Why do Males Underachieve? Flashcards
Lower Expectations
Staff not as strict with boys
More likely to extend deadlines, have lower expectations, be tolerant of disruptive behaviour, and accept poorly presented work
Leads to negative labelling, leads to SFP
Boys Are More Disruptive
Male peer group often devalues schoolwork, boys may achieve status through aggressive and disruptive behaviour so lose learning time, sent out or sent home (Willis- lads)
Over 3x more likely to be excluded- permanent/fixed term- most common reason is persistent, disruptive behaviour
Masculinity and Anti-Learning Behaviour (Forde et al.)
Peer group pressure encourages boys to maintain dominant masc. identity- through resistance to school
Reject academic work as feminine
Boys (w/c esp.) gain ‘street-cred’ and status by not working
Develop laddish, anti-education + learning subculture- schoolwork ‘girly’
Masculinity and Anti-Learning Behaviour (Epstein et al.)
W/c boys risked harassment, bullying, or labelling as ‘gay’ if they worked hard at school
So boys often lack persistence/application for exam success- reflected ‘lads’ in Learning to Labour (Willis)
Masculinity and Anti-Learning Behaviour (Francis)
Confirmed view of boys achieving more peer-group macho status by resisting teachers + school- boys more likely to develop anti-school subcultures
Teaching often female profession, lack of positive male role models- may be why seen as ‘girly’
Declining Male Employment, Identity Crisis
Mac an Ghaill- decline in traditionally male w/c jobs leads to male under performance
Lack motivation/ambition- feel they have limited prospects + getting qualifications is useless, so why bother
Collapse of trad. male breadwinner role- crisis of masculinity
Insecurity in schools- boys don’t see point- attempt to construct positive self-image through laddish behaviour
Feeling and Behaving Differently (4 sociologists)
Stanworth + Licht and Dueck-girls underestimated ability + felt undervalued in classroom
Renold and Allan- high achieving girls (South Wales primary) torn between attractiveness and academic success
Barber- more boys think they are able or very able, less think they are ‘below average’ GCSE results show inverse- boys coast
Francis- 3 London secondaries, boys thought it easy to do well in exams without work- blamed teachers or lack of effort, not ability for failure
Different Leisure
Boys play sports + computer games, engage in ‘laddish’ behaviour, girls read or talk
Talking develops linguistic + reasoning skills needed for school + service sector jobs
Many school subjects require comprehension and reading + writing skills, boys view these as ‘girly’ and ‘uncool’
Boys Don’t Like Reading
See reading as boring
Reading is ‘feminised’, women main consumers, likely to read to children etc
Boys stop being interested at 8
Girls read fiction, boys read non-fiction, girls early advantage
Oakhill and Petrides- boys’ interest in content of what they read influences understanding + motivation, less so for girls
