Subject choices and more Flashcards
Explain gender role socialisation as an explanation for gender differences in subject choice.
Gender role socialisation occurs via a number of agents: the family, the school, media, and peers.
The books girls and boys read may also be important: Murphy and Ellwood found that boys tended towards ‘hobby’ books and non-fiction, whilst girls tended to read stories about people. This may help to partly explain boys’ preference for sciences, and girls’ for English/ social sciences.
Kelly argued that, whilst boys are given active construction toys and chemistry sets, girls are given passive caring toys such as dolls and cookery sets. Consequently, girls do not develop the kind of scientific aspirations and attitudes that males do.
Colley stressed the influence of the family, and of influential peers who also subscribe to gender stereotypes, over subject choice at GCSE and at A-level. The need to win the approval of our peers is particularly important during the teenage years, and this may have an impact in terms of subject choices
Explain gender domains as an explanation for gender differences in subject choice.
Browne and Ross (1991) use the term ‘Gender domains’ to describe the tasks and activities that boys and girls see as male or female ‘territory’ and therefore as relevant to themselves. These gender domains are shaped by early experiences and the expectations of adults.
Children engage in tasks with greater confidence if they see it as part of their own gender domain- e.g. if set a maths task, girls will be more confident in attempting it if it is presented as about nutrition, whereas boys would be more confident if it was presented as about football.
Murphy (1991) found a tendency for boys and girls to focus on different details when completing the same task: girls focus more on how people feel, whereas boys focus on how things are made and work. This helps to explain why girls choose humanities and arts subjects, while boys choose science.
Explain gendered subject images as an explanation for gender differences in subject choice.
Kelly suggests that Science is seen as a boys’ subject for several reasons: 1) Science teachers are more likely to be men; 2) Examples in textbooks draw on boys’ rather than girls’ interests; 3) In science lessons, boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the laboratory, acting as if it is ‘theirs’
Spender (1983) argued that because men control the education system they can use it to forward their own agenda and ensure the continuity of male dominance. She argued that the curriculum favours the male perspective, and highlights that the contribution of women to human progress is largely ignored- this might be particularly the case in science, where practically all of the important figures children learn about are male.
This could explain why more girls choose arts subjects such as English Literature, which – whilst still underestimating the contributions of women – have a higher content of female produced work.
Parkin and Mackenzie (2017) analysed KS3 Science textbooks for ‘genderness’, and found them to be very highly gendered with a strong bias towards males.
Explain gender identity and peer pressure as an explanation for gender differences in subject choice.
Paechter found that pupils see sport as mainly within the male gender domain, with girls who are ‘sporty’ going against the traditional female stereotype, helping to explain why girls are more likely than boys to opt out of sport. However, the real reason may be feeling more body conscious than boys.
Pupils may ‘police’ each other ‘appropriate’ gender choices, invoking sexuality: Dewar found that male students would call girls ‘lesbian’ or ‘butch’ if they appeared to be interested in sport.
Pascoe’s (2007) ethnographic work found the ‘fag’ epithet to be a prominent aspect of gender policing, in which boys point out and ridicule others who ‘fail’ at masculinity- this could include showing interest in the traditionally feminine.
As with sport, science subjects may be seen as ‘inappropriate’ for girls, and girls may be discouraged from pursuing e.g. Physics as a result- an absence of peer pressure from boys may explain why girls in single-sex schools are more likely to choose traditionally male subjects.
Explain the impact of gender career opportunities on gender differences in subject choice.
Employment remains highly gendered- over half of women’s work falls within four categories: clerical, secretarial, personal services, and occupations such as cleaning.
The sex typing of occupation affects boys’ and girls’ view of what kinds of work is possible/ acceptable for them- Wapman and Belle (2014) found that a majority of people are reportedly unable to solve the riddle, with many first-time listeners having difficulty assigning both the role of “mother” and “surgeon” to the same entity. It is reasonable to assume that the sex-typing of occupation may help to shape gendered subject choices.
This helps to explain why vocational courses are much more gendered than A-level courses- Fuller (2011) suggested that working-class pupils in particular may make decisions about their vocational courses based on a traditional sense of gender identity.
Explain pupil gender identity and sexual identity.
School and peer relationships play a prominent role in shaping and reinforcing pupils’ gender and sexual identities, including the dominance of what Connell (1995) calls ‘hegemonic masculinity’- this very popular concept was developed by Connell from a study of an Australian high school, which provided evidence of a hierarchy of masculinities, and the subordination of female and gay identities.
Explain practices shaping gender identities and sexuality.
Double standards- Lees (1993) identifies a double standard of sexual morality: this can be seen as a form of social control.
Verbal abuse- Connell (1995) identified a “rich vocabulary of abuse” between pupils, reinforcing dominant gender and sexual identities.
The male gaze- Mac an Ghaill (1994) see male gaze as a form of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued.
Male peer groups- Male peer groups use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity- this may be anti-school among working-class boys, and ‘effortless achievement’ within sixth form, with Redman and Mac an Ghaill (1997) identifying this shift in the dominant definition.
Female peer groups- Ringrose (2013) found that girls wanting to be popular faced a tension between an idealised feminine identity and a sexualised identity. Girls who wanted to be educationally successful may also be ascribed a ‘boffin’ identity, and excluded by other pupils.
Teachers and discipline- Research demonstrates that teachers play an important role in reinforcing dominant definitions of gender identity- e.g. telling boys off for ‘behaving like girls’. Further, teachers tended to ignore boys’ verbal abuse of girls.
Explain feminist perspectives on gender and education.
Liberal feminists celebrate the progress made in girls’ achievement, and argue that further progress will be made by the continuing development of equal opportunities policies, women in leadership roles, and challenging sexist attitudes and stereotypes.
Radical feminists take a more critical view: whilst recognising that girls are achieving more, they argue that education remains patriarchal, conveying the message that it is a man’s world. This occurs via sexual harassment, limitations on girls’ subject choices, and the under-representation of women in the curriculum.
A ‘moral panic’ over boys’ achievement: numerous feminist scholars of education have pointed to this, and note that this has resulted in a shift in education policy which has become preoccupied with boys’ achievement, ignoring issues faced by girls. Indeed, as far back as 1998, Epstein et al. identified a number of discourses on boys’ achievement- ‘poor boys’, ‘failing schools’, and ‘boys will be boys’- all of which place the ‘blame’ for boys’ ‘underachievement’ as external to boys themselves. Feminists argue that, in fact, the curriculum, teachers, and classroom dynamics all favour boys.
