gender differences in education

Question 1

What’s a statistic that shows the gender difference in education?

Answer 1

In A-levels, girls have have 46.4% at achieving grades A*+A, boys have 41.7%

Question 2

What are the external factors for gender differences in education?

Answer 2

-Impact of feminism
-Changes in family
-Changes in womens employment
-Girls changing ambitions

Question 3

What are the internal factors for gender differences in education?

Answer 3

-Equal opportunity policies
-Positive role models in schools
-1988 Education Reform Act
-Teacher attention

Question 4

Explain the impact of feminism
What did McRobbie find?
(external factor)

Answer 4

Feminism has raised expectations and self-esteem
McRobbie: study of girls’ magazines
1970s=emphasised the importance of getting married
Present=images of independent women
Feminism>affects girls self-imagines and ambitions>improvement in educational achievement

Question 5

Explain changes in the family
(external factor)

Answer 5

Major changes in the family since the 1970s
Increase in cohabitation, divorce rate, lone-parent families>more women are becoming the bread-winner>new role model for women
Good qualifications>well-paid jobs>independence

Question 6

Explain changes in womens employment
(external factor)

Answer 6

1970 Equal Pay Act=illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value
1975 Sex Discrimination Act=pay gap between men and women halved from 30% to 15%
Changes encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work, rather than housewives

Question 7

Explain girls changing ambitions
What did Sharpe find?
(external factor)

Answer 7

Sharpe=interviewed girls in the 1970s and 90s
1974s- girls had low aspirations, believed it was unfeminine to have educational success Priorities=love, marriage, children
1990s- more likely to be an independant and have a future with a career, girls will stay in school for longer,
Priorities=support themselves

Question 8

Explain equal opportunities policies
(internal factors)

Answer 8

Policies e.g. GIST (girls in science and technology) encourage girls to pursue careers in non-traditional areas
1988 National Curriculum

Question 9

Explain teacher attention
What did Francis find?
(internal factors)

Answer 9

The ways teachers interact with boys and girls differs
Francis=boys got more (negative) attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers, who had lower expectations of them

Question 10

Explain positive role models in school
(internal factors)

Answer 10

^ in female teachers and heads e.g.
2010/11=66%
2022/23=69%
(female leadership teachers GOV website)
Acts as a role model for young girls, showing that they can achieve high, non-traditional positions

Question 11

What 3 things did the 1988 Education Reform Act
(internal factors)

Answer 11

-League tables (how schools are ranked) girls become an asset to school for them to excel
-GCSEs and coursework, girls are more successful, Mitsos and Browne found girls: spend more time on their work, meet deadlines, better equipped
-National curriculum>boys and girls could do the same subjects>equal opportunity

Question 12

Explain GCSEs and coursework