Education (3)

DIFFERENTIAL EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT OF SOCIAL GROUPS- gender 

Evidence that gender affects attainment:

• Since the mid-1990s girls have begun to out peform boys in most subjects at all levels of education. 

KS2 SATS (2011):

• Girls significantly outpeformed boys in achieving a L4 in English- with 86% of girls and only 77% of boys. 

GCSE (2014):

• The gender gap was at its widest since 2003. 
• 73.1% of girls gained A*-C, compared to only 64.3% of boys. 
• Boys lag 7 years behind girls in GCSE performance. 

A level (2011):

• 78% of girls gained at least one C, compared to 74% of girls. 
• Closest gap in attainment. 

Degree figures (2011):

• 66% of women got a 1st class or 2:1 result compared to 61% of men.
• More women started 1st degrees than men. 

Historical context (70s and 80s):

• Parents more likely to support boys. 
• Reading schemes steriotypical. 
• Sue Sharp: In 1970s girls valued education less than boys, with priorities ordering as- love, marriage, jobs and then careers.By 1990s this had changed and their main proirity was a career. 

External (out of school) factors

• Mitsos and Browne: there is a male 'identity crisis' as boys feel their role as the main breadwinner is at threat and without it they feel little purpose and an unclear future. 
• Edwards and David: Gender differentation socialisation gives girls an advantage at school- but still creates a patriarchal society (eg. disruptive boys still dominate the classroom). Girls are spoken to more as babies, and are taught to conform to traditional standards of behavoiur which gives them the advantage in the classroom and are motivated and pay attention in school. 
  
• Hannah- lesure time: girls and boys spent leasure time differently. Boys relate to peers by doing. Girls relate by talking. This gives girls an advantage as more subjects require good comprehension. 
• McRobbie: girls have a 'bedroom culture' where talking, sharing and helping is important, assisting in education, whereas boys experiance pressure to be sporty which doesnt nessarity help attainment. 
• Edwards and David: parents allowed boys to be noisier and more attention seeking, and so becme more likely to break rules and struggle to concentrate. Boys believed school…