1. Analyse two reasons for overachievement of girls over the last few
years. (8 Marks)
In the late 1980’s, assessment criteria were changed for secondary students and GCSEs and
coursework were introduced in place of CSEs and O Level examinations which were exam only
qualifications. This improved girl’s achievement as it was thought that due to their better literacy
skills and more conscientious approach to education, girls better organisational and presentation
skills meant that they would score higher on the coursework element of their GCSEs than if
sitting a high-stakes examination on its own. Boys tend to perform better in high-stakes exams
than continuous assessment such as coursework and so girl’s achievement increased. However,
critics of this approach would suggest that in many cases, coursework amounted for less than
half of the marks towards a student’s final grade, and in some instances as low at 20%.
Therefore, it can be argued that there are other factors determining the improvement of girls in
education.
A second reason for the improvement of girls over the last 35 years is the way in which ‘students
are taught’ (Item A). Sociologists, such as Tony Sewell, have suggested that more recently the
education system has adopted more feminine approaches to teaching, learning and assessment
and that there has been a ‘feminisation of education’. The use of more collaborative teaching and
learning methods, rather than competitive ones, has suited girls’ education better than boys and
this has allowed them to be more engaged, motivated and ultimate achieve higher. It can be
argued that the changes in teaching methodologies could also be due to the increase in female
teachers within the education system.
These female teachers may be more effective in delivering collaborative methods, and therefore
in doing so act as a symbol of the education system and how it rewards feminine traits, such as
co-operation, collaboration and compassion. However, some sociologists would argue that not all
education has become feminised, particularly sciences and maths which remain part of the male
gender domain but have seen improvements in female performance in those areas. Furthermore,
global comparisons between teaching methods suggest traditional teaching methods, such as
those in China, Singapore and Hong Kong, achieve far higher results for girls than the UK
system, so perhaps the reasons for girl’s achievement are the changes in wider society, such as
the rise of feminism.
, 2. Analyse two reasons for gender differences in subject choice (8 Marks)
The first reason is gendered differences in early socialization. Fiona Norman (1988) found that
most parents socialise boys and girls in different ways – they tend to be more gentle with girls,
protect them more, and encourage them in more passive activities, such as reading with them,
whereas ‘typical boys’ are encouraged to run around and ‘let off steam’ more. Later on in school,
this might explain why more boys do active subjects such as P.E. and why more girls do
reflective, academic subjects such as English and Home Economic.
A further gender difference in socialisation is the toys boys and girls play with – dolls for girls
and cars and tool sets for boys, which could explain differences in vocational subjects – health
and social care subjects (working with children) are very female dominated, engineering (making
and fixing) are very much male dominated.
The second reason is peer group pressure which might also encourage boys to do ‘typically boys
subjects’ and girls to do typically girls subjects. This linked to hegemonic (dominant ideas about)
masculinity – stereotypically, ‘real men’ are good at sport, and so boys are under pressure play
sport to fit into their male peer group, this doesn’t apply to girls and could explain why more
boys do PE later in their school careers. Similarly hegemonic femininity also requires that girls
‘look good’ (as Louise Archer found) which could explain why it is mostly girls who do hair and
beauty courses.
Verbal abuse is one way these peer groups reinforce dominant gender identities. Boys choosing
girls’ subjects can be accused of being ‘gay’, and vice versa for girls, and this may steer them
away from subjects which don’t fit in with their gender domains.
Discuss how far sociologists would agree that school factors are the most important influence on
achievement?
Many factors influence educational achievement, school and home factors influence students to
either do good or bad in school. Examples of these could be parents and how they get involved in
the students education and setting classes.
First of all, some sociologist such as Marxists believe students who come from a working class
background tend to do worse than students who come from a high class background; this could
be because of material deprivation. This is a big influence on student’s educational achievement
as they do not have enough money to buy the necessary equipment for school such as revision
guides. Because of this students who do suffer from material deprivation will be at a
disadvantage to other students who do have the necessary resources when it comes to tests and
exams. This is a big influence on educational achievement.
