Gender Differences In Attainment, Int Pt.2: Lesson 27 Flashcards
What does French & French 1993 say about teacher attention impacting gender attainment gap?
Boys receive more attention from misbehaving so have to be managed more
What does Francis 2001 say about teacher attention impacting gender attainment gap?
- Boys receive more attention but are disciplined more harshly than girls
- Teacher have lower expectations for boys
What does Swann 1998 say about teacher attention impacting gender attainment gap?
- Gender differences in communication styles
- Boys prefer to be loud & dominant in class discussions but girls prefer pair work & small groups
- Girls talk with turn taking & listening
How are stereotypes within the curriculum challenged?
- Removing gender stereotypes promotes equality
- Adapting textbooks, posters, schemes of work
What did Weiner 1995 say about challenging stereotypes within the curriculum?
- 1970s educational material depicted women as housewives, caregivers & mothers
- Since 1980s materials been adapted to change and remove stereotypes
- This increases girls attainment as they’re presented with more positive images of women
How has selection & league tables impacted gender attainment?
- Made schools more selective in types of students to recruit
- Girls preform better and so are more desirable and more likely to be selected
What did Jackson 1998 say about selection & league tables impacting gender attainment?
- Introduction of marketisation policies makes girls more attractive to schools
- Girls recruited to good schools leading to self-fulfilling prophecy
What did Slee 1998 say about selection & league tables impacting gender attainment?
- Boys less desirable to schools as they have behaviour issues
- 4x more likely to be excluded than girls
- Boys are seen as ‘liability students’ who harm attempts to improve league tables
What do Liberal feminists believe in regards to girls achievements?
- Been march of progress
- Further progress can be made e.g continuation of equal opportunities policies, removal of sexist stereotypes & positive attitudes & role models
- Education can be seen as meritocratic; when given equal opportunities to succeed everyone can
What do Radical feminists believe in regards to girls achievements?
- Girls may achieve more but schools are still patriarchal and convey message of ‘man’s world’
- Girls sexually harassed at school
- Girls directed towards gendered subjects
- Male teachers more likely to be headteachers on secondary school
- Women underrepresented in curriculum
How does social class impact girls attainment?
- WC girls more likely to underachieve
- FSM A*-C = 40.6%
- Not FSM A*-C = 67.5
What did Archer et al 2010 study?
- Studied WC girls
- Examined symbolic capitalism, found WC feminine identity conflicts with MC school values
- This conflict prevents them from achieving educational & economic capital when entering workforce
- To achieve symbolic capitalism, a sense of self worth and status they adopt 3 strategies which conflict schools MC ethos
What are the 3 was WC girls seek status?
- Hyper-Heterosexual Feminine Identity
- Boyfriends
- Being loud
Key points on Hyper-Heterosexual Feminine Identity
- Invest lots of time into appearance
- Aim to be desirable
- Construct identity around their looks
- Performance of identity brings status and avoids negative labels from peers
- Schools label them worthless as they’re promoting wrong appearance
- The ideal pupil is desexualised & middle class
Key points on boyfriends
- Bring symbolic capital to girls
- Lower working class girls aspirations & distract them from education
- WC girls less interested in uni
- WC girls not interested in masculine subjects and more likely to settles down in traditional WC employment
Key points on being loud
- Adopt loud identities which are outspoken & assertive
- Confident & independent & question teachers authority
- Teacher interpret this as aggressive which conflicts school values
What did Archer et al say the dilemma was for WC girls?
Whether to gain symbolic capitalism from peers & conform to Hyper-Heterosexual Feminine Identities or gain education capital by rejecting WC identities and conform to ideal pupil
What are studies which suggest WC girls motivation to continue to university is tied to their WC identities?
Evans 2009
- Interviews WC girls in London comprehensive schools
- Wanted to attend uni to increase earrings for themselves and their families
Skeggs 1997
- Caring is crucial to WC feminine identity and they choose to stay home to contribute
- Living at home is more affordable further reflecting their WC identity
