Topic 4

Question 1

McRobbie (impact of feminism)

Answer 1

McRobbie’s (1994) study compared 1970s magazines emphasising the importance of marriage, to 1990s magazines which portrayed strong independent women.

Question 2

Sharpe - girls changing ambitions

Answer 2

interviewed girls in the 1970s and 1990s and saw a shift in how girls see their future - 1974: girls had low expectations, prioritised love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs or careers (more or less in that order).- 1990s: girls prioritised their career and being able to support themselves.

Question 3

Fuller (girls changing ambitions)

Answer 3

found educational success became part of girl’s identity. They believed in meritocracy and aimed for professional jobs which would enable them to support themselves.

Question 4

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim- girls changing attitudes

Answer 4

link this change in attitude to a trend in individualism in today’s society, a career is part of a women’s self-project promising recognition and economic self-sufficiency.

Question 5

A03 class, gender and ambition

Answer 5

limited aspirations of working class girls reflect the limited jobs they perceive as being available to them. Traditional gender identity is seen as attainable and offers status.
Working class girls therefore do not see the point in achieving in education.

Question 6

Boaler (equal opportunities policies)

Answer 6

sees the impact of equal opportunities policies as a key reason for the changes in girls’ achievement. Barriers to education success have been removed and schooling is more meritocratic.

Question 7

Gorard - GCSE and coursework

Answer 7

claims the gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 to 1989 when there was a sharp increase, this was the year GCSEs (and coursework) were introduced. Gorard concludes that the gender gap is down to change in assessment, not the failing of boys.

Question 8

A03- Elwood- gcse and coursework

Answer 8

although coursework may have had some impact it cannot be the only influence on the gender gap because exams have more influence on the final grade.

Question 9

Francis (teacher attention)

Answer 9

Boys were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers, who had low expectations of them.

Question 10

Swann (teacher attention)

Answer 10

communication styles: Boys dominate whole class discussion, whereas girls work prefer pair work and group work. Girls are also better at listening and cooperating, they take turns whereas boys interrupt one another.
This could explain why teachers respond more positively to girls, this could lead to a self- fulfilling prophecy, promotion girls’ self-esteem and raise achievement levels.

Question 11

Weiner - Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

Answer 11

claims since the 1980s, teachers have challenged these stereotypes and sexist images have been removed from textbooks. This could have impacted girls’ achievement by presenting them with more positive images of what women can do.

Question 12

Jackson - Selection and League Tables

Answer 12

high achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low achieving boys are not. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy (girls are recruited by the good schools and are therefore more likely to do well).

Question 13

Slee (selection and league tables)

Answer 13

boys are less attractive to better schools because of behaviour difficulties and they’re 4x more likely to be excluded.
As a result boys are seen as “liability students”.

Question 14

Liberal feminists

Answer 14

Celebrate the progress so far in relation to girl’s achievement
Further progress will be made as a result of equal opportunities policies, encouraging positive role models and overcoming sexist attitudes.
Similar to functionalism they view education as meritocratic (all individuals have an equal chance)

Question 15

Radical feminists

Answer 15

Even though girls are achieving more, the system is still patriarchal and conveys the message it is a man’s world:
Sexual harassment of girls at school
Limits girl’s subject choices and career options
Male teachers are still more likely to be heads of secondary schools
Women are underrepresented in the curriculum. Weiner (1993) secondary school history as a “women free zone”.

Question 16

Archer et al

Answer 16

believe there is a conflict between working class girl’s feminine identities and the ethos of the school. By performing their working class feminine identities the girls gained symbolic capital from their peers. But, this brought them into conflict with the school.

Question 17

Archer identities strategies

Answer 17

1. Hyper-heterosexual feminine identity
   The girls invested considerable time, effort and money into constructing their feminine identity. This led to the school “othering” the girls - Bourdieu defines this as symbolic violence (label their culture as worthless).
   Archer: the “ideal female pupil” is de-sexualised and middle class.
2. Having a boyfriend
   Having a boyfriend brought symbolic capital, but got in the way of schoolwork and lowered aspirations. Girls wanted to “settle down”, have children and work locally in working class feminine jobs.
3. Being “loud”
   Some adopted “loud” feminine identities - often outspoken, independent and assertive. They didn’t meet the teacher’s expectations of the “ideal female pupil” (passive and submissive) resulting in conflict with the teacher.

Question 18

Impact of archer identities

Answer 18

As a result of this working class girls are faced with a dilemma:
• Either gain symbolic capital from peers adopting a hyper-heterosexualidentity
• Or gain educational capital by rejecting working class identities and conform
to the school’s middle class, respectable, ideal female pupil.

Question 19

Evans (‘successful’ working class girls)

Answer 19

Working class girls wanted to go onto university but not for themselves, to increase their earning power and help their families.

Question 20

Skeggs- successful working class girls

Answer 20

According to Skeggs (1997) their motivation reflects their “caring” identities.

Question 21

Boys and literacy

Answer 21

DCSF (2007) gender gap is down to boys’ poor literacy and language skills. Why?
• Mothers spend less time reading with their sons
• Reading as a “feminine” activity
• Boys’ leisure pursuits don’t aid language/communication skills, girls tend to have a “bedroom culture”.
Policies have been introduced to try and improve boys’ achievement (eg. National Literacy Strategy, Reading Champions using male role models).

