gender differences in achievement Flashcards
external factors of girls achievement:
(4)
impact of feminism
changes in family
changes in women’s employment
girls changing attitudes
internal factors of girls achievement:
(6)
equal opportunities policies
positive role models in school
gcse and coursework
teacher attention
challenging stereotypes in curriculum
selection and league tables
external factors of boys achievement:
(2)
boys and literacy
globalisation and decline of traditional menstrual jobs
internal factors of boys achievement:
(3)
feminisation of education
shortage of male primary school teachers
laddish subclutures
McRobbie study on impact of feminism
1970s magazines emphasised marriage but in 1990s portrayed strong independent women
Impact of changes in family
girls have stronger role models
divorce rates increased shows women are more independent
What did EPA make illegal in 1970
for women to be paid less than men
how has proportion of women in paid work changed?
53% in 1971
to
67% in 2013
Sharpe - study on girls changing attitudes
difference in years
in 1974 girls had low expectations, prioritised marriage and children etc
in 1990s girls prioritised career and supporting themselves
Fuller on girls changing attitudes
found educational success became part of a girls identity
believed in meritocracy and jobs to support themselves
Beck and Beck Gernsheim on girls changing attitudes
link change in attitude to trend in individualism in society
stats on education - starting school
at end of yr1 girls ahead of boys by in between 7% and 17% in 7 areas of learning
e.g lit, lang, maths
stats - KS1-3
girls consistently better
especially in english
narrower gap in maths and science but girls still do better
stats - GCSE
gender gap stands at about 10%
stats - as and a level
gap narrower than GCSE but girls still do better
stats - vocational subjects
larger proportion of girls achieve distinctions in every subject including engineering and construction
AO3 - Reay - class, gender and ambition
limited aspirations of w/c girls reflect limited jobs seen as available to them
traditional gender identity seen as attainable and offers status
examples of equal opportunities policies
GIST - girls into science and technology
WISE - women into science and engineering
equal opportunities policies- Boaler
sees impact of equal opportunities as key reason for changes in girls achievement
barriers removed
more meritocratic
GCSE and coursework- Gorard
gender gap fairly constant from 1975-1989
where GCSEs and coursework were introduced
girls and why they achieve better (language)
more oral exams which benefit girls as they have better language skills
AO3 - Elwood - GCSE and coursework
may have some impact but can’t be only influence on gender gap as exams have more influence on final grade
Francis - how teachers interact
boys disciplined harsher and felt picked on by teachers with low expectations of them
Swann - communication style
boys dominate group discussions whereas girls prefer small groups/pairs
girls better at listening but boys interrupt
may be why teachers are more positive towards girls
Weiner - challenge of stereotypes in curriculum
claim since 1980s teachers challenged stereotypes and sexist photos removed from textbooks
means girls can see positive images of women
Jackson - selection and league tables
high achieving girls attractive to schools
low achieving boys are not
creates self fulfilling prophecy
Slee - selection and league tables
(plus stat)
boys less attractive to better schools because of behaviour difficulties
4x more likely to be excluded
means boys seen as ‘liability students’
liberal feminists
celebrate progress of girls achievement so far
further progress will be made through equal opportunities
see system is meritocratic (like functionalists)
radical feminists
system is still patriarchal
sexual harassment of girls at school
limits girls subject choice and career path
male teachers more likely to be heads
women underrepresented in curriculum
Weiner - women underrepresented in curriculum
secondary school history as a ‘women free zone’
Who talks about symbolic capital?
Archer
What does Archer say about symbolic capital?
conflict between girls w/c identity and ethos of school
gain symbolic capital from peers
this caused conflict with school
What are the three girls identities that Archer found?
having a boyfriend
being loud
hyper heterosexual feminine identity
explain having a boyfriend identity
brought symbolic capital
also a distraction
girls want to settle down, have children etc
explain being loud identity
conflict as it didn’t fit ideal pupil as they are outspoken, independent, assertive etc
explain hyper heterosexual feminine identity
spend lots of time, effort and money on their feminine identity
led to school ‘othering’ them
led to symbolic violence
Who describes hyper heterosexual feminine identity leading school to ‘other’ them as symbolic violence
Bourdieu
AO2 - how was there conflict?
led to girls choosing between gaining symbolic capital or educational capital which caused conflict and underachieving
Evans - successful w/c girls
w/c girls wanted to go to uni but to increase earning power and helping family, not for themselves
Skeggs - successful w/c girls
their motivation to go to uni shows their ‘caring’ identity
Archer - successful w/c girls
w/c girls preferred to stay local so caused self exclusion from better unis
Who says gender gap is due to boys poor lit and lang skills?
DCSF
Why do boys have worse lit and lang skills than girls?
mothers spend less time reading to sons
reading seen as feminine
boys leisure doesn’t involve language/communication
girls tend to have ‘bedroom culture’
examples of policies introduced to try and improve boys literacy and language skills
National Literacy Strategy
Reading Champions
What do Mitsos and Browne argue about globalisation and decline of traditional mens jobs?
led to an identity crisis for men
leads to lack of self esteem and motivation
What type of job has the decline mainly been in?
Has it had an impact on boys achievement?
manual working class jobs where no qualifications are needed
unlikely it has had an effect on boys achievement
What does Sewell say about feminisation of education?
boys fall behind due to feminised curriculum
school doesn’t nurture masculine traits e.g competitiveness
this puts girls at benefit
What % of primary school teachers are male?
14%
What stat does Youglov use about shortage of male primary school teachers?
