicule

Question 34

factors affecting boys achievement AO3

Answer 34

boys today are achieving far more than they did in the past similarities in boys and girls achievements are greater than the differences there are greater issues than gender - the class gap in achievement at GCSE is 3 x greater than the gender gap

Question 35

gender and subject choice - AS and A levels AO2

Answer 35

big gender differences in entries for A level subjects - boys opting for maths and physics and girls choosing English and sociology - questions the effectiveness OF GIST AND WISE policies

Question 36

gender subject choice - explanations for the differences

Answer 36

gender role socialisation gendered subject image gender identity and peer pressure gendered career opportunities

Question 37

Gernder subject choice - gender role socialisation

Answer 37

the process of learning the behaviour expected of boys and girls from early ages they're dressed differently, given different toys and take part in different activities Murphy and Elwood - boys and girls develop different tastes in reading - boys read hobby books girls read story books explains why boys prefer science subjects and girls English

Question 38

gender subject choice - gendered subject image

Answer 38

gender image of a subject affects who will choose it Kelly - science is seen as a boys subject beceause science teachers are more likely to be men Colley - computer studies is seen as masculine because it involves working with machines - part of male gender domain pupils in same-sex schools make les traditional subject choices - girls in girls schools more likely to take maths and science A levels - boys more likely to take English

Question 39

gender subject choice - gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 39

choice can be influenced by peer pressure - boys and girls apply pressure the they disapprove of choice - boys tend to opt out of dance as they fall outs their gender domain Dewar - male students call girls lesbian if they appear interested in sport

Question 40

gender subject choice - gendered career

Answer 40

employment is gendered jobs tend to be sex typed as mens or womens womens jobs involve similar work to that performed by housewives sex-typing affects boys and girls ideas of what kind of jobs are acceptable - if boys get the message that nursery nurses are female they will be less likely to opt for a course in childcare

Question 41

pupils sexual and gender identities - 6 ways in which pupils experience in school construct identities

Answer 41

double standards verbal abuse the Male gaze male peer groups female peer groups teachers and discipline

Question 42

pupils sexual and gender identities - double standards

Answer 42

double standard of sexual morality - boys boast about their sexual exploits but call a girl a 'slag' feminists see these standards as an example pf patriarchal ideology that justifies Male power and devalues women seen as a form of social control that reinforces gender inequality

Question 43

pupils sexual and gender identities - verbal abuse

Answer 43

boys use name calling to put girls down if they behave or dress in certain ways Paechter - name calling shapes gender identity and maintains male power the use of labels such as gay and Lessie are ways in which pupils police sexual identities

Question 44

pupils sexual and gender identities - the male gaze

Answer 44

visual aspect in the way pupils control each other's identity male pupils look girls up and down seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements Mac and Ghaill see it as a form of surveillance through which male dominance is reinforced and femininity devalued

Question 45

pupils sexual and gender identities - male peer groups

Answer 45

use verbal abuse to reinforce their masculinity Epstein and Willis' study show that boys in a anti-school subcultures often cause boys who want to do well at school of being gay

Question 46

pupils sexual and gender identities - female peer groups

Answer 46

WC girls gain symbolic capital from their female peers by performing a hyper-heterosexual female identity Ringrose's study showed being popular was crucial to girl's identity girls made transition to friendship to dating culture they faced tension between: an idealised feminine identity and a sexualised identity they have to balance between these 2 identities to avoid the risk of slut shaming or 'frigid' shaming by the girls boffin identity - girls who want to be successful feel the need to confrom to the schools notion of the ideal feminine pupil - involves lacking any interest in boyfirends or fashion

Question 47

pupils sexual and gender identities - teachers and discipline

Answer 47

teachers also play a role in reinforcing dominant definitions of gender identity Haywood and Mac an Ghaill found that male teachers told boys off for behaving like girls teachers tended to ignore boys' verbal abuse to girls and even blame girls for attracting it