SOCIOLOGY ED TOPIC 4 - GENDER

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Official stats on starting school?
Baseline assessments, Survey of 6,953 children by qual & curriculum authority found 62% girls could concentrate without supervision for 10 minutes, only 49% boys could
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Official stats on key stages 1-3 & GCSE?
Girls consistently better, especially english. Gap in science/math narrower but still do better. At GCSE gender gap at around 10% points
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Off stats at AS & A level and vocational courses?
95.8% girls passed 2 or more, 94% boys. Average A level points score in state schools 274 for boys but 295 for girls. Larger proportion of girls achieve distinctions in every subject vocationally, even engineering/construction where girls minority
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4 external factors affecting gender differences in achievement?
1.Impact of feminism 2.Changes in family 3.Changes in womens employment 4.Girls changing perceptions & ambitions
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Impact of feminism?
Social movement thats challenged traditional stereotypes=raised womens expectations/self esteem.
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Angela McRobbbies comparison of girls magazines?
In 70's & 90's. 70's=Importance of getting married. Now=Assertive independent women. Changes caused by feminism may affect girls self image & ambitions regarding family & careers. Explains improvements in ed achievement
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4 changes in the family?
1.Increase in divorce rate 2.Increase in cohabitation & decrease in no of 1st marriages 3.Increase in no of lone parent families (mainly female headed) 4.Smaller families
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Effect the changes have?
Increased no of female headed fams-more women take breadwinner role. Creates new adult role model for girls. To achieve this, need well paid jobs & quals. Increase in divorce rate-may encourage girls to rely on themselves to make living
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4 changes in womens employment?
1.1970 Equal pay act/sex discrimination act 1975 2.Proportion of women employed up from 47% to 70% in 2007 3.Since 75, pay gap has fallen from 30% to 17% 4.Some women now breaking through 'glass ceiling'
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Effect these changes have had?
Encouraged girls to see future in terms of paid work not housewives. Greater career opps & better pay=more incentive for girls to gain qualifications
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Girls changing ambitions?
Chnges in family/employment=changes in girls ambitions. Su Sharpe compared results of interviews from 70's & 90's. 70's=low aspirations, ed success unfeminine & unattractive. Love, marriage, husband, children, jobs & careers. Now=Independent woman
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Methods Link - Using Unstructured Interviews?
Sharpe-By asking o/e questions girls responded in own way=rick qual data, valid picture of feelings/aspirations. Dont produce easily categorised data/no correlations. Danger interviewer may influence answers-more risk with young
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6 internal factors effecting gender differences in achievement?
1.Equal opp policies 2.Positive role models in schools 3.GCSE & coursework 4.Teacher attention & classroom interaction 5.Chanelling stereotypes in the curric 6.Selection & league tables
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Equal opportunity policies?
Belief boys/girls are equally capable/entitled to same opps now mainstream thinking. GIST encourage girls to pursue non traditional careers. Nat curriculum removed one source of gender inequality by making girls/boys study mostly same subject
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Jo Boaler on equal opportunity policies?
Equal opp pols key reason for change in girls achievement. Barriers removed & schooling become more meritocratic
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Positive role models in schools?
Increase in proportion of female teachers & head teachers. Women in positions of authority act as role models. To become them, must undertake lengthy & successful ed themselves. Argued primary schools are 'feminised' with near all female teachers
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Gerrard on GCSE & coursework?
Gender gap fairly constant from 1975 to 1988/9 when increased sharply. Year when GCSE introduced, bringing coursework as major part of subjects. Gender gap in achievement 'product of changed system of assessment not general failure of boys
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Mitsos & Browne on GCSE & coursework?
Girls:Spend more time on work, take more care with presentation, are better at meeting deadlines & bring right equipment to lessons. These factors helped girls to benefit from intro of coursework aswell as them maturing earlier
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Jannette Elwood on GCSE & coursework?
Had had some influence but unlikely to be only cause, concludes exams have more influence on final grades
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Teacher attention?