39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with male teachers
AO3 - Francis - does no male teacher have impact stat
2/3 of all 7-8 year olds say they didn’t think gender of teacher mattered
AO3 - Read - are male primary school teachers needed?
most teachers use masculine discipline so disproves culture of education is feminised
disputes claim only men can provide strict class discipline
Epstein - laddish subcultures
w/c boys more likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies or subject to homophobic abuse if they appear to be swots
Why are swots more likely to have abuse?
manual work seems masculine and tough
non manual seen as inferior and effeminate
why w/c boys reject school
Francis - laddish subcultures
as girls move into masculine roles boys become more laddish so they don’t seem feminine
government policies to deal with underachieving (boys)
National Literacy Strategy - improve reading)
Dads and Sons - get fathers more involved
Teacher recruitment - get more male teachers
Raising boy’s achievement- introduce range of strategies e.g same sex teaching
government policies to deal with underachieving (girls)
equal opportunities policies
WISE
non sexist stereotypical career advice
national curriculum being the same as boys
critics of feminism
policies for gender equality in education no longer needed as girls ‘have it all’ and are taking mens jobs
girls achieve at a boys expense
feminists e.g Ringrose response to idea policies for gender equality no longer needed
these views have contributed to moral panic for boys
reflects a fear of underachieving w/c boys growing up to be dangerous, unemployable etc
Impact of policy focusing on failing boys?
ignores problems of disadvantaged w/c and ethnic minority pupils
impact of policy focusing on achievement?
ignores other problems faced by girls e.g sexual harassment, bullying, self esteem, identity issues and subject choices
Osler - impact of focusing on underachieving boys
led to neglect of girls
girls likely to disengage with school quietly whereas boys become laddish
how social class effects differences in achievement
girls and boys of similar social class receive similar results (gap is rarely bigger than 12 percentage points)
gap is much wider in different social classes (girls from higher can be as much as 44 points ahead of lower girls)
how ethnicity effects differences in achievement
gender gap among black Caribbean greater than other ethnic groups
e.g Fuller found black girls define identity in terms of success and Sewell found black boys define masculinity in opposition to school
gender and subject choice - national curriculum choices
DT
DT compulsory but girls tend to do food tech and boys do graphics/ resistant materials
gender and subject choice - as and a level
boys more likely to choose maths and physics
girls more likely to choose sociology, english or languages
continues in uni
questions effectiveness of policies e.g GIST and WISE
gender and subject choice - vocational subjects
stat
gender segregation noticeable
e.g only 1in 100 childcare apprentices are boys
what are four explanations of gender differences in subject choice?
gender role socialisation
gendered subject choices
gender identity and peer pressure
gendered career opportunities
gender role socialisation - Bryne - internal
teachers encourage boys to be tough whereas girls should be tidy and quiet
gender role socialisation - Murphy and Elwood
this leads to different subject choices
boys read hobby books and girls read books about people
Browne and Ross - gender domains
tasks seen as male/female
children more confident when fits with gender domain
e.g in same maths questions girls more confident if the context is food and boys with cars
Kelly - gendered subject choices (science)
seen as male
e.g due to examples in textbooks etc use males, boys dominate practicals in the lab
gender identity and peer pressure - Paechter (sport)
sport seen as male domain so sporty girls have to deal with stereotypes
gender identity and peer pressure- Dewar (sport labels)
studied American college and found males called sporty girls butch or lesbian
AO3 - single sex schooling
hold less stereotypical views and is reflected in subject choices
AO3 - Leonard - subject choice in same sex schooling
all girls schools more likely to take maths or science A levels
boys more likely to take english and languages
also reflected in uni choices
gendered career opportunities
employment highly gendered
sex typing of occupations gives girls and boys idea about what is acceptable for them
may explain why vocational courses are more gender specific
Fuller - gender, vocational choice and class
w/c girls ambitious to go into hair and beauty or childcare which reflects w/c habitus (what is realistic for their type of people)
Lees - double standards- pupils sexual and gender idenitites
double standard of sexual morality
boys boast about sexual exploit but girls called slags if she doesn’t have a boyfriend or dresses in a promiscuous way
Connell - verbal abuse
identifies ‘rich vocabulary of abuse’ as a way in which gender identities are reinforced (boys using names to put girls down)
Lees - verbal abuse
boys call girls slags if they seem sexually available but drags if they aren’t
Paechter - verbal abuse
sees name calling as a way for males to maintain power
use labels like queer, gay, lezzie as a way pupils police each others sexual identities
Who talks about male gaze?
Mac an Ghaill
What is male gaze?
Why is is a thing?
way males look girls up and down in sexual way seeing them as sexual objects and making judgments about their appearance
see it as reinforcing heterosexual masculinity as boys do not want to risk appearing to be gay
Haywood and Mac an Ghaill - teachers and discipline
male teachers tell boys off for behaving like girls but ignored male abuse to girls and said the girls are attracting it
Askew and Ross - teachers and discipline
male teachers can reinforce dominant gender ideas e.g going into female teachers class to ‘rescue’ them by threatening disruptive pupils
male peer groups - Willis’ study
found boys in anti school subcultures who wanted to do well were labelled as gay or effeminate
male peer groups - Mac and Ghaill
macho lads in school and sixth form
found w/c macho lads were dismissive of w/c boys who worked hard in school
found shift from macho lads to real Englishmen in sixth form (shows m/c atmosphere)
female peer groups- policing identity- Archer
shows how w/c gain symbolic capital from female peers through hyper heterosexual identity
female peer groups - policing identity - Ringrose study
studied 13-14 year old w/c girls peer groups finding popularity was important to girls
tension between idealised feminine identity and sexualised identity
