Gender Differences: Internal

Question 1

Equal Opportunity Policies

Answer 1

• GISTS: Girls Into Science + Technology.
• WISE: Women into Science + Engineering.
• National Curriculum (1988): girls + boys to study the same subjects.
• Boaler: policies are the key reason for girls’ achievement.

Question 2

Boaler

Answer 2

Policies are the key reason for girls’ achievement.

Question 3

Role Models

Answer 3

• Increase of female teachers + heads.
• GIST + WISE - female scientists visit schools.

Question 4

Weiner

Answer 4

• Teachers challenge traditional stereotypes around gender, e.g. women portrayed as mothers + housewives in textbooks.
• History curriculum is a ‘woman-free zone’.

Question 5

Mitsos + Browne

Answer 5

• Girls are better organised, so benefit from coursework.
• Decline in male employment opportunities has led to an ‘identity crisis’ for men, e.g. industry, engineering, mining.

Question 6

Gorard

Answer 6

Gender gap was constant until coursework was introduced.

Question 7

Francis

Answer 7

• Boys were disciplined more harshly + felt picked on.
• Boys concerned about labelling as it threatened their masculinity.

Question 8

French

Answer 8

Boys received more attention because they were reprimanded.

Question 9

Swann

Answer 9

Boys dominated in whole-class discussions whilst girls preferred pair-work - hostile interruptions from boys’ speech compared to turn-taking.

Question 10

Jackson

Answer 10

High achieving girls are attractive to schools vs low achieving boys - SFP.

Question 11

Slee

Answer 11

Boys are less attractive to schools as they suffer from behavioural difficulties + 4x more likely to be excluded - liability students.

Question 12

Archer

Answer 12

• Symbolic capital - w/c conflict between status + education.
• Hyper-hetrosexual feminine identities - performance brought status among female peer groups but was in conflict with school / teachers.
• Local university attendance reflects w/c habitus of shared members.

Question 13

Ringrose

Answer 13

Sexualised identity - involved competing for boys in dating culture.

Question 14

Evans

Answer 14

Girls went to university to support their families, not based on aspirations.

Question 15

Sewell

Answer 15

Feminisation of education - schools don’t nurture masculine traits (competitiveness), but celebrate feminine ones (methodical), e.g. coursework.

Question 16

Teacher’s Gender

Answer 16

• YouGov (2007): survey - 42% boys said the presence of a male teacher made them work harder + behave better.
• Francis: 2/3 of 7-8 believed the gender of the teacher didn’t matter.
• Read: male + female teachers use disciplinarian discourse (masculine).

Question 17

Epstein

Answer 17

Laddish subcultures - w/c boys harassed + labelled as gay if they studied.

Question 18

Osler

Answer 18

Focus on underachieving boys has led to a neglect of girls.

Question 19

McVeigh

Answer 19

• Ethnic + class differences are greater than gender differences.
• E.g. class gap achievement is 3x wider than the gender gap.

Question 20

Connolly

Answer 20

Combination of gender, class + ethnic differences have an effect.

Question 21

A-Level (2013)

Answer 21

• Computing: 93% male; 7% female.
• Physics: 79% male; 21% female.
• Sociology: 25% male; 75% female.

Question 22

Apprenticeships (2012)

Answer 22

• Childcare: 1% male; 99% female.
• IT professionals: 90% male; 10% female.
• Engineering: 97% male; 3% female.

Question 23

Browne + Ross

Answer 23

Gender domains - shaped by expectations + more confident when engaging in tasks within gender domains.

Question 24

Kelly

Answer 24

Science is seen as a boys’ subject: more male teachers; textbook representations; boys dominate lessons.

Question 25

Colley

Answer 25

Computer science is a masculine subject: machines a part of male domain; lack of group work that girls favour.

Question 26

Leonard

Answer 26

In single-sex schools, girls more likely to pick maths + science A-Level; boys more likely to pick English + languages.

Question 27

Dewar

Answer 27

Male students called girls interested in sports ‘lesbians’ / ‘butchy’.

Question 28

Fuller

Answer 28

Ambitions of childcare + hair / beauty reflects w/c habitus.