The gender gap of achievement Flashcards

Question

What are the 5 internal factors that lead to girls achievement?

Answer 1

``` Equal opportunities policies Role models Coursework Teacher attention selection and league tables ```

Answer 2

Feminists believe that boys and girls are equally capable and should have the same opportunities, which is widely accepted for example GIST (girls into science & technology) and; WISE (women into science & engineering) encourage girls to pursue careers in these educational areas. Also national curriculum being introduced in 1988 means girls and boys do study same subjects e.g. science being compulsory.

Answer 3

As a result of such policies, education is now more meritocratic, meaning girls have more equal opportunity than in the past.

Answer 4

Increase in proportion of female teachers/heads. Women in senior positions provide role models for girls. e.g. there have been and increase in head teachers in secondary school since 1992 and 2012.

Answer 5

The presence of more female teachers also 'feminises' learning environment and encourages girls to see school as a part of female 'gender domain'. As a result they come to perceive educational success as desirable feminine characteristic.

Answer 6

Gender gap increased sharply when GSCE was introduced in 1988 because coursework was a large percentage in most subjects – Gorard (2005). Mitsos and Browne (1998) – girls more successful in coursework because they’re more conscientious, organised and spend more time on their work.

Answer 7

Elwood (2005) notes that exams have more influence on final grades, so introduction of coursework had only limited effect on gender differences in achievement.

Answer 8

French (1993) – boys receive more attention as they attract more reprimands. And also Swann found that boys dominate class discussions, whereas girls prefer group work and better at listening and cooperating.

Answer 9

Teachers are likely to respond more positively to give and give them more encouragement than boys. This may lead to a SFP because of successful interactions, promoting girls self-esteem Teachers are also likely to have lower expectations of boys.

Answer 10

Jackson (1998) – exam league tables have improved opportunities for girls. High achieving girls are attractive to schools, low achieving boys are not, they are likely to misbehave and be excluded (4 times as likely to be excluded than girls). Schools see boys as liability students who give poor image and results This creates SFP.

Answer 11

As a result, girls are more likely to get places in successful schools. In turn, girls get a better education and achieve more.

Answer 12

Liberal and radical feminists

Answer 13

celebrate progress made so far, further progress will be made by continuing development of equal opportunities policies, encouraging positive role models and overcoming sexist attitudes/stereotypes. Similar to functionalist view that education is a meritocracy.

Answer 14

Radical feminists – they emphasize that the ed system remains patriarchal. 1) Sexual harassment of girls continues at school 2) Education limits girls’ subject choices and career options. 3) Women are under-represented in the curriculum. E.g. . Weiner describes the secondary school history curriculum as a “woman free zone.”

Answer 15

No there are social class differences in girls achievement

Answer 16

In 2013, only 40.6% of girls from poorer families(those eligible for free school meals) achieved five A*-C GCSEs, whereas over two thirds of those not on free school meals did so.o

Answer 17

Louis Archer et al (2010) said that There is conflict between WC girls’ feminine identities and the values of the school. By performing WC identities, symbolic capital is gained from peers however this clashes with the school, preventing them from educational capital (qualifications) and economic capital (MC careers)..

Answer 18

Archer identifies 3 strategies girls followed for creating a valued sense of self worth.

Answer 19

Hyper-heterosexual feminine identities Boyfriends Being 'loud'

Answer 20

Many girls construct 'glamorous' identities that earn symbolic capital from their female peers but cause conflict with school over their appearance. This school the girls' culture as worthless.

Answer 21

Having a boyfriend brings symbolic capital but lowers girls aspirations e.g. not wanting to go to university and aspiring to “settle down,” have children.

Answer 22

Being outspoken, independent and assertive. This conflicts with the ideal pupil identity and with teachers who interpret behaviour as aggressive.

Answer 23

Some working class girls do succeed, but Evans (2009) found they may still be disadvantaged by their by their gender and class identities. Girls wanted to go to university to increase their earning power and help their families but choose to live at home ,reflecting their working class feminine habitus. The cost of living away and fear of debt was further reason, and this limited their choices and further earning power.

Answer 24

``` Literacy Feminisation of schooling Lack of male primary school teachers Lack of male role models at home Laddish subcultures ```

Answer 25

The gender gap is mainly the result of boys’ poorer literacy and language skills. One reason may be that parents spend less time reading to their sons or that it is mainly mothers who do most of the reading to young children so see reading as a female activity. Also boys leisure interests (sports and computer games) don't encourage language and communication skills, whereas girls 'bedroom culture 'does.

Answer 26

Because language and literacy are important in most subjects, boys' poorer skills have a wide-ranging effect on their achievement.

Answer 27

The government has introduced policies to improve skills: The National Literacy Strategy focuses on improving boys’ reading. Playing For Success uses football and other sports to boost learning skills and motivation amongst boys.

Answer 28

Sewell (2006) sees that education has become “feminised,” that schools do not celebrate leadership or competitiveness, rather qualities more associated with girls like methodical working and attentiveness in class. Coursework is also a major cause of gender differences in achievement.

