identity, class and girls' achievement

Question 1

Archer

Answer 1

w/c girls gaining symbolic capital/ a ‘valued sense of self by:
-hyper-heterosexual feminine identities
-boyfriends
-being loud

Question 2

w/c dilemma

Answer 2

Either gaining symbolic capital from peers or educational capital by rejecting their w/c identity
Tried to cope by defining themselves as ‘good underneath’

Question 3

EVAN

Answer 3

‘successful w/c girl’
Even w/c girls who do go on to higher education, gain status/employment and resources for their families> themselves
Lived at home (to avoid debt) - this limited their choices of unis and the ‘market value’ of their degree

Question 4

‘Not all girls achieve highly in education’ True or False.

Answer 4

true

Question 5

hyper-heterosexual feminine identities

Answer 5

Putting time, effort and money into looking glamorous and desirable e.g. hair, makeup clothing
Brought them status and avoided being ridiculed but created conflict in school for breaking dress codes/ they saw it as a distraction to their education
Schools defined girls as ‘not one of us’ - symbolic violence

Question 6

boyfriends

Answer 6

Brought symbolic capital but got in the way of schoolwork and lowered girls’ aspirations of going to uni and studying ‘masculine’ subjects
Instead aspired to ‘settle down’ w/ children and work in w/c feminine and local jobs

Question 7

being loud

Answer 7

Often led them to being outspoken, independent, assertive as they questioned teachers’ authority- teachers saw them as aggressive
They failed to conform to the school’s stereotype of being passive and submissive

Question 8

2013 statistics about exam results in relation to those who did and did not claim free school meals

Answer 8

In 2013, 40.6% of girls eligible to FSM achieve 5 A*-C compared to 67.5% who didn’t claim FSM