gender differences in achievemnet

Question 1

what do feminists argue about gender inequality in education?

Answer 1

argue we have not yet achieved full equality between sexes but the feminist movements have success in improving women’s rights and opportunities through changing laws

Question 2

what major changes on the family since the 1970s has changed for better equality?

Answer 2

increase in divorce rate, increase in cohabitation, increase in lone parents, smaller families

Question 3

how do family changes effect girls’ attitudes towards education ?

Answer 3

increased female headed kind parent families may mean women take on more of a breadwinner role and therefore girls have a positive, independent female role model to look up to
to get a good job you need good qualifications so this will motivate them more to do well

Question 4

what changes in women’s employment have effected girls’ education?

Answer 4

the 1970 equal pay act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value
some women are braking through the ‘glass ceiling’ - invisible barrier keeping them out of higher level professions

Question 5

what does Sharpe find about girls’ ambition?

Answer 5

interviews girls in 1970s and 1990s showing a major change in the way girls see their future
in 1974 girls had low aspirations and believed educational success wasn’t seen as feminine, focusing their priorities on ‘live, marriage, husband, children, jobs’ (in that order more or less)
however by the 90s girls’ ambition had changed and they had a different order of priorities, finding that they wanted a future career and income

Question 6

what does Biggart argue about girls’ ambitions?

Answer 6

found that working class girls are more likely to face a precarious position in the labour market and to see motherhood as the only viable option for their futures

Question 7

what do equal opportunity policies do for gender equality?

Answer 7

feminists have a major impact on the education system as policymakers are now much more aware tog gender issues and teachers avoid stereotyping
beliefs that boys and girls are entitled to the same opportunities

Question 8

what is GIST and WISE and what impact do they have on girls?

Answer 8

girls into science and technology
women into science and engineering
these encourage girls to pursue careers in these non traditional areas
efforts have been made to raise science teachers’ awareness of gender issues

Question 9

what do positive role models in schools do for gender equality?

Answer 9

women in more senior positions within schools (headteachers and teachers) which gives girls more motivation, showing them that they can achieve positions of importance

Question 10

what does Godard argue about they way pupils are assessed?

Answer 10

changes in the way pupils are assessed have favoured girls and disadvantaged boys
he found the gender gap was fairly constant from 1975 until 1989 when in increased sharply which was the year that GCSE was introduced, bringing coursework as a major part of nearly all subjects which is seen as a ‘girls strength’

Question 11

what does Browne argue about GCSE and coursework?

Answer 11

girls are more successful in coursework as they are better organised than boys because girls spend more time on their work, take care with the way it’s presented, better at meeting deadlines and bring the right equipment to lessons

Question 12

how does Elwood critique Browne?

Answer 12

exams have more influence than coursework in success (final grades)

Question 13

what impact does teacher attention have on children?

Answer 13

French analysed a classroom interaction and they found boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands as they misbehave in class

Question 14

what did Swann find about teacher attention?

Answer 14

found gender differences in communication styles
boys dominate the classroom discussion ls whereas girls prefer pair work and group work and are better at listening and cooperating
this may explain why teachers respond positively to girls as they see boys as being disruptive (leading to self fulfilling prophecy)

Question 15

what does challenging stereotypes in the curriculum effect on gender equality?

Answer 15

some sociologists argue that removal of gender stereotypes from text books has removed a barrier in girls’ achievement
1970s and 1980s textbooks showed women as housewives and mothers

Question 16

how does selection and league tables effect gender inequality?

Answer 16

marketisation policies created a more competitive climate in which schools see girls as desirable recruits because they achieve better exam results which has improved opportunities for girls but not boys which may lead to self fulfilling prophecy

Question 17

what do liberal feminists argue about girls’ achievement?

Answer 17

they celebrate progress made so far in improving achievement believing further progress will be made by continuing development of equal rights

Question 18

what do radical feminists argue about girls’ achievement?

Answer 18

the system remains patriarchal as and conveys the clear message that this is still a man’s world
sexual harassment of girls continues, educations still limits girls’ subject choices, male teachers are more likely to become heads, women are underrepresented in the curriculum

Question 19

what does Archer argue about symbolic capital?

Answer 19

symbolic capital refers to the status and recognition we obtain from others
archer found that by performing their working class feminine identities, girls gained symbolic capital from their peers but this brought conflict with them into school which prevents them from acquiring educational capital and economic capital

Question 20

how does hyper-heterosexual feminine identity effect girls?

