How Gender Effects Achivement

Question 1

What is gender socialisation

Answer 1

Learning gender appropriate norms and values

Question 2

How is gender socialisation impacting educational achievement?

Answer 2

Literacy skills- reading is feminised
Girls socialised into being more passive and obedient- ‘ideal pupil’
Canalisation- toys given to young children develop different skill sets
Subject choices- girls socialised into ‘softer’ humanities subjects rather then ‘complex’ subjects

Question 3

What evidence is there that gender socialisation impacts achievement

Answer 3

Across all social classes and ethnic groups- girls achieve higher then male counter parts
Percentage of girls entering humanities over sciences
Boys still dominate subjects in male domains of physics, maths and computer science

Question 4

What changes in society to gender socialisation has impacted educational achievement

Answer 4

Rise of feminism and changing carrier aspirations
More females working- role models for girls
Female empowerment- eg books and movies with strong independent female leads

Question 5

What sociologist links to girls gender socialisation

Answer 5

Sue Sharp- interviewed girls 20 years apart, they went from seeing marriage and love as there biggest priority (and viewing educational success as in feminine) to prioritising careers and being able to support themselves

Question 6

Evaluations on gender socialisation

Answer 6

Changing nature of socialisation, gender socialisation differs by cultural background, what about in-school factors?

Question 7

Why do girls and boys have different literacy skills?

Answer 7

Gender socialisation- parents are more likely to read to girls ten boys (readings feminised)
Bedroom culture (McRobbie)- girls leisure activities encourage language- talking to friends, reading, writing

Question 8

How do different literacy skills impact achievement?

Answer 8

Girls preform better on standard tests- they understand language better
Mitosis and Browne suggested this was partly because girls are more organised and mature

Question 9

Application of policy to tackle boys’ literacy include

Answer 9

Reading champions scheme, playing for success, national literacy strategy, Raising boys achievement project

Question 10

Evaluations of literacy skills being the cause for gender achievement gap

Answer 10

Evidence- girls are more likely to chose English and sociology- higher literacy skills
Boys still dominate subjects focused less on literacy
Boys still achieve at a lower rate

Question 11

What is included in ‘feminisation of education’?

Answer 11

Teaching and learning strategies- shifted from individual strategies to collaborate ways of working which is said to give girls advantages to to there better communication skills
Changes to assessment- Mitosis and Browne concluded girls are more successful with coursework as they are more conscientious and organised
Increase in female teachers and less male teacher
How education has become part of the female domain- more opportunities for females

Question 12

Evidence to support feminisation as detrimental to boys

Answer 12

Sewell- feminisation of education- detrimental to boys as they lack positive role models
Boys interactions with teachers are negative- turning away from education
Boys learn by doing, boys learn more passively

Question 13

Evaluation on feminisation of education

Answer 13

Jackson et al- too much focus on boys underachievement in education
Men still hold higher positions in wider society
Changes in assessment criteria- removal of coursework and re introduction of linear exams (increased percentage of high grades for boys

Question 14

What is peer group interactions?

Answer 14

Influence if friendship groups and other students
Peer groups are more positive in supporting peers
Boy see educations as ‘feminised’ and not masculine

Question 15

Female peer groups

Answer 15

Francis argues females are encouraged to develop academic identities by school (eg collaborating in school work)
However archer et al- development of hyper-heterosexual identities reinforced by peers amount w/c girls

Question 16

What is hyper-heterosexual identity and what are the issues with it?

Answer 16

Where girls gain symbolic capital (status) for having boyfriends, wearing makeup, and having stereotypical feminine identities
Clashes with school uniform policies and alters schools expectations of these girls leading to underachievement

Question 17

Male peer groups

Answer 17

Archer et al- Nike identities- conforming in w/c males to wearing branded sportswear to gain symbolic capital
Francis- boys conform to ‘macho’ to fit in
Epstein- laddish subculture use derogatory terms to describe boys who achieve (eg homophobic language)

Question 18

How do peer group interactions influence educational achievement?

Answer 18

Girls develop pro-school behaviours- reenforced by schools and female role models
Boys develop anti-authority’s values and display resistance to schools, teachers reactions lead boys being denied status in education

Question 19

Evaluations in peer group interactions

Answer 19

Peer group interactions are often class based- can’t be judged on gender alone
Generalisation that boys act in an anti authority manner
Other factors (feminism) influence peer group interactions

Question 20

What is the crisis of masculinity?

