gender differences in achievement - internal & external factors Flashcards
What does Norman et al say about gender and socialisation?
Before starting school, conditioning and sex stereotyping have already begun – such as the type of play that girls and boys are encouraged to engage in and the types of toys they are given, different sets of aptitudes and attitudes develop
How does feminism impact achievement? (external)
- Social movement, strives for equal rights
- Challenges traditional stereotypes of a women’s role in society
- McRobbie - study into girls magazines, noting in the 70s, they emphasized marriage whereas now they contain images of strong, assertive women
How do changes in the family impact achievement? (external)
- Since the 1970s, increase in divorce rates, increase in cohabitation - unwise to rely on a husband to be a provider
- More lone parent families, mother has a breadwinner role, positive role model of financially independent women
- Smaller families, less need to stay at home
How do changes in women’s employment impact achievement? (external)
- 1970 equal pay act - must pay men and women the same amount for the same job
- 1975 sex discrimination act - outlawed discrimination at work
- Since 1975, pay difference between men and women halved from 30% to 15%
- 1971: 53% of women worked, 2013: 67% more flexible part time working hours available means more opportunities for women
How have girls’ changing ambitions impacted achievement?
- Shape’s interviews with girls in the 1970s and 1990s show a major shift in the way girls see their future
- 1974; girls had low aspirations, believed educational success was unfeminine - main priorities were love and marriage
- 1990s; girls ambitions had changed, careers were now their top priority, wanted to support themselves, saw their future as an independent women, not dependent on a husband
How have equal opportunities policies impacted girls achievement? (internal)
- Policymakers are now much more aware of gender issues and teachers are more sensitive to the need to avoid stereotyping
- Policies such as GIST (Girls into science and tech) and WISE (women into science and engineering) encourage girls to pursue careers in these non traditional areas
- Boaler = sees the impact of equal opportunities policies as a key reason for changes in girl’s achievement - many barriers have been removed, girls have greater opportunities
How have GCSE’s and coursework impacted girls achievement?
Gorard - the gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 until 1989 when it increased sharply (the year GCSE’s were introduced)
How does Elwood criticise Mitsos and Browne?
Argues that although coursework has some influence, it is unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap because exams have much more influence than coursework, on final grades
How do Mitsos and Browne support Gorard’s findings?
They concluded that girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys.
Girls;
- spend more time on their work
- are better at meeting deadlines
-bring the right equipment and materials to lesson
What did French find about teacher attention?
Analysed classroom interactions and they found that boys receive more attention because they attracted more reprimands
What did Francis find about teacher attention?
Found that while boys get more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers who tended to have lower expectations of them
What did Swann find about teacher attention?
Found gender differences in communication styles
Boys dominate in whole class discussion whereas girls prefer pair-work and group discussions and are better at listening and cooperating
hence teachers respond more positively to girls
Slee & league tables
Boys are less attractive to schools because they are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are 4x likely to be excluded
(4,677 pupils excluded were male - department for education 2023)
How have selection & league tables impacted girls achievement?
Marketisation policies have created a more competitive climate in which schools see girls as more desirable recruits as they achieve better results
Jackson - introduction of league tables has improved opportunities for girls - high achieving girls are more attractive to schools, creates a SFP as they are likely to achieve better results
How has challenging the curriculum impacted girls achievement?
The removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks and other learning materials has removed the barrier to girls achievement
Weiner - argues that since the 1980’s, teachers have challenged such stereotypes and in general, sexist images have been removed - helped to raise girls achievement by presenting more positive images of what girls can do