Answer 20

girls invest considerable time, effort and money in constructing ‘desirable’ and ‘glamorous’ hyper heterosexual feminine identities bringing them status from female peers
however it also brought conflict with school as they were punished for having the wrong appearance (jewellery, clothing, makeup)

Question 21

how do boyfriends affect girls achievement?

Answer 21

this brings symbolic capital but gets in the way of school work and lowered girls’ aspirations, losing interest in universities and instead ‘settling down’, having children and working locally in worki by class feminine jobs
girls often drop out of school after becoming pregnant

Question 22

how does being “loud” affect girls’ achievement?

Answer 22

some working class girls adopt a loud feminine identity, often leading them to be outspoken and independent which fails to conform to school’s stereotypes of ideal female pupils as passive and submissive

Question 23

how does working class dilemma affect girls achievement?

Answer 23

working class girls face a dilemma:
either gaining symbolic capital from their peers by conforming to a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity,
or gaining educational capital by rejecting their working class identity and conforming to the school’s middle class notions of a respectful, ideal female pupil

Question 24

what does Evans find about ‘successful’ working class girls?

Answer 24

a study of 21 working-class sixth form girls in south london found that they wanted to go to university to increase earning power to help their family

Question 25

why may poor literacy result in boys having poor education?

Answer 25

the gender gap is mainly a result of boys’ poor literacy and language skills which may result from parents spending less time reading with them; therefore, seeing this as a feminine activity
in addition, boys leisure pursuits (such as football) do little to develop their language skills

Question 26

why may globalisation effect boys’ achievement and education? what does Browne claim about this?

Answer 26

since the 80s, there has been a decline in heavy industries which has resulted from the economy and globalisation
Browne argues the decline in male employment has led to’ identity crisis for men’ where they now feel unmotivated and give up on trying to get qualifications

Question 27

what does Sewell argue about feminisation of education?

Answer 27

boys fall behind because education has become ‘feminised’ as school does not nurture ‘masculine’ traits
sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement because he argues some coursework should be replaced with final exams

Question 28

why does shortage of male school teachers effect boys’ education?

Answer 28

lack of male role models at home and in school can effect boys
only 14% of primary school teachers are male
males often give out stricter punishments rather than women, making boys behave and work harder

Question 29

why may ‘laddish’ subcultures effect boys’ achievement in school?

Answer 29

masculinity can be argued to be a social construct as working class culture is associated with being tough, doing manual work and rejecting school

Question 30

what is moral panic about boys?

Answer 30

feminist Ringrose argue views about girls ‘having to all’ have contributed to a moral panic about ‘failing boys’ which reflects the fear that underachieving boys will grow to become dangerous

Question 31

what does McVeigh note about similarities in girls and boys achievements?

Answer 31

boys and girls of the same social class tend to achieve similar results
we need to take the interplay of class, gender and ethnicity into account in order to gain a better understanding of differences in achievement

Question 32

what does Norman note about gender role socialisation?

Answer 32

early socialisation shapes children’s gender identity as from an early age boys and girls are dressed different and given different toys

Question 33

what does Browne argue about ‘gender domains’?

Answer 33

argue children’s domains reshaped by early experiences and expectations of adults

Question 34

what dies Kelly argue about science being a boys subject?

Answer 34

science teachers are more likely to be men; examples that teachers use in textbooks are likely to be boys; boys dominate experiments and the laboratory

Question 35

what did Leonard find about single sex schools?

Answer 35

girls were more likely to take maths and science A levels whereas boys took english and languages compared to mixed schools

Question 36

how does peer pressure affect subject choice?

Answer 36

boys tend to opt out of music and dance because such activities fall outside of their gender domain which attracts a negative response from their peers

Question 37

what type of career are women often wanting to be involved with?

Answer 37

women’s jobs often involve work similar to that performed by housewives such as childcare or nursing

Question 38

how does sex typing careers affect boys and girls?

Answer 38

may affect their idea of what jobs are possible or acceptable for them

Question 39

what doe Lee note about double standards?

Answer 39

identifies double standard of sexual morality in which boys boast about their own sexual exploits but this may not be the same view for girls

Question 40

what does Lee note about verbal abuse?

Answer 40

boys use name calling to put girls down; for example, boys may call girls ‘slags’ if they appeared to be sexually available and ‘drags’ if they didn’t

Question 41

what does Mac an Ghaill note about the male gaze?

Answer 41

male pupils and teachers may look at girls as sexual objects and make judgements on their appearance

Question 42

what did Mac an Ghaill find about male teachers discipline?

Answer 42

male teachers told off boys for ‘acting like girls’ and teased them for getting lower marks than girls