PAPER 1 (Education - Gender theories) Flashcards
Browne (2008)
Up until the 1980s there was major concern about females’ low achievement.
During the 1990s, females began to significantly outperform males.
The concern nowadays is that males tend to be underachieving compared to females.
Sharpe (1976/1994)
Girls priorities:
1976 : Love, marriage, husbands then maybe jobs.
1994 : Career, independence, then maybe relationships.
McRobbie
Magazines in the 70s emphasised the importance of getting married, whereas nowadays priorities have changed.
Lobban
Found that in storybooks, females tend to be portrayed as dependent, passive, quiet & sensible. Whereas boys were more adventurous, active, independent & boisterous.
1970 equal pay act
Makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value.
1975 discrimination act
Outlaws discrimination at work.
Gorard (2005)
‘The gender gap’ in success rates increased dramatically in the academic year 1988/9. This coincides with the introduction of GCSEs which brought with it more coursework based assessments.
Groddal (1994)
Boys are more likely to attract the teacher’s attention as they are more boisterous & disruptive.
1988 Education Reform Act
Introduced ‘market principles’ into education. The aim was to instigate competition between schools in order to raise standards.
Slee (1998)
Argues that boys are less attractive to schools because they are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are four times more likely to be excluded.
Archer
Symbolic Capital - status, recognition and sense of worth.
(Nike identities)
Evans (2009)
Studied 21 W/C sixth form girls. They wanted to go to university for their families instead of themselves.
Clark and Douglas (2011)
58% of girls enjoyed reading, 43% of boys enjoyed reading.
DFE (2022)
14% of Primary school teachers are male.
Epstein (1998)
W/C boys are likely to be called ‘sissie’ or ‘swots’ as well as subject to homophobic harassment if they are seen to be doing their work.
Read (2008)
Identified 2 ways teachers speak:
. Disciplinarian discourse = the teacher’s authority is made explicit and visible, for example, through shouting, an exasperated tone of voice or sarcasm.
. Liberal discourse = the teacher’s authority is implicit and invisible. The child-centred discourse involves ‘pseudo-adultification’: the teacher speaks to the child as if they’re an adult.
Murphy
Set 2 tasks for primary + secondary school pupils.
1) design boats/vehicles
2) write an estate agent ad for a house
Boys designed sports cars, girls family cars, etc…
Paetcher
Girls who choose sports are often stigmatised as it is seen to fall within the male gender domain.
Mac an Ghaill
Suggests that male students & teachers perceive female pupils & colleagues from a typically hegemonic masculine perspective.
Sewell
- Argues that schools have become feminised.
- He claims that traditional masculine attributes such as competitiveness and leadership are discouraged.
- Feminine attributes such as working methodically and being attentive are celebrated.
- Link to DFEs study, also the fact that 35% of secondary school teachers are male.
Laura Bates
- Girls appearance is heavily policed in schools, especially uniforms. Sends the message that girls bodies are dangerous and they should be judged on their appearance.
Askew and Ross
- Found that male teachers would intervene when students were disruptive in female teachers’ lessons, charging in and telling the students off.
Haywood and Mac an Ghaill
- Found that male teachers told boys off for ‘behaving like girls’ and teased them for getting lower marks than girls.
