Topic 4 - Gender differences in education

Question 1

external factors in gender differences in achievement

Answer 1

The impact of feminism
Changes in the family
Changes in women’s employment
Girls’ changing ambitions

Question 2

The impact of feminism

Answer 2

The feminist movement has improved the rights of women as well as raising women’s expectations, self-esteem & motivation. Women are no longer strictly bound to the mother/ housewife role.

McRobbie (1994): Magazines such as Jackie in the 1970s emphasised the importance of getting married, whereas nowadays priorities have changed & women are faced with more positive role models in the media.

Question 3

Changes in the family

Answer 3

increase in divorce rate
increase in cohabitation
increase in lone-parent families (usually female headed)

Changes affect girls’ attitudes to education. Women may need to support their families. Women are not willing to be supported by a man.

Question 4

Changes in women’s employment

Answer 4

The 1970 Equal Pay Act: Makes it illegal to pay one sex more than another for work of equal value – pay gap halved.

Francis (2001) interviewed girls about their career aspirations & concluded that, due to increased employment opportunities, females have become extremely ambitious & aim for ‘high professions’ such as doctors & solicitors.

Question 5

Girls’ changing ambitions

Answer 5

Girls’ ambitions are becoming more career-oriented.

Sharpe (1994): study shows changes to girls’ aspirations from 1970s to 1990s.

O’Connor (2006): marriage and children not major life plans.

Beck & Beck-Gernsheim (2001): individualisation means value is placed on achievement and self-sufficiency.

Fuller (2011): education central to identity.

Question 6

Internal factors and gender differences in achievement

Answer 6

1.Equal opportunities policies

2. Positive role models in school
3. GCSE and coursework
4. Teacher attention
5. Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
6. Selection and league tables

Question 7

1. Equal opportunities policies

Answer 7

Teachers need to ensure both genders have equal opportunities

Policies:
GIST and WISE – to encourage girls to pursue non-traditional careers

National Curriculum – all students study same subjects

Boaler (1998) equal opportunities policies key in changing girls’ achievement

Question 8

2 Positive role models in schools

Answer 8

significantly less female teaches who are in positions of leadership in school

Question 9

3 GCSE and coursework

Answer 9

Mitsos & Browne (1998): girls more successful in coursework; spend more time, take care, meet deadlines, equipped for lessons.

Question 10

4 Teacher attention

Answer 10

French & French (1993): boys get more attention, but this is negative

Francis (2001): boys more attention, but more harshly disciplined, low teacher expectations

Swann (1998): different communication style, boys dominant in whole class, girls prefer paired or small group

Teachers see girls as cooperative and so give more positive attention – leading to self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 11

5 Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum

Answer 11

Changes to textbooks, reading schemes, learning materials.

Women no longer seen as purely housewives and mothers.

Weiner (1995): teachers challenge stereotypes; sexist images removed.

Question 12

6 Selection and league tables

Answer 12

Marketisation policies (making schools compete for students – see Topic 6) have meant girls are favoured by schools.

Jackson (1998): league tables make high achieving girls attractive. Leads to self-fulfilling prophecy as girls likely to go to good schools.

Slee (1998) boys less attractive due to behavioural difficulties and exclusions.

Boys may give schools a bad image.

Question 13

Liberal feminists
view of school

Answer 13

Celebrate progress made
Further progress from equal opportunities policies

Question 13

Radical feminists

Answer 13

System is patriarchal (male dominated)

Sexual harassment in schools
Girls’ limited subject and careers choices

More male secondary heads
Women ignored in curriculum, e.g. history (compare to ethnocentric)

Gender pay gap after leaving education

Question 14

Symbolic capital girls

Answer 14

Archer et al (2010):
conflict between working-class girls’ identity and the ethos of the school
working-class feminine identities for status from peers
Hyper-heterosexual identity, being loud, having a boyfriend

Question 15

Hyper-heterosexual feminine identities

Answer 15

Girls aim to be ‘desirable’ and ‘glamorous’.

Similar to the idea of ‘Nike’ identities.

Status from peers

Conflict with school
too much jewellery

Wrong clothing

Makeup

Creates symbolic violence – their culture seen as worthless.

Question 16

symbolic violence

Answer 16

working class culture is seen as worthless

Question 17

Having a boyfriend earns symbolic capital:

Answer 17

lower aspirations
lower interest in university
lower interest in ‘masculine’ subjects
desire to ‘settle down’

Question 18

Being loud meant not conforming to stereotypes:

Answer 18

conflict with teachers
further from ‘ideal pupil’

Question 19

‘Successful’ working-class girls

Answer 19

Some working-class girls do achieve and go to university.

Evans (2009):
Interviewed working-class girls in south London comprehensive. Girls wanted to go to university to earn more money to help their families.

