Gender & Subject Choice: Lesson 29 Flashcards
What subjects are boys more likely to choose?
Maths
- Business
- Economics
- Sciences
- Computing
What subjects are girls more likely to choose?
- Health and social care
- Performing arts
- Languages
- Psychology
- English
What are the explanations for gender differences & subject choice?
- Gender role & socialisation
- Gendered subject images
- Gender identity & peer pressure
- Gendered career opportunities
What is gender role socialisation?
Primary socialisation shapes our gender identity; there are expected male and females behaviours in society which children are socialised in to
What did Norman 1988 say about gender role socialisation?
- Boys and girls are dressed differently
- Given different toys and learning activities to play with
- Encouraged to take part in different activities
What did Byrne 1979 say about gender role socialisation?
- Teachers and schools encourage boys to be tough and show initiative, where as girls are expected to be helpful, quiet, clean and tidy.
- Boys encouraged to be active, where as girls are encouraged to be passive.
What are gender domains?
- The tasks and activities which boys and girls see as male and female ‘territory’ and therefore relevant, or irrelevant
- Gender domains are shaped by children’s early experiences and expectations of adults.
- Children are more confident when presented with work which they believe reflects their own gender domain.
What did Murphy say about gender domain?
- Girls focus on people and how they feel;
- Boys tend to focus on how things are made and how they work
What are gendered subject images?
The image of a subject (i.e. how it is perceived in society) and images within a subject itself (i.e. in textbooks) affects which gender of pupil will choose that subject.
What did Kelly 1987 say about gendered subject images?
Science is seen as a boys subject for three reasons:
- More male science teachers.
- Examples used in the classroom and textbooks contain things in interest to boys and not girls.
- Boys dominate the classroom
What did Colley 1998 say about gendered subject images?
Computer studies is seen as masculine for two reasons:
- Working with machines is part of the male gender domain.
- Teaching is formal with fewer opportunities for group work, which girls prefer.
What are subject choices like in same sex schools?
Pupils less likely to make traditional subject choices and hold less generated subject images
What was Leonard’s 2006 study?
- Analysed data of 13,000 students subject choices in mixed & same sex schools
- Boys in all boys schools more likely to pick English and languages for A-levels than those in mixed schools
- Girls in all girls schools more likely to pick maths & science A-level than those in mixed schools
What is gender identity & peer pressure?
- Subject choice is influenced by peer pressure.
- If boys or girls choose subjects which are outside of their gender domain they are disapproved of by their peers
What did Paecther say about gendered identity & peer pressure?
- Sport and PE is in the male gender domain.
- Girls who take PE or are ‘sporty’ have an image which contradicts the conventional female stereotype
- This explains why girls enrolment levels on sports courses is lower
What did Dewar 1990 say about gender identity & peer pressure?
Male students label girls who are interested in sports as lesbians or ‘butch’, which deters girls from being ‘sporty’
What is gendered career opportunities?
- Employment is highly gendered
- There are ‘men’s jobs’ and ‘women’s jobs’
- Women’s jobs are more closely associated with childcare and nursing, housewives
What are the categories women’s employment roles fall into?
- Clerical e.g administration & office jobs
- Secretarial e.g handling messages, emails & phone calls
- Personal services e.g accountancy, hair dressing
- Cleaning services
What’s the other reasons for gender difference in subject choices?
Social class
- WC students take these courses as the reflect WC habitus
- The jobs for ‘ people like us’
What did Fuller 2011 say about social class as factors in subject choice?
- Studied WC girls in a comprehensive school.
- Work experience often gendered and steer girls towards traditional, feminine occupations
- Girls believe these are the roles for them & take vocational courses to enter these roles.
