Gender Differences and Education (5)

Question 1

What are some patterns and trends about gender differences in education?

Answer 1

Both girls and boys are doing better. Over the last 50 years the educational performance of boys has steadily improved. The performance of girls has risen at a faster rate at some levels and in some subjects. As Coffey (2000) suggests, this hardly justifies labelling all boys as underachievers.
Only some boys are failing. There is a close link between boys' underachievement and social class. Epstein et al show that, compared to other groups, a high proportion of w/c boys are falling.
Hiding girls' failure. The pre-occupation with so-called failing boys' diverts attention from underachieving girls. Research by Plummer suggested that a high proportion of w/c girls are failing in the school system. 
Not just gender. Gender is one of a range of factors which contribute to underachievement. It is important to note the dynamic influence of class and ethnicity. .

Question 2

What are the external explanations for girls improvement in achievement?

Answer 2

1. The impact of feminism
2. Changes in the family
3. Changes in women’s employment
4. Girl’s changing ambitions and perceptions
5. Changing media representations of women

Question 3

How does the impact of feminism effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 3

Since the 1960’s feminism has challenged the traditional stereotypes of a woman’s role as mother and housewife within a patriarchal family. More broadly, feminism has raised girl’s expectations and ambitions with regards to careers and family.
These changes are partly reflected in media images and messages. A good illustration of this is McRobbie’s comparison of girl’s magazines in the 1970s and 1990s. in the 1970s girls’ magazines stressed the importance of getting married, whereas in the 1990s they emphasised career and independence.

Question 4

Why is it that motivated girls to better in education?

Answer 4

Girls in the 1990s prioritised careers over love and children, showing how they has been socialised into thinking the norm was for women to work, not be housewife’s. Therefore girls recognised the importance of doing well at school in order to be able to pursue the career they dreamed of: not something that would be as necessary for girls of the 1970s who might have seen their future as a housewife.

Question 5

What is an evaluation point of the impact of feminism effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 5

Is this as true of w/c girls as m/c girls.

Question 6

How does changes in the family effects the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 6

Increase in divorce rate - unwise to rely on a husband for money so it is good to get qualifications.
Increase in number of female headed SPFs/ more dual-earner families - more female breadwinners which creates new role model and means they therefore need qualifications.
Increase in cohabitation and decrease in number of first time marriages - they can’t rely on men and women are seen as more equal.
Smaller families due to lower fertility rates - more time to work/lower childcare costs, so girls more likely to aim for a career, not a life as a housewife.

Question 7

How does changes in women’s employment effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 7

There have been some important changes to women’s jobs in recent years. The proportion of women in employment has risen from under 50% in 1959 to over 70% in 2007. Some women are breaking through the invisible barrier of the ‘glass ceiling’ to high level professional jobs previously denied them. These greater opportunities provide an incentive for girls to take education seriously.
Women have greater career opportunities than previous generations, so it now encourages girls to work hard for qualifications and better pay, as they will be treated the same as men.

Question 8

What is an evaluation point of the changes in women’s employment effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 8

Statistics suggest that on average, men are paid 17% more that women in high-paid/high-status jobs. (radical feminism).

Question 9

How does changes in girl’s changing ambitions effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 9

The view that changes in the family and employment are producing changes in girl’s ambitions is supported by research.
For example, Sue Sharpe compared the results of interviews she carried out with girls in the 1970s and girls in the 1990s. In the 1970s girls had low aspirations, saw educational success as unfeminine and gave their priorities as love, marriage, husbands and children before careers. In the 1990s, however, girls were more likely to see their future as independent women with a career, rather than being dependent on a husband and his income.

Question 10

How does changes media representations of women effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 10

The media is an agency of secondary socialisation, so is capable of influencing our norms and values. Therefore, girls in the 90s were inspired by magazines and the role models within them to be independent, for which they would need to do well at school.

Question 11

What are the evaluating points of how changes media representations of women effect the improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 11

Radical Feminists continue to be critical of women’s magazines: many still focus on appearance and beauty as opposed to equality.

