Gender - Girls

Question 1

Feminism - External

Answer 1

• McRobbie/legislation
• magazine research, interests and attitudes changed over two decades. Started with worrying about finding a husband and starting a family. Ended with finding independence

Question 2

Family Structure - External

Answer 2

• increase in divorce rate, single parent families
• decrease in marriage
• show girls they don’t have to define themselves by their husband, there is more to life, allows them to focus on themselves and their careers

Question 3

Employment opportunities - external

Answer 3

• changes through law and social change
• equal pay, equal opportunities, sex discrimination
• more confident in having a life beyond marriage

Question 4

Perceptions/Ambitions - External

Answer 4

• Sharpe
• society’s and girls opinions changed
• in the 70’s girls prioritised getting married and starting a family over having a career
• in the 90’s it switched to girls wanting their career before having a family

Question 5

Equal opportunity policies - Internal

Answer 5

• policies to encourage girls to be interested in STEM subjects
• WISE and GIST
• reduced stereotypes by gender
• the policies challenge old ideas and promote women as independent

Question 6

Positive Role Models - Internal

Answer 6

• Teachers and headships show the ‘feminisation of education’
• inspires girls to focus on their careers

Question 7

Coursework - Internal

Answer 7

• coursework allows girls to show their organisation and presentation skills
• when it was taken away the boys started to excel again as exams fit their learning style

Question 8

Stereotypes - Internal

Answer 8

• previous assumptions about what girls should do has been challenged over time
• feminism played a part, legislation helped change take place

Question 9

Teachers attention - Internal

Answer 9

• was originally focused on boys as many believed that girls didn’t ‘need’ the education
• attention shifted so that the two are equal in the attention they receive