Question 22

Mitosis and Browne- globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs

Answer 22

Mitsos and Browne argue this has led to an “identity crisis for men”. This leads to a lack of self-esteem and lack of motivation.
However: the decline has mainly been in manual working class jobs, where no qualifications are necessarily required, therefore it is unlikely the decline has had much impact on boys’ achievement.

Question 23

Sewell - Feminisation of Education

Answer 23

boys fall behind because the curriculum is feminised, school doesn’t nurture “masculine” traits such as competitiveness or leadership. Coursework also benefits girls, putting boys at a disadvantage.

Question 24

Yougov- Shortage of male primary school teachers

Answer 24

Yougov (2007) 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher.
Some argue the culture of primary school has become feminised, and male teachers are able to impose stricter discipline on boys. This suggests we need more male teachers.

Question 25

Francis- shortage of male primary teachers

Answer 25

two-thirds of all 7-8 year olds didn’t feel the gender of their teacher mattered.

Question 26

Read-shortage of male primary school teachers

Answer 26

found most teachers used the “masculine” disciplinarian approach which would disprove the argument the culture of education is feminised, also disputing the claim only men can provide strict classroom discipline.

Question 27

Epstein- laddish subcultures

Answer 27

looked at how masculinity is constructed and found working class boys are likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies and subjected to homophobic abuse if they appear to be “swots”.
This is because in working class culture masculinity is constructed as being tough and doing manual work, whereas non manual work and extension schoolwork is seen as effeminate and inferior. As a result of this working class boys reject schoolwork.

Question 28

Ringrose- feminists

Answer 28

argue these views have contributed a moral panic about boys’ achievement. This reflects a fear that underachieving working class boys will grow up to become a dangerous, unemployable underclass.

Question 29

Olser- policy impact

Answer 29

a focus on underachieving boys has led to the neglect of girls. This is because girls are likely to disengage from school quietly, whereas boys turn to “laddish” behaviour which attracts the attention of teachers.
Osler uses the example of mentoring schemes aimed at reducing exclusion among black boys as ignoring the problem of exclusion among girls.

Question 30

Internal - byrne

Answer 30

teachers encourage boys to be “tough”, show initiative and not to be weak, whilst girls are encouraged to be quiet, helpful, clean and tidy. - as a result they develop different tastes in reading.

Question 31

Murphy & Elwood (gender role socialisation)

Answer 31

argue this leads to different subject choices, boys read hobby books and girls read stories about people.

Question 32

Browne and Ross - gender domains

Answer 32

“Gender domains” are the tasks/activities that children view as either male or female.
Beliefs about “gender domains” are shaped by children’s early experiences and most children are more confident when engaging in tasks they see as part of their “gender domain”. Eg when set the same maths tests girls are more confident if it’s set in the context of food/nutrition, and boys are more confident if it’s about cars.

Question 33

Kelly on gendered subjects

Answer 33

Kelly argues science is seen as a male subject for a number of reasons - science teachers are more likely to be men, examples teachers use and in textbooks are often drawn on boys’ experiences and in lessons boys dominate the lab.

Question 34

Paechter - gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 34

sport is seen as in the “male domain” therefore girls who are “sporty” have to cope with an image which contradicts their stereotypical image.

Question 35

Dewar- gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 35

studied an American college and found male pupils would call girls “butch” or “lesbian” if they engaged in sport.

Question 36

Leonard- single sex schooling

Answer 36

found girls in all girls’ schools were more likely to take maths and science A Levels, and boys in all boys’ schools were more likely to take English and languages.
This was also reflected in university choices.

Question 37

Fuller- gender, vocational choices and class

Answer 37

found working class girls had ambitions to go into hair and beauty or childcare, reflecting their working class habitus - what’s realistic for “people like us”.
• These often arise out of work experience where schools steer girls toward a certain type of job, and therefore towards a certain type of vocational course.

Question 38

Connell- verbal abuse

Answer 38

identifies a “rich vocabulary of abuse” as a way in which gender identities are reinforced (eg. boys using name calling to put girls down.).

Question 39

Lees- verbal abuse

Answer 39

boys called girls “slags” if they appeared sexually available, and “drags” if they didn’t.

Question 40

Paechter- verbal abuse

Answer 40

sees name calling as maintaining male power. The use of labels such as “gay”, “queer”, “lezzie” are ways pupils police each other’s sexual identities

Question 41

Mac an ghaill- the male gaze

Answer 41

Mac an Ghaill refer to the “male gaze” - the way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements about their appearance.
Mac an Ghaill see this as surveillance, reinforcing heterosexual masculinity and is a way of boys proving their masculinity to their friends. This is often combined stories of their sexual conquests. Boys who do not participate run the risk of being labelled gay.

Question 42

Haywood and mac an ghaill- teachers and discipline

Answer 42

male teachers told boys off for “behaving like girls”, but ignored boys’ verbal abuse and even blamed girls for attracting it.

Question 43

Askew and Ross - teachers and discipline

Answer 43

male teachers can reinforce dominant gender ideas, for example going into a female teacher’s class to “rescue” them by threatening disruptive pupils.

Question 44

Willis- male peer groups

Answer 44

Willis’ study found boys in anti-school subcultures who wanted to do well were labelled as gay or effeminate.

Question 45

Ringrose- female peer groups

Answer 45

Ringrose (2013) studied 13-14 year old working class girls’ peer groups finding being popular was crucial to the girls’ identity. They faced tension between:
• An idealised feminine identity: showing loyalty to friendship group and being non competitive
• A sexualised identity: competing for boys in the dating culture