Question 12

What are the internal explanations for girl’s achievement?

Answer 12

1. Equal opportunities policies
2. Positive role models in school
3. GCSE and coursework
4. Teacher attention
5. Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
6. Selection and league tables
7. Identity and girls achievement

Question 13

How does equal opportunities policies effect improvement in girls educational
achievement?

Answer 13

The belief that boys and girls should have the same opportunities in school is now part of mainstream thinking. Policies such as GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) and WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) encourages girls to pursue careers in non-traditional areas. Similarly, the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 meant that boys and girls had to study the same thing.
Jo Boaler argues that equal opportunities policies are a key factor in the improvement of girl’s educational performance. Schools have become more meritocratic which means that because girls in general work harder than boys, they achieve more.
GIST and WISE are schemes encouraged schools to try to get more girls to opt for traditionally male A-level/careers. E.g. getting female scientists/engineers in to give talks, arranging visits for girls to engineering industries, arranging work experience placements, etc…

Question 14

How does positive role models in schools effect improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 14

In recent years, the proportion of female teachers and female head teachers has increased. As such, women in positions of power and authority have acted as important role models for girls because they show girls that it is possible for them to achieve important positions. This then reinforces the importance of education in gaining such positions.
Female role models inspire girls: they mean that girls are socialised to think it is ‘normal’ for women to be well-educated and in powerful positions, so they are more likely to aim for that themselves.
However, the dominance of women in education may have ‘feminised’ education and become a barrier for boys.

Question 15

How does GCSEs and coursework effect improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 15

Some sociologists have argues that changes in the why students are examined have favoured girls and disadvantaged boys. The gender-gap in achievement increased after the introduction of GCSEs and coursework in 1988.
Mitosis and Browne argue that girls are more successful in coursework because they are better organised and more consciousness than boys. They found that girls tend to spend more time on their work, take more care on its presentation, and are better at keeping to deadlines. All of this helps girls to benefit from the introduction of coursework in GCSEs, AS and A level.
However, coursework alone cannot fully explain why girls are doing better as exams have more of an impact on final results.

Question 16

How does teacher attention effect improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 16

Spender (1983) found that teachers spend mor time interacting with boys that girls. However more recent studies would suggest otherwise.
Becky Francis shows that boys receive more attention for teachers than girls, but that it is often negative attention.
Research suggests that teachers respond more positively to girls than boys. This is because teachers see girls as more co-operative and boys as more of a disruptive. This may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive interactions raise girls’ self-esteem and levels of achievement.
Barber found that teacher-pupil interactions were very significant. For girls, feedback from teachers focused more on their work rather than their behaviour; for boys the reverse was true.
Research by Abraham (1995) suggests that teachers perceive boys as being more badly behaved than girls in the classroom, and as such expect bad behaviour.
However, French and French found that teachers paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons.

Question 17

How does challenging stereotypes in the curriculum effect improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 17

Some sociologists argue that removing gender stereotypes from reading schemes, textbooks and other learning materials has removed a barrier to girls’ achievement.
Gaby Weiner argues that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged gender stereotypes. Also, in general, sexist images have been removed from teaching materials. This may have helped to raise girl’s achievement by pressing more positive images of what women are capable of.
Positive stereotypes present girls with a more positive image of what they can do, and motivating them to work hard at school to achieve the grades that their dream job requires.

Question 18

How does selection and league tables effect improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 18

Marketisation Policies and greater use of selection have created a much more competitive climate among schools. In this light, girls are seen as more desirable recruits as they achieve better exam results. Conversely, boys are seen as ‘liability students’ which are barriers to efforts by schools to climb the league tables.
David Jackson found that the introduction of exam league tables, which place a high value on academic achievement, has improved opportunities for girls. This tends to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy in their girls are more likely to be recruited by good schools and are therefore more likely to do well.
Girls are achieving more but radical feminists argue that schools remain patriarchal through sexual harassment at school, limited subject choice and careers.

Question 19

How does identity effect improvement in girls educational achievement?

