Gender differences in education Flashcards
Reasons for female achievement (EXTERNAL)
FEMINISM: since the 1960s, the feminist movement has
challenged the traditional stereotype that a woman’s main role should be being a housewife and has helped to improve women’s rights,
aspirations and job opportunities. MCROBBIE compared girl’s magazines, in the 70s, magazines stressed
the importance of getting married, while in the 90s women were shown to be more independent. This would encourage girls to work harder in school, increasing their achievement.
EMPLOYMENT: the massive increase in women working
have encouraged girls to see their futures in terms of paid work, instead of being housewives
AO3 even today working class girls have been found to have
more traditional ambitions of marriage and children, and expect to go into low paid work
Reasons for male underachievement
Leisure activities: boys are less likely to read than girls. This means their literacy skills are less developed
The decline of traditional male jobs: decline in male manual jobs in Britain, due to a lot of manufacturing moving abroad
(globalisation). The result of this is that boys have fewer jobs to look forward to when they leave education, and this causes a ‘crisis of masculinity’. This demotivates boys, causing them to underachieve.
AO3: most of these manual jobs
were filled by boys with few or no qualifications anyway so a lack of these jobs wouldn’t cause male underachievement
Reasons for female achievement (INTERNAL)
- Equal opportunities policies: GIST (Girls Into Science and Technology) and WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) have encouraged girls
to study traditionally ‘male’ subjects - Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum: WEINER argues that
since the 1980s, teachers have challenged gender stereotypes in lessons, and textbooks have also removed sexist, stereotypical images.
Reasons for male underachievement (INTERNAL)
- Shortage of male primary school teachers: studies have suggested that boys work better and are better behaved when they have male teachers.
- Laddish’ subcultures: working class boys are likely to be harassed and called ‘gay’ if they appear to be doing well in school.
- Feminisation of education: SEWELL argues that the introduction of
coursework disadvantages boys.
Teacher attention: FRANCIS found boys got more attention from teachers in lessons than girls, but were more harshly disciplined and felt picked on by teachers who had lower expectations of them. This could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement.
AO3: factors like class and
ethnicity seem to play a larger role in achievement too: studies have shown the class gap in achievement is three times the gender gap.
