gender int factors

Question 1

Equal opportunity policies

Answer 1

GIST (girls into science + technology) + WISE (women into science + engineering)
-Encourage women to pursue careers in non-traditional areas
-National curriculum 1988- removed one source of gender inequality by making girls + boys study the same subject

Question 2

Positive role models in schools

Answer 2

-Increase in female teachers + heads.
-Women in senior positions act as role models for girls, showing women can achieve positions of importance

Question 3

GCSE + coursework

Answer 3

Mitsos + Browne (1998):
-Girls are more successful in coursework as they’re better organised, spend more time on their work, better at meeting deadlines etc.
Gorard (2005):
-Gender pay gap was constant fro 1975, until in 1989 where it increased sharply, as that was the year GCSEs were introduced

Question 4

Teacher attention

Answer 4

Jane + French (1993):
-Boys received more attention due to the reprimands they received
Francis (2001):
-Even though boys got more attention, they were dealt with harsher + felt picked on by teachers who had low expectations for them
Swann (1998):
-Gender differences in communication: girls= better at group work, listening + cooperating; boys= dominate whole class discussion
-Teachers respond more positively to girls who they view as cooperative compared to boys who are disruptive

Question 5

Selection + league tables

Answer 5

Jackson (1998):
-Introduction of league tables have improved opportunities for girls: high-achieving girls= attractive to schools, low-achieving boys aren’t
-Creates self-fulfilling prophecy as girls are more likely to succeed.

Question 6

Radical feminist view on girl’s achievement

Answer 6

-Emphasise that the education system is still patriarchal:
–sexual harassment of girls at school
–male teachers are still more likely to become heads
–women are still under-represented in many areas e.g. their contribution to history is largely ignored