Answer 19

Archer (2010) w/c girls tend to underachieve due to conforming to a w/c feminine identity. They do this to obtain symbolic capital (the gaining of admiration or respect).
This means that they become:
1. Hyper sexualised - creating glamorous identities which conflicts with the schools rules over appearance. Therefore they are often in trouble.
2. Boyfriend driven but this gets int he way of school work.
3. Loud - adopting outspoken assertive identities which teachers see as aggressive.
4. A ladette - adopting a tomboy identity, being sporty, playing truant and getting excluded.
However, not all w/c girls underachieve; therefore other factors must be taken into account.

Question 20

What are the explanations for the underachievement of boys?

Answer 20

Mitsos and Browne (1998) believe that boys are under-achieving in education, although they also believe girls are disadvantaged.
The evidence of boys’ under-achievement, according to Mitsos and Browne, is that: girls do better than boys in every stage of National Curriculum SAT (Standard Assessment Tests) results in English, maths and science, and they are now more successful than boys at every level in GCSE, outperforming boys in every major subject … except physics.
Atkinson and Wilson’s (2003) research shows that the gap between boys’ and girls’ achievement at school grows between 7 and 16. Their study of 500,000 children shows that despite boys outperforming girls in maths and science in early schooling, by the age of 16 girls were achieving higher results in both subjects.

Question 21

What are the external explanations for boys underachievement in education?

Answer 21

1. Boy’s poorer literacy skills.
2. The decline of ‘traditional’ male jobs.
3. Unrealistic expectations.
4. Lack of male models at home.

Question 22

How does boys’ poorer literacy skills effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 22

Some evidence suggests that girls are more likely to spend their leisure time in ways which complement their education and contribute to education achievements. Mitsos and Browne place considerable emphasis on reading. Women are more likely to read than men, and mothers are more likely that fathers to read to their children. Girls are therefore more likely to have same-sex role models to encourage them to read.
As such, poor language and literacy skills are likely to affect boys’ performance across a wide range of subject.

Question 23

How does the decline of traditional male jobs effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 23

The decline in male manual work may result in w/c boys lacking motivation. Mitsos and Browne argue that this decline in male employment opportunities has led to a crisis of masculinity. Many boys now believe now believe that they have little change of getting a proper job. This undermines their self-esteem and motivation and so they give up trying to gain qualifications.
However, while there may be some truth in these claims, it should be noted that the decline has largely been in traditional manual w/c jobs, many of them unskilled or semi-skilled. Traditionally, many of these jobs would have been filled by w/c boys with few if any qualifications. It therefore seems unlikely that the disappearance of such jobs would have much of an impact on boys’ motivation to gain qualifications.

Question 24

How does unrealistic expectations effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 24

Research indicates that boys are often surprised when they fail exams and tend to put their failure down to bad luck rather than lack of effort.
Becky Francis points out boys are more likely to have career aspirations that are not only unrealistic but often require few formal qualifications, e.g. professional football. Girls’ aspirations, however, tend to require academic effort, e.g. doctor, and therefore they have a commitment to schoolwork.

Question 25

How does lack of male role models at home effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 25

Increasing in number of lone parent families’ means that many boys are growing up lacking a positive role model who goes out to work and supports the family.

Question 26

What are the internal explanations for boys underachievement in education?

Answer 26

1. The feminisation of education.
2. Teacher interactions.
3. ‘Laddish’ subcultures.
4. Policies to raise boys achievement.

Question 27

How does the feminisation of education effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 27

According to Tony Sewell boys fall behind in education because schools have become feminised. This means that schools tend to emphasise feminine traits such as methodical working and attentiveness, which disadvantages boys.
Sewell sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement. He argues that some coursework should be replaced with final exams and a greater emphasis should be put on outdoor adventure in the curriculum.
Lack of male teachers could also be a factor - 60% of boys have no lessons with a male teacher.
However, Read (2008) found that female teachers often adopt a masculine style to their teaching (being strict) and therefore this is no longer an issue.

