The gender gap- Explaining male underachievement Flashcards
Poor male literacy- Department for children’s school+ education?
Argues gender gap is due to poor literacy among males
Males are socialised to be active
Feminisation of education- Sewell?
Education system has become feminised and does not nurture masculine traits
Decline in manufacturing- Mitsos and Browne?
Manufacturing masculine jobs have moved abroad due to cheap labour so males employment opportunities have been hampered
There’s a crisis of masculinity
Shortage of male primary school teachers- DfES?
YouGov?
Boys have a lack of a positive role model
16% of primary scholl teachers are male
Yougov- 39% of 8-11 yr olds have no male teacher
Overstimulating ability sociologists?
Barber
Stanworth
Licht and Dweck
Overestimate ability- Barber?
Boys overestimate ability whereas girls underestimate
Overestimating ability- Stanworth?
Boys more likely to blame bad grades on lack of effort of teachers
Overestimating ability- Litch and Bweck?
girls much less confident then boys
Laddish Subcultures sociologists?
Epstein and Francis
Laddish Subcultures- Epstein?
w/c boys more likely to be called sissies and swots for doing work
Masculinity viewed negatively in education
Laddish Subcultures- Francis?
supporst views by pointing out boys gets called swots by peers, leading them to reject values and cultures of the education system leading to failure
Subject choices and identity’s- Feminist
Feminists have argued that the education system makes sure males and females are unequal
their are still male and female subject differences
Subject choices and identity- Wikely?
Boys and girls tend to choose different subject choices
Boys- design technology
Girls- food tech
A level- Boys physics maths
Girls- English, languages and sociology
The subject divide- 4 subcultures
Socialisation
Gender identity and imaging
Peer pressure
Gendered career opportunity’s
The subject divide- Socialisation Oakley?
gendered socialisation is expected
The subject divide- Socialisation Elwood?
differences in socialisation leads to different attitudes in boys and girls with subject choices
Boys read informative texts
Girls read novels and real life stories
The subject divide- Socialisation Delamont?
From the earliest age girls cuddled nore where as boys were thrown and played with more
also different games and activities
The subject divide- Socialisation Carol Ross boys don’t cry?
socialisation teacher and reinforcing gender domain
different task and expectations fall within either male and female domains
as males and females feel more confident within the set/expected gender domain and thus choose different subjects
The subject divide- Socialisation Patricia Murphy?
Boys and girls interpret tasks differently
Murphy set 2 stasks 1 to design a boat and car and the 2nd to write an estate agent advert for a house
Boys- Cars and boat/estate agent- sports car and garage space
Girls- Cars and boat/estate agent- family cars and cruises/ kitchen design
The subject divide- Gender identity and imaging- Kelley
Science teachers more likely to be male
-Textbooks and class examples usually draw on boys experiences and interested
-Boys monopolise equipment and apparatus
The subject divide- Gender identity and imaging- Colley?
ICT/Computer based subjects are seen as masculine
-machines are part of male gender domain
-methodical and individuals appeals to boys
The subject divide- Gender identity and imaging- DfES?
gender divide is not a problem in same sex schools so therefore subject choice varied greatly amongst pupils in the school
The subject divide- Peer pressure- Patcher 1998?
Girls who choose sports are more likely to fall into the male gender domain, peer pressure excerpts a huge influence over subject choice
The subject divide- Peer pressure- Dewar 1990?
In her US study she found out that girls would be labelled as ‘lesbian’ or ‘butch’ if they got involved in sport
Problems lessened in same sex schools
The subject divide- Gendered career opportunities?
Subject choices might also be influenced by gendered employment patterns
-Females largely centred around the four main areas (clerical, secretarial, personal services and cleaning work)
-Males are heavily involved in vocational courses which lead to practical work
Gender identity’s- Connell 1995?
Schools reinforce hegemonic masculine, dominance of heterosexual masculine identities and the subordinating of female and gay identities
Gender identity’s- Verbal abuse (Paetcher)
girls in sport in the male gender domain, pick male gender domain
Gender identity’s- Verbal abuse (Dewar)
Found girls labeled as ‘butch’ and ‘lesbians’ if in sport
This is lessened in same sex schools
Gender identity’s- Male peer groups (Mac an Gahill, Epstein and Willis)
male teachers subtly tease male pupils for behaving like girls, more likely to accept bad language from males
Gender identity’s- The male gaze (Mac An Gahill)
male pupils and teachers perceiving in pupils+collages from hegemonic masculine perspective e.g. sexual obedience leading them to be devaluated
Gender identity’s- Double standards (Lees 1993)
The double standard exists whereby male liberal sexual mortally is celebrated whereas female negatively labelled if sexual morality/liberal
Translates in classroom where female sexual experiences labelled as promiscuous and viewed negatively
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum?
Argued their are male undertones
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Textbooks (Deem 1980’s)
Most subjects male based
history- his-story
ignores females
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Textbooks (Lobban)
Looked at 225 stories, only 2 should women not doing domestic tasks but being adventurous
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Languages (Spender 1988)
Fundamental bias in english language using man and he for both sexes (chairman)
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Organisation?
Ways school organised sends messages about society
Men-headteacher
Women- teachers
60% of women are primary school teachers
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Teacher attitudes (goddard and spear)
Stereotypes attitudes to males and females reflecting way they feel in society
G&S interviewed science and technology teachers attitudes towards females in the classroom
51% say females are just as good as males
42% say women’s career is less important than males
29% say women’s place is in home
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Interactions- Feminists?
Teachers unconsciously see boys as more important so get more attention
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Interactions- Spender 1982?
recorded own lesson and gave girls 42% of their times and 58% to boys
Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Interactions- Stanworth 1983?
Interviewed teachers and pupils on a level courses in F.E collages teachers put more effort in boys and know their names
Stanworth says women need to accept the fact they will be 2nd in life
Evaluations of male underachievement- policys?
-Raising boys achievement programme
-National literacy strategy
-Reading champions
-Playing for success
-Dads and Sons campaign
Evaluation of male underachievement- DfES?
Social class gap 3x wider than the gender gap, so males and females’ in the same social group achieve the same
Evaluation of male underachievement- Connolly 2006
The interactionalists effect
It’s more useful to consider different combination of class, gender and ethnicities’ when examining differences in achievement
Evaluation of male underachievement- general criticisms?
It ignores the ethnicity gap in education