Answer 29

Only 14% of primary school teachers are male and 39% of boys aged 8 – 11 have never had a lesson taught by a male teacher. Primary schools have become feminised with female teacher who are unable to control boys’ behaviour.

Answer 30

This gives the idea that education is a feminine activity

Answer 31

Read(2008) critices the claim that only male teachers can exert the firm discipline boys need. She find that female teachers can adopt the disciplinarian discourse ( shouting which is seen as masculine). Read found that female teachers also used this style.

Answer 32

The increasing number of lone parent families (around 1.5 million) means that now boys grow up lacking a positive role model who goes out to work to support family. As a result these boys are less likely to see the value of employment and therefore also qualifications.

Answer 33

Epstein (1998) found that pro-school working class boys were likely to be harrassed and labelled as gay and subjected to verbal abuse

Answer 34

This is because education by anti-school boys are seen as feminine activity

Answer 35

Francis (2001) – boys were more concerned than girls about being labelled by their peers as swots because this threatens their masculine identity.

Answer 36

Ringrose (2013) argues that the moral panic about failing boys' has lead to neglect of problems faced by girls e.g. sexual harassment and stereotyped subject choice.

Answer 37

I think that class is the biggest driving factor to underachievement. Class gap is 3 times wider than gender gap. Girls and boys of the same social class tend to achieve fairly similar results e.g. at GCSE, the gender gap within any social class is rarely greater than 12% , however, by contrast, pupils of the same gender but different social classes achieve widely different results e.g. girls from the highest social class can be as much as 44 points ahead of girls from lower social class.

Answer 38

Gender also influences achievement itself depending on the pupils class itself. e.g. black Caribbean pupils gender gap is greater than any other ethnic group.

Answer 39

All intertwine e,g being female raises performance when added to being black Caribbean than it does when added to being white

Answer 40

There continues to be a pattern of “girls subjects” and “boys subjects.” Where choice is possible, in the national curriculum and after 16, boys and girls tend to follow different gender routes through the education system. E.g. boys chose maths/physics and girls chose modern languages.

Answer 41

93% for boys and 7% for girls

Answer 42

92% girls and 7% boys

Answer 43

99% girls and 1% boys

Answer 44

98% is male and 2% is female

Answer 45

80.3% are female but 19.7% are male

Answer 46

There are over 100,000

Answer 47

Early socialization Peer pressure Gendered subject images Gendered career opportunities

Answer 48

Norman (1988) from an early age, boys and girls are dressed differently, given different toys and encouraged to take part in different activities. Murphy and Elwood (1998( found that boys read hobby books and information texts and so prefer science subjects, while girls read stories about people and prefer English.

Answer 49

Tasks and activities that boys and girls see as male or female “territory” and therefore relevant to themselves. E.g. mending a car is a male gender domain. Children are more confident when engaging in tasks they see as part of their gender domain.

Answer 50

Boys tend to opt out of music and dance because these fall outside their gender domain and are likely to attract a negative response from peers. Dewar (1990) – found male pupils may call sporty girls “lesbian” or “butch.”

Answer 51

Pupils in single-sex schools may less traditional subject choices. this may be because there is no opposite-sex peer pressure to conform to gender stereotypical subject choice.

Answer 52

Kelly argues Science is seen as a boys’ subject for several reasons: Science teachers are usually male The examples teachers use, those in textbooks, often draw on boys’ interests In science lessons, boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the lab as if its theirs

Answer 53

Pretty curious campaign challenging female stereotypes and gender subjects.

Answer 54

Over half of girls aged from 11-16 and 17-21

Answer 55

Employment is gendered, jobs are sex typed as “men’s” or “women’s.” Women’s jobs often involve work similar to that performed by housewives. This affects ideas of what jobs are possible or acceptable; if boys get the message that nursery nurses are female, they will be less likely to opt for a course in childcare.

Answer 56

Traditional gender identity

Answer 57

Double standards Verbal abuse The male gaze

Answer 58

Connell (1995) argues that school reproduces 'hegemonic masculinity' (the dominance of heterosexual masculine identity and subordination of female and gay identities.

Answer 59

Feminists argue that experiences in school act as a form of social control to reproduce patriarchy - male domination and female subordination.

Answer 60

Boys use name calling to put down girls. It also shapes gender identity and maintains male power. Lees (1986) notes that boys call girls' 'slags' if they appear sexually available, but there is no equivalent for males

Answer 61

These labels don't reflect actual behavior ; they reinforce gender norms - e.g. boys may be called 'gay' simply for having female friends

Answer 62

Exist when one set of moral standards is applied to one group but a different set to another group. For example, Lees (1993) found that boys boast about their own sexual exploits, but label girls' negatively for the same behaviour.

Answer 63

Mac and Ghalli say the male gaze Is a form of social control where male pupils and teachers look girls up and down as sexual objects. Boys who don't participate may be labelled 'gay' which is also a form of social control.

Answer 64

Both in academic and vocational courses.