The gender gap- Explaining male underachievement

Question 1

Poor male literacy- Department for children’s school+ education?

Answer 1

Argues gender gap is due to poor literacy among males
Males are socialised to be active

Question 2

Feminisation of education- Sewell?

Answer 2

Education system has become feminised and does not nurture masculine traits

Question 3

Decline in manufacturing- Mitsos and Browne?

Answer 3

Manufacturing masculine jobs have moved abroad due to cheap labour so males employment opportunities have been hampered
There’s a crisis of masculinity

Question 4

Shortage of male primary school teachers- DfES?
YouGov?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Overstimulating ability sociologists?

Answer 5

Barber
Stanworth
Licht and Dweck

Question 6

Overestimate ability- Barber?

Answer 6

Boys overestimate ability whereas girls underestimate

Question 7

Overestimating ability- Stanworth?

Answer 7

Boys more likely to blame bad grades on lack of effort of teachers

Question 8

Overestimating ability- Litch and Bweck?

Answer 8

girls much less confident then boys

Question 9

Laddish Subcultures sociologists?

Answer 9

Epstein and Francis

Question 10

Laddish Subcultures- Epstein?

Answer 10

w/c boys more likely to be called sissies and swots for doing work
Masculinity viewed negatively in education

Question 11

Laddish Subcultures- Francis?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Subject choices and identity’s- Feminist

Answer 12

Feminists have argued that the education system makes sure males and females are unequal
their are still male and female subject differences

Question 13

Subject choices and identity- Wikely?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

The subject divide- 4 subcultures

Answer 14

Socialisation
Gender identity and imaging
Peer pressure
Gendered career opportunity’s

Question 15

The subject divide- Socialisation Oakley?

Answer 15

gendered socialisation is expected

Question 16

The subject divide- Socialisation Elwood?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

The subject divide- Socialisation Delamont?

Answer 17

From the earliest age girls cuddled nore where as boys were thrown and played with more
also different games and activities

Question 18

The subject divide- Socialisation Carol Ross boys don’t cry?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

The subject divide- Socialisation Patricia Murphy?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

The subject divide- Gender identity and imaging- Kelley

Answer 20

Science teachers more likely to be male
-Textbooks and class examples usually draw on boys experiences and interested
-Boys monopolise equipment and apparatus

Question 21

The subject divide- Gender identity and imaging- Colley?

Answer 21

ICT/Computer based subjects are seen as masculine
-machines are part of male gender domain
-methodical and individuals appeals to boys

Question 22

The subject divide- Gender identity and imaging- DfES?

Answer 22

gender divide is not a problem in same sex schools so therefore subject choice varied greatly amongst pupils in the school

Question 23

The subject divide- Peer pressure- Patcher 1998?

Answer 23

Girls who choose sports are more likely to fall into the male gender domain, peer pressure excerpts a huge influence over subject choice

Question 24

The subject divide- Peer pressure- Dewar 1990?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

The subject divide- Gendered career opportunities?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Gender identity’s- Connell 1995?

Answer 26

Schools reinforce hegemonic masculine, dominance of heterosexual masculine identities and the subordinating of female and gay identities

Question 27

Gender identity’s- Verbal abuse (Paetcher)

Answer 27

girls in sport in the male gender domain, pick male gender domain

Question 28

Gender identity’s- Verbal abuse (Dewar)

Answer 28

Found girls labeled as ‘butch’ and ‘lesbians’ if in sport
This is lessened in same sex schools

Question 29

Gender identity’s- Male peer groups (Mac an Gahill, Epstein and Willis)

Answer 29

male teachers subtly tease male pupils for behaving like girls, more likely to accept bad language from males

Question 30

Gender identity’s- The male gaze (Mac An Gahill)

Answer 30

male pupils and teachers perceiving in pupils+collages from hegemonic masculine perspective e.g. sexual obedience leading them to be devaluated

Question 31

Gender identity’s- Double standards (Lees 1993)

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum?

Answer 32

Argued their are male undertones

Question 33

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Textbooks (Deem 1980’s)

Answer 33

Most subjects male based
history- his-story
ignores females

Question 34

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Textbooks (Lobban)

Answer 34

Looked at 225 stories, only 2 should women not doing domestic tasks but being adventurous

Question 35

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Languages (Spender 1988)

Answer 35

Fundamental bias in english language using man and he for both sexes (chairman)

Question 36

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Organisation?

Answer 36

Ways school organised sends messages about society
Men-headteacher
Women- teachers
60% of women are primary school teachers

Question 37

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Teacher attitudes (goddard and spear)

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Interactions- Feminists?

Answer 38

Teachers unconsciously see boys as more important so get more attention

Question 39

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Interactions- Spender 1982?

Answer 39

recorded own lesson and gave girls 42% of their times and 58% to boys

Question 40

Gender identity’s- The hidden curriculum- Interactions- Stanworth 1983?

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Evaluations of male underachievement- policys?

Answer 41

-Raising boys achievement programme
-National literacy strategy
-Reading champions
-Playing for success
-Dads and Sons campaign

Question 42

Evaluation of male underachievement- DfES?

Answer 42

Social class gap 3x wider than the gender gap, so males and females’ in the same social group achieve the same

Question 43

Evaluation of male underachievement- Connolly 2006

Answer 43

The interactionalists effect
It’s more useful to consider different combination of class, gender and ethnicities’ when examining differences in achievement

Question 44

Evaluation of male underachievement- general criticisms?

Answer 44

It ignores the ethnicity gap in education