This covers significant topics such as gendered subject choices, teacher expectations, and the feminization of education.
Drawing on sociological research from experts like Sue Sharpe and Tony Sewell, it delves into how changing ambitions, the impact of feminism, and wider socialization process...
Statistics:
- At KS1 - KS3 girls do better than boys. Especially in english - gender gap is wider
but in science and math the gap is narrower however girls still do better.
- At AS and A levels girls are more likely to sit pass and get higher than boys.
EXTERNAL FACTORS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATION:
THE IMPACT OF FEMINISM: CHANGES IN THE FAMILY:
Feminism is a movement that advocates for the
equal rights of women in all aspects of life. Changes such as:
- Increased divorce
● Feminism has changed girls' views on their - Increase in cohabiting and decrease in
roles by challenging traditional stereotypes. marriages
Girls see their future not solely as - Smaller families
housewives of motherhood in a patriarchal - Lone parent families
nuclear family. They can see their role in Can affect girls' attitude towards education. For
terms of doing paid work, gaining and example, lone mother parents can become a role
education. model of a financially independent breadwinner -
● These changes can be reflected in media influencing girls to gain those qualifications that
images in McRobbie’s study of 1970s will allow them to be financially independent.
magazines. E.g increase in divorce - shows girls they need to
She found that 1970s magazines portrayed not rely on men and cultivate their own careers and
ideas of women getting married. Whereas in qualifications to be financially independent.
now magazines show the importance of
women being independent and educated
CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT: GIRLS CHANGING AMBITIONS:
Changes in the law e.g ● Sharpe interviewed girls in 1970 and 1990s
- Equal Pay Act (1970) - makes it illegal to pay to show the shift in ambitions.
women less than a man for the same jobs. In the 1970s women saw education and
- Sex and Discrimination Act (1975) - makes it infeminine and unattractive to men. Women
illegal to be prejudiced or discrimination were meant to take care of the house
against for one's gender, class ethnicity or husband and children.
sexuality in the workplace or in general. However in 1990 gaining an education was
seen as allowing women to become
These changes have influenced girls positively as independent women with a career not reliant
they can see their future in terms of paid work and on her husband.
equality in the workplace, better opportunities and
pay. ● In Fullars study, educational success was a
central part of the girls identity and they
were willing to maintain it by working hard,
taking advantages of opportunities
cultivating their own futures
Class gender and ambition:
● Working class girls have low aspirations and prefer to follow traditional gender stereotypes.
Reay argues that this shows working class girls reality - their limited aspirations reflect
their limited opportunities.
, INTERNAL FACTORS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATION
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICIES POSITIVE ROLE MODELS
Policies now are more aware of girls and There has been an increase in the amount of positive
acknowledge boys and girls should get the same role models e.g more teachers and head teachers in
opportunities - this is also a mainstream high positions - serves role models for girls that they
thinking. can achieve anything thus inspires them to seek after
- WISE (women in science & engineering) the qualifications to do so.
- GIST (girls in science and technology)
^ encourage girls to take on non traditional
careers.
- National Curriculum - removed inequality
as boys and girls learn the same content
and same subjects.
GCSE AND COURSEWORK TEACHER ATTENTION
Mitsos and Browne - Introduction of coursework French and French analysed classroom interactions
as part of GCSE has benefitted girls they are and found the boys receive more attention than girls
more successful in it as they are more because they attract more reprimands.
organised: Francis found that while boys attract more attentions
Other reasons inc: they are also disciplined harshly than girls
- Add more effort into the presentations
- Bring right equipment to class Swann - classroom communications - boys like to
- Spend more time on their work dominate whole class discussions - girls prefer pair
- Better at meeting deadlines work. Girls are also better at listening to others and
cooperating than boys.
Elwood argues that coursework has some ^ explains why girls are responded positively by
influence but exams have bigger influence on teachers
final grades than coursework
CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES IN THE SELECTION AND LEAGUE TABLES
CURRICULUM
Girls are seen as more desirable than boys as they
Changes in the curriculum for example removal achieve better than them. - schools like them have
of female and gender stereotypes from textbooks better exam results.
resources.
Research shows that during 1970s in textbooks - Jackson argues that introduction of exam league
physics girls were shown as scared of science tables has led to increase in girls achievement as high
and confused by it achieving girls are attractive while low achieving boys
are not
Whereas Weiner argues that in the 1980s this
started to change, teachers challenge gender ^ As a result girls get better opportunities.
stereotypes - There are more positive images of
women in textbooks of them being independent Slee argues that as boys are less attractive they are
and doing non traditional careers - sexist images more likely to suffer from behaviour issues and then 4x
are removed more likely to be excluded.
BOYS ARE LIABILITY STUDENTS - obstacles for
schools in achieving high place on exam position
TWO VIEWS OF GIRL ACHIEVEMENTS
● LIberal feminists celebrate progress made so far- say we will continue to make progress
through equal policies, encouraging positive role models.
● Radical feminist - take a critical view. They argue the school system is patriarchal and
conveys it to a man's world. E.g sexual harassment of girls in school continue, women
under represented in curriculum, ome subjects are not offered to girls
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