Spender-Teachers spend more time with boys. Jane/Peter French-Analysed class interaction & found amount is similar academically.Boys only received more as they attracted more reprimands
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Swann on teacher attention?
Boys generally more boisterous & attract teachers gaze, more opps to speak. Way they interacted with girls=more positive as focused on schoolwork. Boys dominate class discussions, girls prefer pair work=better at listening/cooperating=SFP
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Challenging stereotypes in curriculum?
Argue removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks, reading schemes etc removed barrier to girls achievements. Research in 70's & 80's=schemes portrayed women as housewives & mothers with physics books as frightened/amazed by science
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Methods Link - Using Documents?
Glenys Lobban-Examined 179 stories in 6 primary school reading schemes finding females presented in domestic roles. Quant content analysis=stat patterns, easily replicated to show trends. But tells nothing about its meaning
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Selection & league tables?
Marketisation pols created competitive climate=schools see girls as desirable recruits as achieve better. Jackson-Exam league tables improved opps for girls=high achieve,attractive to schools=SFP=more likely to be recruited=do well
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2 views of girls' achievements?
1.Liberal feminists 2.Radical feminists
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Liberal feminists?
Celebrate progress made so far. Believe further progress will be made by continuing development of equal opp pols, encouraging positive role models etc. Similar to functionalist view education is meritocratic where all are given an equal opportunity
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Radical feminists?
More critical view. Say system remains patriarchal EG Sexual harassment of girls still at school, ed still limits subject choices, males still more likely to become heads, women u/represented in many areas of curric EG History curric woman free zone
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Boys & literacy?
DCSF say gender gap result of boys poor lit/lang skills. Reason may be parents spend less time reading to their sons. Another is mothers who read to young children=feminine activity. Boys leisure=football/computer games, girls=bedroom culture
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Globalisation & decline of traditional mens jobs?
Since 80's heavy decline in manufacturing industries. Were mainly male employed. Mitsos/Browne=Decline lead to identity crisis for me. Boys believe little prospect of getting proper job. Undermines motivation=give up tying to get quals
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Dispute of the decline of traditional male job claim?
Decline has largely been in traditional manual w/c jobs, many unskilled. Most of these would've been filled by w/c boys with few quals. Unlikely that disappearance of such jobs would impact boys motivation to get quals
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Sewell on feminisation of education?
Claim boys fall behind because ed has become feminised. Schools dont nurture 'masculine' traits such as competitiveness & leadership. Sees coursework as major cause of gender differences in achievement
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Shortage of male primary school teachers?
Increasing lack of strong positive male role models at home/school. 1.5M female headed lone parent families in UK. Men only make up 16% of primary school teachers. In Yougovs study, 42% said male teacher made them work harder
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Myhill & Jones study on male primary school teachers?
Found 13-15 year olds felt male teachers treated boys more harshly
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Debbie Epstein on laddish subcultures?
Growth has contributed to boys u/achievement. Found w/c boys lielly to be harassed/labelled sissies if appear to be 'swots'. In w/c culture, masculinity=tough/manual work. Non-manual work/extension school work=effeminate/inferior. W/C reject s/work
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Gender, class & ethnicity?
Wrong to conclude boys are 'lost cause'. Tracey McVeigh-Similarities in boys & girls achieve far greater than the differences. DfES study found class gap 3 times wider than the gender gap at GCSE
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Overview of topic?
Girls generally do better than boys. Extent of gender influence varies on pupils class/ethnicity. Gender gap of blacks greater than other ethnic groups
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Summary of Fuller?
Black girls successful as define femininity in terms of educational achievement/independence
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Summary of Sewell & Willis?
Sewell- Black boys fail as define masculinity in terms of opposition to education. Willis-W/C boys define masculinity as 'hostile to schooling'
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4 explanations of subject choice?
1.Early socialisation 2.Gendered subject images 3.Peer pressure 4.Gendered career opportunities
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Early socialisation?