Question 28

How does teacher interactions effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 28

Teacher-pupil interactions were identified by Barber as being very significant. For girls, feedback from teachers focused more on their work rather than their behaviour; for boys the reverse was true. The low expectations of girls in science reinforced their own self-images; boys frequently overestimated their abilities.
Negative teacher labelling for some boys undermined their confidence and interest in school. For both boys and girls, where motivation in a subject is low, achievement tends to be low.
Teachers may tend to be less strict with boys, giving them more leeway with deadlines and expecting a lower standard of work than they get from girls. This can allow boys to under-achieve by failing to push them to achieve their potential.

Question 29

How does laddish subcultures effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 29

Some sociologists argue that the growth of ‘laddish’ subcultures has contributed to boys’ underachievement.
Mac and Ghaill examined the relationship between schooling, work, masculinity and sexuality. He identifies a particular pupil subculture, the ‘macho labs’ which could help to explain why some boys underachieve in education.
This group was hostile to school authority and learning, not unlike the lads in Willis’s study. Willis had argued that work especially physical work - was essential to the development of a sense of identity. By the mid-1980s much of this kind of work was gone. Instead, a spell in youth training, followed very often by unemployment, became the norm for many w/c boys.
Jackson found that laddish behaviour was based on the idea that it is uncool to work hard at school. She found that boys based their laddish behaviour on the dominant view of masculinity - they acted tough, messed around, disrupted lessons and rejected schoolwork as ‘feminine’.
However, research also indicates this has more to with class than it does gender.

Question 30

How does policies effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 30

Raising boys achievement project.
Reading champions.
Playing for success.
However, Ringrose (2013) argues that the panic about boys failing had led to neglecting the problems that girls still face at school such as sexual harassment and stereotyped subject choices.

Question 31

What are the evaluating points of the internal factors that effect boys underachievement in education?

Answer 31

Weiner, Arnot and David (1997) argue that the media have created a misleading moral panic which exaggerates and distorts the extent and nature of any problem.
They argue that although the media are also interested in the underachievement of white, m/c boys they see black and w/c underachievement as a particular problem because it is likely to lead to unqualified, unemployable black and w/c men turning to crime.
Cohen (1999) argues that the question is not ‘why are boys underachieving’, but ‘why boys’ underachievement has now become an object of concern?
His answer is that it is not just the destruction of the industrial base of Britain; nor is it the result of pressure put on men by feminism, or by girls’ superior achievement in recent years.
It is because discussion ps about achievement, academic success and attainment all have boys as their main object. The call for a new focus on boys is not new, but merely perpetuates the historical process which has always assumed boys to have special potential which has not been fully developed. Their underachievement has always been protected from scrutiny.

Question 32

What can boys’ underachievement be put down to - gender, class or ethnicity? Explain.

Answer 32

Boys and girls have both improved in recent year, but boys have not improved at the same rate as girls.
Some girls underperform and many boys outperform girls, so we must be careful not to over-generalise.
DfES (2007) - class gap in achievement is three times wider than the gender gap.
Fuller (1984) - extent of gender as factor in achievement varies by ethnicity; African Caribbean pupils experience greatest gender gap than any other ethnic group because African Caribbean girls tend to define their femininity in terms of educational success and financial independence.
Connolly (2006) - ‘interactions effect’ suggests that certain combinations of gender, class and ethnicity have more effect than others. For example, being female raises performance more when ‘added’ to being black Caribbean that it does when ‘added to’ being white.
Overall, internal and external factors combine and interact with class and ethnicity - it is multi-causal.

Question 33

What are the explanations of gender differences in subject choice?

Answer 33

Early socialisation
Gender domains
Gendered subject images
Gender identity and peer pressure
Gender career

Question 34

How does early socialisation explain gender differences in subject choice?

Answer 34

Murphy and Elwood argue that early difference in gender socialisation leads to boys and girls having different tastes in reading in reading and these can lead to differences in subject choice. Boys tend to read hobby books which develops an interest in the sciences, whereas girls tend to read stories about people which lead to interests in English.
At school Byrne (1979) found teachers encourages boys to be tough while they expect girls to be quite and helpful.

