gender differences in achievement - internal factors - boys and achievement Flashcards
boys and literacy
dcsf (2007) - the ‘gender gap’ is the result of poor literacy among males - now called department of education
reading is ‘feminised’.
boys are socialised to be ‘active’, girls have ‘bedroom culture’.
globalisation and the decline of traditional male jobs
since the 1980s, ‘masculine’ jobs in manufacturing have moved abroad & thus male employment opportunities have been reduced.
mitsos & browne (1998) suggest that this has created a ‘crisis of masculinity’.
feminisation of education
sewell (2006) argues:
. education has become ‘feminised’
· education does not nurture ‘masculine’ traits of competitiveness and leadership and the curriculum causes boys to underachieve
coursework is a cause of boys’ underachievement
need a greater focus on outdoor activity and more exams
‘we have thrown the boy out with the bath water’
shortage of male primary school teachers
lack of positive male role models, 1.5 million female-headed lone parent families.
dfes (2012) - 14% of primary school teachers are male.
yougov (2007) - 39% of 8-1I-year-olds have no male teachers.
some suggest boys need male teachers from an early age to impose strict discipline.
are more male teachers really needed?
francis (2006) - two thirds of 7-8 year-olds did not think gender of a teacher matters.
read (2008) - two types of language/’discourse’
disciplinarian discourse - shouting, exasperation, sarcasm
liberal discourse - speaks to children as adults, child-centred
first is associated with masculinity, second with femininity
most teachers favoured disciplinarian
education is not feminised and female teachers are able to control boys’ behaviour
haase (2008) - schools are a ‘masculinised’ structure that is dominated by females
jones (2006) - leadership - 1 in 4 males, 1 in 13 females
laddish subcultures
epstein (1998) - construction of ‘laddish’ subcultures in school. working-class boys labelled sissies/gay if appear to be ‘swots’. ‘real boys don’t work.’
francis (2001)
-boys see schoolwork as effeminate.
-reject school to avoid being called ‘gay’.
-increase in laddish subcultures due to more girls now in masculine areas.
the moral panic about boys
critics of feminism says girls ‘have it all’
ringrose (2013) - moral panic about ‘failing boys’
- unemployable underclass - threat to social stability
- now policy moves to raise boys’ achievement
policies for boys:
- ignore class disadvantage, and minority ethnic pupils
- ignores problems faced by girls in school