Ann Oakley. Sex=Inborn physical differences. Gender=Learned cultural differences. Early socialisation shapes gender identity=Dressed differently, different toys. Parents reward boys for being active & girls passive. As result, different reading taste
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Murphy & Elwood on early socialisation?
Say these differences lead to different subject choices. Boys read hobby books & info texts with girls read stories about people. Why boys prefer science & girls english
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Browne & Ross on gender domains?
Shaped by early experiences/expectations of adults. More confident when engaging in tasks seen as own gender domain EG Set math task, girls more confident in tackling when about food/nutrition & boys when about cars
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Patricia Murphay on gender domains?
Set primary/secondary pupils o/e tasks to design boats/vehicles & write estate agents adverts
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Results of Murphay's study?
Boys designed power boats/battleships, sports cars & advertised garage space. Girls designed cruise ships, family cars & advertised kitchen design
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Conclusion of Murphays' study?
Girls focus on how people feel = humanities. Boys focus on how things are made/work= science
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3 gendered subject images by Kelly?
1.Science teachers more likely to be men 2.Examples teachers use draw on boys rather than girls interests 3.In science lessons, boys monopolise the apparatus, acting as if its 'theirs'
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Anne Colley on masculine computer studies?
1.Involves machines-part of male gender domain 2.Way taught is off putting to females. Tasks abstract & teaching styles formal, few opps for group work
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Diana Leonard on gendered subject choices?
Data on 13,000 individuals, compared to pupils in mixed schools, girls in girls schools more likely to take maths/science at A level, while boys at boys schools likely to take english/modern languages
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Peer pressure?
Boys opt out of music & dance as outside gender domain. Carrie Paetcher=Pupils see sport as mainly male, sporty girls have image contradicting conventional stereotype=girls opt out of sport
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Gendered career opportunities?
Jobs tend to be sex typed. Womens similar to work done by housewives=nursing/childcare. Sex typing affects boys/girls ideas of what kind of jobs are possible/acceptable
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5 experiences in school reinforcing gender identity?
1.Verbal abuse 2.Male peer groups 3.Teachers & discipline 4.Male gaze 5.Double standards
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Verbal abuse?
Connell='rich voba of abuse'. Dominant gender/sexual identities are reinforce EG Boys use name calling. Sue Lees-Boys call girls 'slags' if sexually available/'drags' if not
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Andrew Parker on verbal abuse?
Boys labelled 'gay' for being friends with girls/teachers. No relation to pupils actual sexual behaviour function simply to reinforce gender norms
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Male peer groups?
Use verbal abuse & antischool subcultures to reinforce masculinity. Mac an Ghaill=peer groups reproduce different class based masculine identities.
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2 class based masculine identities according to Mac an Ghaill?
W/C 'macho lads' dismissive of w/c boys who worked hard calling them '******** achievers'. Contrast with m/c 'real englishmen' who 'effortlessly achieve' or appear to do so.
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Teachers & discipline?
Haywood & Mac an Ghaill-Male teachers told boys off for 'behaving like girls'. Tended to ignore boys verbal abuse of girls=asking for it. Askew/Ross=Male teachers protective towards female colleagues-reinforcing idea they cant cope
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Male gaze?
Mac an Ghaill-Male pupils & teachers look girls up & down=Sexual objects on appearance. Form of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual masculinity reinforced & femininity developed
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Double standards?
Lees-Boys boast about sexual exploits but call girls a '****' if she doesnt have steady boyfriend/dresses in certain way. Approved of/given status by male peers but promiscuity among girls=negative labelling. Fem example of patriarchal ideology
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Card 2

Front

Official stats on key stages 1-3 & GCSE?

Back

Girls consistently better, especially english. Gap in science/math narrower but still do better. At GCSE gender gap at around 10% points

Card 3

Front

Off stats at AS & A level and vocational courses?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

4 external factors affecting gender differences in achievement?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Impact of feminism?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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