Question 20

Archer (2010):

Answer 20

Working-class habitus – key feature is preference for staying local.
Prevents them attending elite universities – limiting success.

Question 21

external boys

Answer 21

Boys and literacy
Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs

Question 22

internal boys

Answer 22

Feminisation of education
Shortage of male primary school teachers
‘Laddish’ subcultures
The moral panic about boys

Question 23

Boys and literacy

Answer 23

DCSF (2007):the ‘gender gap’ is the result of poor literacy among males. (The DCSF is now called the Department for Education.)
Reading is ‘feminised’.
Boys are socialised to be ‘active’, girls have ‘bedroom culture’.

Question 24

Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs

Answer 24

Since the 1980s, ‘masculine’ jobs in manufacturing have moved abroad & thus male employment opportunities have been reduced.
Mitsos & Browne (1998) suggest that this has created a ‘crisis of masculinity’.

Question 25

Feminisation of education

Answer 25

Sewell (2006) argues:
education has become ‘feminised’
education does not nurture ‘masculine’ traits of competitiveness and leadership
And the curriculum causes boys to underachieve:
coursework is a cause of boys’ underachievement
need a greater focus on outdoor activity and more exams

Question 26

Shortage of male primary school teachers

Answer 26

DfES (2012): 14% of primary school teachers are male.

Some suggest boys need male teachers from an early age to impose strict discipline.

Question 27

Are more male teachers really needed?

Answer 27

Francis (2006): two thirds of 708 year-olds did not think gender of a teacher matters.

Question 28

‘Laddish’ subcultures

Answer 28

Epstein (1998): construction of ‘laddish’ subcultures in school. Working-class boys labelled sissies/gay if appear to be ‘swots’. ‘Real boys don’t work.’
Francis (2001):
Boys see schoolwork as effeminate.
Reject school to avoid being called ‘gay’.
Increase in laddish s/cultures due to more girls now in masculine areas.

Question 29

The moral panic about boys

Answer 29

Ringrose (2013): moral panic about ‘failing boys’
Unemployable underclass – threat to social stability
Now policy moves to raise boys’ achievement
Policies for boys:
Ignore class disadvantage
Ignores problems faced by girls in school

Question 30

Explanations for gender differences in subject choice

Answer 30

1 Gender role socialisation
2 Gendered subject images
3 Gender identity and peer pressure
4 Gendered career opportunities

Question 31

Gender role socialisation

Answer 31

Fiona Norman (1988): Girls and boys are dressed differently, given different toys, encouraged to take part in different activities.

Eileen Byrne (1979):
Teachers encourage boys to be tough and to show initiative.
Girls are expected to be quiet and helpful and not rough or noisy

Question 32

Gender role socialisation - gender domains

Answer 32

Children’s beliefs about ‘gender domains’ are shaped by their early experiences and expectations of adults (Browne and Ross, 1991).

They see some tasks as part of male or female ‘territory’ and therefore as relevant or irrelevant to themselves.

Question 33

2 Gendered subject images

Answer 33

kelly - science is seen as a boys subject as pics in science textbooks are mainly of boy - gender domain, ‘its not for me’

Question 34

Gender identity and peer pressure

Answer 34

Girls and sport:
Paechter – girls in sport not seen as feminine.
Dewar – sporty girls seen as ‘lesbian’.

Question 35

Gendered career opportunities

Answer 35

Women – childcare and nursing

Traditional gender identities – working-class habitus

Question 36

Factors impacting on pupils’ sexual & gender identities

Answer 36

Double standards of moral expectations of girls & boys
Verbal abuse of girls
The application of the male gaze to girls
Influence of male peer groups on expression of masculinity
Impact of female peer groups on policing of identity
Impact of teacher discipline on boys & girls

Question 37

Hegemonic masculinity

Answer 37

Connell (1995):
Heterosexual masculine identity
Subordination of female/gay identities

Question 38

Double standards

Answer 38

Lees (1993): sexual standards different, boys boast – girls called ‘slags’

Question 39

Verbal abuse

Answer 39

Connell - slags/drags, ‘gay’, ‘queer’, ‘lezzie’ shape and reinforce male power

Question 40

The male gaze

Answer 40

Mac an Ghaill - girls seen as sexual objects, reinforcing dominant heterosexual masculinity

Question 41

Male peer groups

Answer 41

Mac an Ghaill - anti-school subcultures, class-based – ‘macho lads’/’dickhead achievers’/’real Englishmen’. Dominant version changes through school

Question 42

Female peer groups

Answer 42

Ringrose, Currie - policing identity – idealised feminine identity, sexualised identity, ‘tramps’ who don’t conform, symbolic capital from boyfriends, ‘boffin’ identity

Question 43

Teachers and discipline

Answer 43

Archer - boys told off for behaving like girls, verbal abuse of girls ignored, male teachers ‘rescuing’ female teachers