Question 35

How does gender domains explain gender differences in subject choice?

Answer 35

According to Browne and Ross, gender domains are the tasks and activities that children see as male or female territory. Children tend to be more confident in engaging in tasks which they see as part of their gender domain. For example, in a maths task, boys will be more confident tackling a problem related to cars, whereas girls might prefer a task related to health or nutrition.
This could explain why girls are attracted to arts and humanities subjects and boys prefer sciences.

Question 36

How does gendered subject images explain gender differences in subject choice?

Answer 36

Alison and Kelly identifies two main reasons why science tends to be seen as masculine. The way science subjects are packaged makes them appear to be ‘boys’ subjects. The examples used in textbooks and by teachers tend to be linked to boys’ experiences such as football and cars.
Students themselves make the greatest contribution to turning science into a boys’ subject. Boys dominate classroom, shouting out answers and grabbing apparatus first.

Question 37

How does gender identity and peer pressure explain gender differences in subject choice?

Answer 37

Peer pressure can influence subject choice in terms of gender domains. For example, boys tend to opt out of dance and music because others will perceive these subjects to be outside the male gender domain and apply negative pressure.
Similarly, Paetcher points out that pupils see sport as being firmly inside the male gender domain and will therefore label girls and ‘butch’or even ‘gay’ if they show too much interests in sports.

Question 38

How does gendered careers explain gender differences in subject choice?

Answer 38

Many jobs are seen as either 'mens' or 'womens' amd tend to be dominated by one gender e.g. nursing and engineering. Working class pupils may make decisions about courses based on traditional gender identity.
However, Postmodernists argue that we no longer live i this era and we can choose whoever we want to be.

Question 39

What are the pupils’ experiences of school that can affect their gender identities?

Answer 39

Verbal abuse
Male peer groups
Teachers and discipline 
The male gaze
Double standards

Question 40

How does verbal abuse effect pupils’ experiences of school that can affect their gender identities?

Answer 40

According to Connell boys use name-calling to put girls down if they behave in certain ways.
Paetcher found that name-calling helps to shape gender identities and male dominance. The use of negative labels such as ‘gay’ and ‘queer’ are ways in which pupils can control each other’s sexual identities.
Linking with double standards Lees argues that sexuality active girls may be labelled as a ‘slag’ whereas a boy is praised by his friends.
Equally boys may be labelled as ‘gay’ if they are friendly towards teachers.

Question 41

How does male peer groups effect pupils’ experiences of school that can affect their gender identities?

Answer 41

Mac and Ghaill show that peer groups reproduce a range of different working class masculine identities. For example, the 'macho lads' in his study were dismissive of other working class boys who worked hard and achieved. 
Boys use verbal abuse to reinforce masculinity amongst each other e.g. ambitions w/c boys were called 'dickheads' bu the m/c 'macho lads' in Mac and Ghill's study.

Question 42

How does teachers and disipline effect pupils’ experiences of school that can affect their gender identities?

Answer 42

Hayward found that male teachers told boys off for ‘behaving like girls’ and teased them when they achieved lower marks than female students.
Mac and Ghaill found that male teachers told boys off for behaving like girls’ and ignored boys verbal abuse.

Question 43

How does the male gaze effect pupils’ experiences of school that can affect their gender identities?

Answer 43

Mac and Ghaill refers to the ‘male gaze’ as a way of looking girls up and down and seeing them as sexual objects. He argues that the male gaze is a form of surveillance through which dominant masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued. This is achieved, for example, through telling stories of sexual conquest.
Mac and Ghaill’s idea that male pupils/teachers control girls identities by looking them up and down as sexual objects. This gives power to masculinity, and devalues femininity.

Question 44

How does double standards effect pupils’ experiences of school that can affect their gender identities?

Answer 44

Sue Lees argues that pupils apply different sets of moral standards to girls and boys e.g. in relation to sexual relationships.