Gender and subject choice

There is a fairly tradtional pattern of girls subjects and boys subjects. Boys opt more for subjects such as maths and physics and girls are more likely to chose modern languages, sociology and English for example. The fact that girls are still far less likely to do science subjects cals into question the effectiveness of policies such as GIST

The introduction of the national curriculum gives pupils better choices about what they can do and what they cant do. So after 16 boys and girls tend to follow different gender routes. 

Explanations of gender role choices.

Gender role socialisation

This is the process of learning the behaviour expected of males and females in society. Early socialisation shapes childrens gender identity. As Fiona Norman (1988) notes, boys and girls are dressed differently, given different toys and encouraged to do different activities. 

As a result of socialisation boys and girls develop different tastes in reading, Murphy and Elwood (1998) show how this affects subeject choice. Boys are more likely to read hobby books and information texts while girls are more likely to read texts about people and fiction. This shapes subject choices. It…