MT4 - Gender and achievement

Question 1

External Factors leading to girls achieving in education: Impact of feminism

Answer 1

McRobbie shows the impact of feminism on girls through her studies of girls’ magazines from the 1970s and 1990s. In 1970s magazines emphasis the importance of getting married whilst in the 1990s magazines emphasised the importance of strong independent women

Question 2

External Factors leading to girls achieving in education: Changes in the family

Answer 2

Driver argues the increase in divorce and lone parent families has created a new positive role model for girls (a strong independent financially stable woman). To achieve this independence, women need well paid jobs which need qualifications and this encourages girls to work hard in school.

Question 3

External Factors leading to girls achieving in education:

Girls’ changing ambitions

Answer 3

Sharpe carried out 2 sets of interviews with school girls in the 1970s and 1990s. In the 1970s girls saw education as unfeminine and instead prioritised marriage, love, husbands and children. In the 1990s her findings were the opposite and this shows the change in girls’ ambitions from marriage and motherhood to education and career which is the reason for the educational success

Question 4

External Factors leading to girls achieving in education: Increase in women’s employment opportunities

Answer 4

There has been an increase in the number of working women due to the growth of the service sector (tertiary sector) which tends to employ women. This gives girls an incentive to get qualification as there are employment opportunities for them in the job market.

Question 5

Internal Factors leading to girls achieving in education: Equal opportunities policies:

Answer 5

initiatives such as GIST (Girls into science and technology) which aim to encourage girls to choose science related education and careers. This motivates girls to pursue STEM careers for which they need qualifications so they work hard at school.

Question 6

Internal Factors leading to girls achieving in education: Coursework

Answer 6

Mitsos and Browne - girls do better in coursework because they are better organised and take greater care of their work because of gender socialization that encourages girls to be neat, tidy and patient.

Question 7

Internal Factors leading to girls achieving in education: Selection policies (marketisation - league table competition)

Answer 7

Jackson argues girls are seen as more desirable candidates for high performing schools as their exams results are better and this can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of success.

Question 8

Why do working class underachieve: Archer et al

Answer 8

Found w/c girls underachieve because of the conflict between their w/c feminine identity and the values of the school. w/c girls adopt a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity and focus on boyfriends and being loud because it gains them symbolic capital however this leads them in conflict with the education system

Question 9

Why do working class underachieve: Evans

Answer 9

Studied 21 high achieving 6th Form w/c girls and found the girls self-excluded from top universities (to help their families which limited the choice of university for the girls and the market value of their degree, which impacts their future career opportunities) by choosing to live at home therefore, even the high achieving w/c girls are disadvantaged by their w/c feminine identity, even though they do not see it that way.

Question 10

Why boys underachieve: Decline in traditional men’s jobs (manufacturing industry)

Answer 10

Mitsos and Browne - since the 1980s there has been a decline in industries requiring hard manual labour which traditionally employed men and this has led to a crisis of masculinity as men are unsure of what it is to ‘be a man’. This lack of traditional male jobs makes boys believe they will not be able to get a job which leads to a lack of motivation so they give up on trying to get qualifications.

Question 11

Why boys underachieve: Poor literacy skills

Answer 11

This affects their achievement across a wide range of subjects. Studies show that most of the reading to children at home is done by mothers so the activity becomes associated with femininity. Thus boys reject it. Also, parents spend less time reading to their sons.

Question 12

Why boys underachieve: Feminisation of education

Answer 12

Sewell argues that schools do not encourage masculine characteristics such as competitiveness and leadership, instead they encourage traits associated with femininity such as methodical work and attentiveness.

Question 13

Why boys underachieve: Laddish’ counter-school subcultures

Answer 13

Epstein – high achieving working class boys are labelled as ‘swots’ by their peers and tend to be harassed and subjected to homophobic abuse. Francis – boys try to avoid being labelled as ‘swots’ because educational achievement is seen as feminine so they do little or no schoolwork and mess about in lessons.

Question 14

Why boys underachieve: Lack of positive male role models

Answer 14

There is a lack of positive male role models both at home and at school therefore, boys have no male role models to look up to and whose example they can follow.

Question 15

Male peer groups

Answer 15

Epstein and Willis – boys in counter-school subcultures see high achieving boys as effeminate and subject them to homophobic abuse

Question 16

Peer pressure - subject choice

Answer 16

Peachter - boys tend not to choose Drama, Dance or Music for fear of a negative reaction from their peers as these subjects are seen as part of the female gender domain. Similarly, girls tend not to choose Sport, which is seen as male gender domain.

Question 17

Gendered subject images

Answer 17

Kelly – science = boys’ subject because Sci teachers tend to be men, textbooks use examples which appeal to masculine gender domains, boys monopolise the use of equipment.

Question 18

Ringrose

Answer 18

Ringrose argues sociologists like Sewell have created a moral panic about boys’ underachievement and the fear in society that underachieving boys will grow up to be a dangerous, unemployed underclass. Ringrose believes these views detract from the problems faced by girls at school such as sexual harassment, gendered subject choices, bullying and low self-esteem.

Question 19

Read

Answer 19

Read studied primary schools and the way in which both female and male teachers discipline both female and male students. Both female and male teachers use the masculine, disciplinarian discourse (explicit discipline, e.g. raised voice) to ensure students behave and this shows that schools have not become feminised. It also shows that both female and male teachers can be authority figures in relation to students.

Question 20

Biggart

Answer 20

w/c girls face instability in the labour market and see motherhood as the only viable option for their future.