gender differences in achievement - Identity, Class & Girls Achievement Flashcards
What is meant by symbolic capital and how does it relate to gender differences?
Archer
— there are social class differences in girls achievement
— one reason for this is the conflict it between working class girls’ feminine identities and the values and ethos of the school
— uses the concept of ‘symbolic capital’ to understand this conflict, which refers to the status, recognition and sense of worth we are able to obtain from others
— found that by performing their w/c feminine identity, the girls gained symbolic capital with their peers, however this brought them into conflict with the school, preventing them from acquiring educational/economic capital
How does hypersexual feminine identities cause working class girls to not achieve educational success?
Archer
— many w/c girls invested time and effort into constructing ‘desirable’ hypersexual feminine identities
— their performance of this identify increased their status in their female peers group and avoided them being ridiculed or called a ‘tramp’ for wearing the wrong brand
— however this brought them into conflict with the school, eg; they were punished for wearing too much jewellery, wrong clothing, wearing makeup
— teachers saw this as a distraction which prevented girls from engaging in education
— led to school defining the girls as incapable of educational success and thus less worthy of respect
How does working class girls being ‘loud’ cause educational failure?
Archer
— w/c girls adopted ‘loud’ feminine identities that often led to them being outspoken, independent and assertive for example questioning teachers authority
— this failed to conform to the schools stereotype of the ideal female pupil identity as passive and submissive to authority and brought conflict with teaches who interpreted their behaviour as aggressive rather than assertive
