Gender Education External and internal factors Flashcards
Gender and education external and internal factors
The gender gap in achievement
As well as social class and ethnicity, gender also has an impact on people experience of education
Both sexes have raised levels of achievement But generally girls outperform boys
Not much change has occurred with subject choice ‘sex-typing’
Official statistics :
Starting school - Girls more likely to score higher in tests, concentrate better, and write and spell their name correctly earlier than boys
Key stage 1-3 - Girls do better than boys especially in English
GCSE - Girls 10% more likely to achieve 5 9-4 grades
A Level AS - Gap narrows but 95.8% girls pass 2 or more A Levels compared to 94% boys
Higher education - More girls go to university than boys
External factor : The impact of feminism
Feminism strives for equal rights for women in all areas of life including education
Feminism challenges traditional stereotypes regarding gender roles E.g. Breadwinner and homemaker roles challenged
The aims of feminism have not yet been fully realised but so much has been achieved As liberal feminists would say with march of progress view
McRobbie 1994 study :
Comparison of girls magazines 1970s vs 1990s very different expectations
1970s - Women should be homemaker and care for children and husband
1990s - Women should work and be independent and powerful
Feminism has affected women self-esteem and ambitions : Women feel more powerful and feel that they can strive for better things E.g. careers They work towards this Women may put off having a family until they have an established career Women have more ambition
External factor : Changes in the family
Since 1970s there have been several major changes to the family:
Increase divorce rate
Increase cohabitation
Decrease first marriages
Increase lone parent families (particularly lone mothers)
Small families
This affects girls view of education : Women now have more freedom to have career They don’t have to get married and start a family at a young age They may be inspired by their mother if they are ambitious or a single mother working to provide for their family
This inspires and motivates young girls to work conscientiously in education
External factor : Changes in women employment
Laws and acts : Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975
These acts motivate women to work as they feel equal to men in the workplace
Proportion of women in employment : 1959 47% 2007 70%
Pay gap : 1970 30% 2016 17%
Women are breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’ This provides a motive for young girls to work conscientiously in education
External factor : Girls changing ambitions
Sue Sharpe 1994 study :
Interviewed girls in 1970s and 1990s There was a major shift in how girls view their future
1970s - Girls low aspirations, viewed educational success as unfeminine, priorities ‘Love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers’ In that order
1990s Priorities career and financial independence
Becky Francis 2001 study :
Interviewed girls 2001
Girls high aspirations Very few saw their futures as homemakers They wanted educational qualifications
Internal factor : Equal opportunities policies
Feminist ideas are now widespread in education The basic belief in gender equality that boys and girls can achieve equally is now a social norm Programmes are set up such as GIST girls in STEM
National curriculum - All children study the same subjects Equal chance
Meritocracy : No matter race, gender, age, social class The more you work the better your qualifications will be Education claims to be meritocratic
Internal factors : Role models
There are many more female teachers and headteachers than ever before in the past Especially in primary schools This inspires girls from a young age when they see women working and making their education better
Female teachers ‘feminise’ learning environment Girls see it as part of their gender domain They then may perceive educational success as a desirable female characteristic This will inspire them to work conscientiously in education
Internal factor : Coursework
Mitsos and Browne 1998 :
Girls do better than boys in coursework Girls more organised and mature earlier
Gorard 1995 prove this :
He say girls results increased sharply when GCSE coursework was introduced
Internal factors : Stereotypes in learning materials
Studies have shown that in the past girls were under-represented and presented as subordinate to males in reading schemes and textbooks
Since 1980s therefore sexist images removed Replaced with more positive images Boosting girls perceptions and aspirations
Internal factors : Teacher attention
Spender 1983 study :
Teachers spend more time interacting with boys than interacting with girls
French and French 1993 study :
Similar amounts of attention for both genders for academic reasons But boys more attention overall due to misbehaviour and discipline
Francis 2001 study :
Teachers had lower expectations of boys Disciplined them more harshly
Swann 1998 study :
Boys dominate class discussions Girls prefer group work This finds favour with teacher
Internal factor : Selection and league tables
Incentive to recruit more able students to secure good league table Girls more successful than boys = more attractive to schools
Boys low achievers Bad behaviour = liability students Will give the school a bad image and produce bad results
Therefore girls more likely to get a space in school Get better education Achieve more
Two feminist views of girls achievement
Liberal feminist view :
Applaud progress in improvement of girls achievement so far They believe further progress will be made by = Continued equal opportunities Encouraged positive role models Overcoming sexist attitudes and stereotypes
They believe education is meritocracy
Radical feminist view :
Critical Argue system is still patriarchal ‘mans world’ = Sexual harassment of girls in schools Subject choices and career options limited for girls Male teachers more likely to become headteachers Women under-represented in curriculum E.g. History ‘women-free zone’
