A* Sociology Student, sat exams in 2022 and received a grade of over 95%.
These are notes for AQA (but would work for all exam boards).
Gender and Education Achievement differences - focussing on the underachievement of boys/males for educational achievement differences, notes for Paper 1 - ...
Why do Boys do worse in education?
Boys and Literacy (External)
Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs (External)
Feminisation of Education (Internal)
Shortage of Male Primary School Teachers (Internal)
Laddish Subcultures (Internal/External)
1. Boys and Literacy
DCSF (2007) suggests that gender gap is mainly a result of poorer literacy and language skills:
1. Parents spend less time reading to their sons (i.e. fathers still often a sole breadwinner so
spend little time with their sons).
2. Reading is considered a feminine activity
3. Popular leisure pursuits are generally away from reading – such as football.
Curriculum (i.e. in English, literature and language) is not particularly centred around boys and their
norms and values in contemporary society, heavily centred on romantic themes.
A03: The government have introduced a range of policies to improve boy’s literacy and language
skills:
- Reading Champions – using male role models to show their reading interests.
- Playing for Success – uses football and other sports to boost learning skills amongst boys
- Dads and Sons campaign – encouraging fathers to be more involved with their sons reading.
-
2. Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs
Decline in traditional male jobs, since the 1980’s there has been a significant decline in industry such
as iron, steel, shipbuilding, mining and engineering.
Part of this is the moving of manufacturing to developing countries, that can produce products
cheaper, such as developing countries like China; to take advantage of cheap labour.
This can cause underachievement for boys.
- Less prospects for their future.
- Reduces motivation and self-esteem.
Mitsos and Browne (1998):
- This decline in male jobs has led to an ‘identity crisis for men’.
- This has reduced their prospects of a future, leading to a low self-esteem and motivation.
- This could lead to boys giving up in trying to get qualifications.
Moving away from a knowledge economy, such manual labour favoured by men is not available as
much for men.
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