Gender differences in Achievment

?

External factors: girls improvement

Feminism: impacted the opportunities girls have, better self image, 

Changing perseptions: huge change in how girls see themselves and their future

  • Sharpe: 70s girls- love, marriage etc              90s girls- career, independance

Changes in family: increase divorce, lone parent families, cohabitation etc. Mean women have more opportunity and need to be independant, motivation for academic achievement.

Changes in employment: more employment opportunity. Changes in law- 1970 equal pay rights act. Since, the pay gap between men and women has halved

1 of 5

Internal Factors: girls improvment

Equal opportunities policies: feminits ideas spread through edu. system especially gender equality. Led to policies that aimed at creatign equal opportunities.

  • WISE programm: enchorages girls to science and technology

Role Models: more female academic role mdoels in school and media 

Coursework: girls overachieve in boys in course work; they are more organised

Stereotypes in material: females more represented in books and media and improves girls perception of what women can achieve 

Teacher attention: Girls and boys recieve the same attention, but boys are taught less as that attention is spent controling their misbehvaiour (French and French)

'Succesful' WC girls: many WC girls achieve academically but cannot persue higher education due to havuing to look afte rtheir family or not being able ot fund it, reflecting their habitus

2 of 5

Boys underachivement

Literacy: parents spend less time reading to their boys. Boys ativities dotn enchorage literacy skills

Globalisation: due to jobs being outsourcd to other countires, male unemployment has led to a loss of identity, leading boys to belive they have little prospect of getting jobs so dont try at school

Feminisation of schooling: 1/6 boys have a male teacher before highschool, eduaction is for women

Lack of role models: increasing single mother households lead to boys dont see the value of male employemtn so dont work at school

Laddish subculture: Francis found boys more concerned with being labelled as 'swots' than girls, as it tackles their masculinity

3 of 5

Gender and subject choice

  • National currculum: little difference; compulsory subjects. Except food tech (F), resis. mat (M)
  • A levels: males choose stem subjects, females choose languages, RE etc
  • Vocational subject: 1% of construction apprentices are female 

Explaining gender differences:

- Socialisation

  • In the family: gender stereotypes enforced from a young age 
  • In school: school enchorages boys to be tough and grils to have expressive roles (Bryne)

- gendered subject choice (domains)

- gender identity and peer pressure

- gendered careers

4 of 5

Gender identity and schooling

Pupils school experience may enforce gender and sexual identities

  • Connel: school reproduces hegeminic masculinity (dom male, sub fem/ gay)
  • Feminists: social control of females and reproduce patriarcy

Name calling: reduces females to items and conform to male expectations 

Teachers reinforce patriarcy by teling boys off for acting like girls (negatiev) and ignore male verbal abuse to women

The male gaze is a form of social control, reinforce **** culture

5 of 5

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Sociology resources:

See all Sociology resources »See all Education resources »