gender differences in achievement

Question 1

external: impact of feminism
McRobbie

Answer 1

studied girls magazines and found that in the 1970s, they emphasised the importance of getting married. however, nowadays, they contain images of strong, assertive and independent women.

feminists have campaigned for women’s rights and changes in the law e.g. equal rights

Question 2

external: changes in women’s employment

Answer 2

changes in the law have improved the position of working women. e.g. the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975)

Question 3

external: changing girls ambitions
Sharpe

Answer 3

interviewed girls and found their ambitions in the 1970s were to marry and have children, and saw their future in terms of a domestic role. however, in the 1990s, the girls priorities had changed to careers and wanting to be independent

Question 4

internal: gcse and coursework
Mitos and Brown

Answer 4

girls do better than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised

Question 5

internal: GCSE and coursework
Gorad

Answer 5

found that the gender gap in achievement increased sharply when GCSE was introduced in 1988

Question 6

internal: equal opportunities policy

Answer 6

GIST and WISE programmes to encourage girls into science and technology
National curriculum - girls and boys largely study the same subjects e.g: by making science compulsory

Question 7

internal: role models

Answer 7

there are more female teacher, which feminises the learning environment and encourages girls to see school as a part of a ‘female gender domain’

Question 8

internal: teacher attention
Swann

Answer 8

boys dominate class discussions, whereas girls are better at listening and cooperating. teachers respond more positively to girls and give them more encouragement

Question 9

internal: teacher attention
French and French

Answer 9

found that teachers paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons, but boys received more attention overall because they were disciplined more often

Question 10

internal: selection and league tables

Answer 10

marketisation policies have led to increased competition between schools. schools therefore have the incentive to recruit more able students. girls are generally more successful than boys, so are more attractive to schools

Question 11

external: boys literacy

Answer 11

parents spend less time reading to sons because it is seen as a ‘feminine’ activity

boys leisure interests do not encourage language and communication skills, whereas girls ‘bedroom culture’ does

Question 12

external: decline in manual labour

Answer 12

globalisation has led to the decline in heavy industries (e.g. shipbuilding, mining and manufacturing) in the UK. this has led to a male ‘identity crisis’, giving them little motivation to get qualifications for a job

Question 13

internal: feminisation of schooling

Answer 13

boys fall behind because education has been ‘feminised’, meaning schools no longer nurture masculine traits

the introduction of coursework has disadvantaged boys

lack of male primary school teachers - only 1 in 6 primary school teachers are male

Question 14

internal: laddish subcultures

Answer 14

there is peer-pressure on boys to demonstrate their masculinity by being ‘anti-school’