Answer 20

External factor to explain the reaction of males to rapid social changes:
Mac an Ghaill- reaction to the changing structure of employment and declining of traditional jobs due to globalisation moving industrial work to developing world (uk is service sector economy), men became demotivated and lack self esteem, seeking stays from other activities

Question 21

How does the crisis of masculinity impact education?

Answer 21

Men resort to hegemonic (dominant) masculine identities to gain status
Feminisation of education leads boys to reject school- “not masculine”- leading to laddish and anti school attitudes, and competitiveness across social classes (Jackson)

Question 22

Evidence that not all males reject education

Answer 22

Ward found w/c behaviour displayed by some males doesn’t mean they reject importance of education- ‘Boiz’ didn’t reject or despise academic qualifications and 4 out of 12 of the boys studied went to uni

Question 23

Evaluations of decline of decline of traditional male w/c jobs

Answer 23

The jobs that are declining don’t need a lot of qualifications- the decrease of these jobs shouldn’t effect achievement

Question 24

How is gender identity formed in school?

Answer 24

Peer groups, teacher-pupil interactions, acceptance or rejection of individuals external identity, gendered expectations and behaviours, subject choice and career aspirations

Question 25

Stereotypical male and female peer groups:

Answer 25

Hegemonic male peer groups- dominant (Willis- lads)
Female hyper heterosexual identities- providing status to girls who dress in an ultra feminine manner and have boyfriends- and reject the image of being smart to attract males

Question 26

Criticisms of hyper heterosexual female groups

Answer 26

Francis- girls were increasing adopting buffing identities (focused on intelligence over appearance

Question 27

Criticisms of hegemonic masculinity

Answer 27

Ward- some males choose not to conform and choose a more gender neutral identity in becoming geeks and embracing intelligence

Question 28

Teachers perceptions of students fall into three categories

Answer 28

Archer argued the three categories are:
- the ideal pupil~ usually female, m/c, high achievers
-the pathologized pupil~ usually Chinese and Indian, unthreatening and asexual, from deprived backgrounds who strive to do what’s expected of them
- the demonised pupil~ overtly heterosexual, white or black w/c

Question 29

What is Nike identity?

Answer 29

Archer- status awarded for wearing branded sportswear
Clashes with school habitus- symbolic violence

Question 30

How does the expectation of both genders impact there behaviour at school

Answer 30

Boys monopolise discussions, equipment, space and time in the classroom (when socialised into being more active and assertive)
Girls socialised as being passive and docile was reinforce by teachers ignoring low level disruption- seen as invisible
- lowers expectations of boys as teachers weren’t pushing them as hard, raised expectations of girls- high expectations

Question 31

Evaluations on gender identity in school

Answer 31

School isn’t the only thing that shapes gender identity:
Identity changes over time (fluid process)
More then just education as a socialising agent-gender identity is constructed through various social institutions (media, family, and religion)

Question 32

How does self esteem impact education

Answer 32

Impacts perceived ability
Over estimating ability leads to less concentration on work
Underestimating leads to working harder
Rejection can lead to de-motivation and underachievement

Question 33

Difference in self-esteem between males and females

Answer 33

Primary socialisation- males have higher self esteem
Barber- boys over estimate ability while girls underestimate (eg “boys being boys”), leads to boys overestimating in school (eg doing coursework last minute) while girls a more likely to underestimating ability- working harder, seeking help from teachers
However boys behaviour in school is rejected while girls are seen as more mature form teachers

Question 34

Gender domains

Answer 34

Browne and Ross- gender domain is tasks and activities boys and girls see as male or female activities. They are more confident when engaging in activities they see in there own domain

Question 35

Male gaze

Answer 35

Mac an Ghaill- the way male pupils and teachers look at girls up and down seeing them as a sexual object and judging there appearance- it reinforces dominant heterosexual masculinity and devalues femininity

Question 36

Gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 36

Boys and girls may apply pressure to an individual if they dissidence of there choice (eg boys tend to opt out of dance as it falls outside there gender domain so they are more likely to attract a negative response from peers

Question 37

Why do some males conform into hegemonic groups?

Answer 37

Epstein- found w/ boys were likely to get harassed and be subject to homophobic verbal abuse if they apparently as ‘swots’- w/c culture is equated with being tough and doing manual labour

Question 38

Sociologist on teacher attention

Answer 38

Francis found boys were disciplined more harshly and picked on more by teachers, who tended to have lower expectations for them