Gender Differences in education Flashcards
The impact of feminism
The feminist movement has considerable success in improving women’s right & opportunities through changes in the law.
Changes in the Family
- An increase in divorce rate
- An increase in cohabitation
- Smaller familes
Changes in women’s employment
1970 Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value, & the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act outlaws discrimination at work.
Girls changing ambitions
Sharpe found that girls were now more likely to see their future as an independent woman with a career rather than as dependant on their husband and his income.
Equal opportunities policies
GIST & WISE
Positive role models in schools
Women teachers are likely to be particularly important role models as far as girls’ educational achievement is concerned since to become teachers.
GSCE & Coursework
Mitsos and Browne found that girls are more successful in coursework as they are better organized than boys, and these factors help girls benefit from the introduction of coursework.
Teachers attention
Jane & French (1993) analyzed classroom interactions. they found that boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands
Challenging sterotypes in the curriculum
Weiner (1995) argues that since the 1980s teachers have challenged such stereotypes, by removing sexist images from learning materials.
Selection and league tables
Jackson (1998) notes the introduction of exam league tables has improved opportunities for girls: high achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low achieving boys are not.
Liberal feminists - girls achievement
They believe that further progress will be made by the continuing development of equal opportunities policies, encouraging positive role models.
Radical feminists - girls’ achievement
They take a more critical view such as sexual harassment of girls continues at school
Archer - symbolic capital
Archer found that by performing their working-class feminine identities, the girls gained symbolic capital from their peers, which brought them into conflict with the school. This prevented them from gaining educational and economic capital.
Hyper-heterosexual feminine identity
Archer argues girls adopted this identity buy having a boyfriend or being ‘loud’
Archer - working class girls’ dilemma
Archer argues that working-class feminine identities and educational success conflict with one another. Working-class girls’ investments in their feminine identities are a major cause of their underachievement.
Working Class Identity
Evans (2009) shows in her study of 21 working-class sixth form girls in a south London Comprehensive school. They wanted to go to university but to help their families.
Boys & Literacy
Department for Education (2007) boys have a poorer literacy skill, as parents may spend less time reading to their sons as it may be seen as a feminine activity.
Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs
Since 1980 there has been a decline in trad jobs due to the globalisation of the economy.
Mitsos & Browne - Identity crisis
Boys now believe that they have little chance of getting a proper job which undermines their motivation and self-esteem so they give up getting qualifications.
Feminisation of education
Sewell claims education has become ‘feminised’ (BBC, 2006) he argues that coursework should be replaced with final exams.
Shortage of male primary school teachers
Yougov (2007) 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher. Yet most boys surveyed said that the presence of a male teacher made them behave better and 42% said it made them work harder.
Read - disciplinarian discourse
The teacher’s authority is made explicit and visible, for example through shouting.
Read - liberal discourse
The teacher’s authority is implicit and invisible.
Read (2008)
Read found that most teachers female & male used a ‘masculine’ disciplinarian discourse to control pupils’s behaviour
‘Laddish’ Subcultures
Epstein (1998) found that working-class boys are likely to be harassed, labeled as sissies, and subjected to homophobic if they appear to be ‘swots.’ Francis (2001) found that boys were more concerned than girls about being labeled by peers as in a working-class culture masculinity is equated with being tough and schoolwork is seen as effeminate. She argues that boys are becoming extremely ‘laddish in their effort to construct themselves as non-feminine.
Moral panic about boys - Ringrose
Ringrose argues that the moral panic of underachieving boys becoming dangerous threatens social stability. This has created a shift in educational policy.
Ringrose two negative effects of moral panic:
- By narrowing the equal opportunities policy down simply to ‘failing boys’ as it ignores the problem of disadvantaged working-class pupils
- By narrowing gender policy down solely to the issue of achievement gaps, it ignores other problems faced by girls in school including sexual harassment and bullying.
Osler (2006)
Osler notes that the focus on underachievement boys has led to a neglect of girls. This is partly because girls often disengage from school quietly
Gender role socialisation
Byrne (1979) shows that teachers encourage boys to be tough and show initiative and not to be weak. Girls are expected to be quiet and helpful.
Gender domains
Browne & Ross (1991) argue that children’s beliefs about ‘gender domains’ are shaped by their early experiences. Children are more confident when engaging in tasks that they see as part of their own gender domain
Gendered subject images
Kelly argues that science is seen as a boys’ subject as science teachers are more likely to be men. The examples teachers use, and those in textbooks often draw on boys’ rather than girls’ interests.
Single-sex schools
Leonard (2006) found that girls in girls schools were more likely to take maths and science A levels.
Gender Identity and peer pressure
Paechter (1998) found that because pupils see sports as mainly within the male gender domain, girls who are ‘sporty’ have to cope with an image that contradicts the conventional female stereotype. This may explain why girls are more likely than boys to opt out of sport
Gendered career opportunities
Women’s jobs still largely involve ‘care work’ which accounts for 40% of the range of occupations: health and social work 20%.
Gender, vocational choice and class
Fuller (2011) argues that most of the working-class girls she studied had ambitions to go into jobs such as child care, this reflected their working class habitus.
Double standards
Lees (1993) identifies a double standard of sexual morality in which boys talk about their sexual exploits but call girls ‘slag’ if she doesn’t have a boyfriend.
Verbal abuse
Parker (1996) found that boys were labelled gay simply for being friendly with girls or female teachers.
The Male Gaze
Mac and Ghaill see the male gaze as a form of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and feminity devalued.
Male peer groups
Epstein and Willis show boys in anti-school subcultures often accuse boys who want to do well at school of being gay or effeminate.
Female peer groups
Ringrose found that being popular was crucial to the girls’ identity and they faced tension between :
- An idealized feminine identity ( being loyal to friends and non-competitive)
- A sexualized identity that involves competing for boys in the dating culture.
Slut & frigid shaming
Shaming is thus a social control device by which schoolgirls police, regulate and discipline each other’s identities
Boffin Identity
Reay (2001) found that girls who want to be successful educationally may feel to conform to the ideal feminine identity and perform an asexual identity.
