Internal factors (gender)

Question 1

What internal factors affect gender and educational achievement?

Answer 1

Equal opportunities policies
Positive Role models in schools
GCSE and coursework
Teacher attention
Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
Selection and league tables

Question 2

What was introduced in 1988?

Answer 2

The National Curriculum

Question 3

How has the national curriculum impacted gender and education?

Answer 3

Removed one source of gender inequality by making boys and girls study most of the same subjects (standardised subjects)

Question 4

Name two policies that have encouraged girls into different subjects.

Answer 4

GIST (Girls into science and technology)
WISE (Women into science and engineering)

encourage girls to pursue careers in non-traditional areas.

Question 5

What are policies like now?

Answer 5

More sensitive to the need to avoid stereotyping. The belief that boys and girls are entitled to the same opportunities is now part of mainstream thinking and it influences educational policies.

Question 6

What does Jo Boaler say about equal opportunities policies?

Answer 6

The impact of equal opportunities policies is a key reason for the changes in girls’ achievement. Many of the barriers have been removed and schooling has become more meritocratic - so that girls who work harder than boys achieve more.

Question 7

Describe how positive role models in schools has affected gender and achievement.

Answer 7

There has been an increase in the proportion of female teachers and heads - these women in senior positions act as role models to girls and show them women can achieve positions of importance and giving them non-traditional roles to aim for.

Also, female scientists have visited schools/act as role models.

Question 8

What were educational resources like pre-1980 and how have they changed?

Answer 8

Resources, textbooks etc contained stereotypical portrayals of women and men. These have changed and now show more equal representations.

Question 9

What do some sociologists argue about GCSE and coursework?

Answer 9

Changes in the way pupils are assessed have favoured girls and disadvantaged boys.

Question 10

What did Stephen Gorard find?

Answer 10

The gender gap in education increased the year GCSEs and coursework was introduced (1988). Gorard says this gender gap in achievement is a “product of the changed system of assessment rather than any more general failing of boys.”

Question 11

What do Mitsos and Browne conclude?

Answer 11

Girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys.

Girls:
- spend more time on their work
- take more care with presentation
- are better at meeting deadlines
- bring the right equipment to lessons
these factors have helped them benefit from the introduction of coursework

Question 12

Why has the greater use of oral exams benefitted girls?

Answer 12

Because of their generally better developed language skills. Sociologists say these characteristics and skills are the result of early gender role socialisation in the family - these become an advantage in today’s assessment system, helping girls achieve better than boys.

Question 13

However, what does Elwood say?

Answer 13

Argues that coursework can’t be the only cause of the gender gap, exams have much more influence than coursework on final grades.

Question 14

What did French and French find about teachers’ attitudes?

Answer 14

Boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands.

Question 15

What did Swann find about teachers’ attitudes?

Answer 15

Found gender differences in communication styles. Boys dominate class discussions, whereas girls prefer paired/group work and are better at listening/co-operating. Therefore, teachers respond more positively to girls and give them more encouragement which leads to SFP.

Question 16

What did Francis find about teachers’ attitudes?

Answer 16

White boys were picked on harshly by teachers and they had low expectations of them.

Question 17

How have stereotypes been challenged in the curriculum?

Answer 17

Gender stereotypes have been removed from textbooks, reading schemes and other learning materials.

Research in the ’70s and ’80s found that reading schemes portrayed women mainly as housewives/mothers, physics books showed them as frightened by science, and maths depicted boys as more incentive.

Question 18

What does Gabby Weiner argue?

Answer 18

Since the 1980s, teachers have challenged stereotypes and sexist images have been removed from learning materials. This raises achievement by presenting girls with more positive images of what women can do.

Question 19

What have marketisation policies done?

Answer 19

Have created a more competitive educational environment in which schools see girls as desirable recruits because they achieve better exam results.

Question 20

What does Jackson note?

Answer 20

The introduction of exam league tables has improved opportunities for girls. As high achieving girls are more attractive to schools, a SFP prophecy is created. Girls are more likely to be recruited by good schools, and therefore more likely to do well.

Question 21

What does Slee argue?

Answer 21

As boys are more likely to have behavioural difficulties and are 4x more likely to be excluded, they are less attractive to schools. As a result they are seen as ‘liability students’ - obstacles to the school improving its league table scores.

Question 22

How do liberal feminists view girls’ achievement?

Answer 22

Celebrate the progress made so far. They believe further development will be made by the continuing development of equal opportunities policies, encouraging positive role models and overcoming sexist attitudes and stereotypes.

Question 23

How do radical feminists view girls’ achievement?

Answer 23

They recognise that girls are achieving more, but emphasise the system remains patriarchal and conveys the clear message that it’s still a man’s world.

Question 24

Give examples of how the education system remains patriarchal. (Radical feminist)

Answer 24

• sexual harassment of girls continues at school
• education still limits girls’ subject choices and career options
• male teachers are more likely to become heads of secondary schools
• women are under-represented in many areas of the curriculum (e.g. history)

Question 25

What does Weiner say?

Answer 25

Describes the secondary school history curriculum as a ‘woman free zone’.