1.1.5 Gender gap Flashcards
(33 cards)
1
Q
What gender is doing better on average?
A
- Girls began to improve achievement is the 1980s.
- Until the 90s boys outperformed girls.
- Girls now are doing better in all stages of education.
2
Q
what is the gender gap in starting school?
A
- In the baseline assessment, a national survey found that girls scored higher in all tests.
- 56% of girls could write their own name correctly compared to only 42% of boys.
3
Q
What is the gender gap at key stages 1-3?
A
- Girls consistently do better than boys especially in English.
- The gap widens with age.
- The gap is narrower in Maths & Science.
4
Q
What is the gender gap at GSCE?
A
- 73.1% of girls received a 5 or more whereas it was 64.3% ( a 8.8% gap) for boys in 2014.
- In 2017, girls widened the lead over boys with a 9.5% gap.
- In 2024, 71% of girls & 64.2 % of boys achieved at 4 or above.
5
Q
What is the gender gap at A-level/vocational qualifications?
A
- Girls are more likely to pass & get higher grades, but the gap is narrower than at GSCE.
- In 2013, 46.8% of girls gained grades A/B, it was 42.2% for boys.
- In 2023, girls overall did better but 9.1% of boys gained an A* whereas only 8.8% of girls did.
6
Q
What is the gender gap in Higher Education?
A
- 57% of UK uni students were female during 2009-2022.
- In 1970, males outnumbered females by 2:1.
7
Q
What are external factors for the gender gap?
A
- Females have more opportunities (since 1990’s).
- Increase in feminism.
- Women take education more seriously due to increase in job opportunities.
- Women tend to value education more than men.
8
Q
What are internal factors for the gender gap?
A
-Behaviour differences in exams.
- Labelling.
- Ratio of girls:boys.
- Boys are more likely to be surrounded by anti-school subcultures.
- Teachers favour girls & have higher expectations.
9
Q
How is the impact of feminism an explanation for the gender gap?
A
- Provided more equal rights for females.
- Brought about legal changes & equal opportunities in society.
- Raised girls expectations & ambitions.
- Encouraged girls to rethink self image & become aspirational rather than think traditionally.
10
Q
How are changes in employment an explanation for the gender gap?
A
- Due to the Equal Pay Act 1970, females see their future in terms of paid work rather than stereotypical ways.
- There are greater & more equal career opportunities.
- Girls have benefited from being exposed to women with successful careers.
11
Q
How are changes in ambitious an explanation for the gender gap?
A
- Sue Sharp (1974) found that WC girls viewed educational success as unfeminine, had low aspirations & viewed marriage as the end goal.
- In 2001 Francis found the majority of girls rejected traditional roles & understood the importance of education.
- Fuller (2011) recognised that girls had an individualised notion of self & aimed for a professional career so they could support themself.
12
Q
How are changes in the family an explanation for the gender gap?
A
- An increase in divorce, cohabitation. smaller families, etc have impacted girls attitudes to education.
- These changes made them realise they need to take on a breadwinner role & encourages them to look after themselves as well as being financially dependent.
13
Q
How do equal opportunity policies encourage womens achievement (internal)?
A
- Feminist ideas have had a major impact on the education system.
- Those who run the system are aware of gender issues & are more sensitive to the need to avoid gender stereotypes.
- The belief that boys & girls are equally capable & entitled to the same opportunities is mainstream thinking.
- Policies like WISE (Women into Science & Engineering) encourage non traditional careers.
14
Q
How do positive role models in school encourage womens achievement (internal)?
A
- An increase in female teachers & headteachers may be encouraging to younger girls.
- Pupil may be influenced into believeing schools are feminised due to the large proportion.
15
Q
How do GSCEs & coursework encourage womens achievement (internal)?
A
- Argued that the way pupil are assessed favours girls.
- Gorard (2005) observed the gender gap increased when coursework became a major part of most subjects.
- Mitsos & Brown (1989) concluded girls are more successful at coursework due to better organisation & being more conscientious.
- Elwood (2005) argues girls do better in exams that boys.
16
Q
How does teacher attention encourage womens achievement (internal)?
A
- Spender (1983) found teachers spend more time with boys.
- French & French (1993) argued the mount of attention is similiar & when boys do receive more attention its due to punishment.
- Swann & Graddol (1994) found generally boys are more boisterous & attract teachers gaze more.
- Teachers interacted with girls in a more positive way.
17
Q
How does challenging stereotypes in the curriculum encourage womens achievement (internal)?
A
- The removal of gender stereotypes & sexist images in materials like textbooks has removed a barrier.
18
Q
How does selection & league tables encourage womens achievement (internal)?
A
- Girls are seen as more desirable due to achieving better results.
- Jackson (1998) believes they’re attractive as they boost a schools league position, this also created a self fulfilling prophecy due to going to better schools.
- Slee (1998) notes boys are less attractive to schools due to higher likelyhood of behaviour problems & they’re 4x more likely to be excluded.
19
Q
How does identity, class & girls encourage girls achievement (internal)?
A
- Social class impacts achievement as 41% girls from lower incomes recieved 5 A*-C GSCEs compared to 68% higher incomes.
- Feminists such as Archer et al (2010) suggest one reason for differences is feminine identities, values & ethos of the school.
- Archer found that WC gained symbolic capital instead but this brought upon conflicts with the school.
20
Q
What are hyper-heterosexual feminine identities & how do they impact girls achievement?
A
- Focus on constructing a desirable & glamorous indentity.
- Prevents them being called a tramp by female peers.
- Brings conflict with the school.
- Bourdieu names this process as symbolic violence.
- Archer claims the ideal female pupil is desexualised & MC.
21
Q
How do boyfriends impact girls achievement?
A
- It brings symbolic capital.
- Gets in the way of schoolwork & lowers aspirations.
- Puts girls off studying masculine subjects & wanting careers in feminine jobs instead or wanting to settle down.
22
Q
How does being loud impact girls achievement?
A
- Some WC girls adopt loud personalities leading to them being outspoken, independent & assertive.
- Failure to conform to the schools stereotype so behaviour is labeled aggressive instead of assertive.
23
Q
What does Archer argue about the WC girls dilema?
A
- Their feminine identities & educational success clash.
- They can either gain symbolic capital from peers or educational capital from teachers.
- Some girls try to solve this by claiming they’re good underneath.
24
Q
How does boys literacy impact achievement (external)?
A
- According to the DCSF (2007) the gender gap is mainly a result of boys poor literacy & language skills.
- This may reflect the reality that parent spend less time reading to sons.
25
How does socialisation impact boys achievement (external)?
- Edwards & David (2000) argue boys mature more slowly than girls as primary schools encourages boys to have a loud personality.
- May lead to a lack of concentration in class.
- Burns & Bracey (2001) found socalisation may lead to over confidence.
- Boys that fail exams tend to blame bad luck & not lack of effort.
26
How does globalisation & the decline of traditional male jobs impact boys achievement (external)?
- Mitsos & Browne (1998) claim the decline in male employment opportunities had led to an identity crisis from men as they realise they're less likely to take on a breadwinner role.
- This may impact boys motivation negatively.
27
How does the feminisation of education impact boys achievement (internal)
- Sewell (2006) argues schools dont nurture masculine traits which puts boys off school.
- He also sees coursework as a major impact since boys do worse due to a lack of organisation skills.
28
How does the shortage of male primary school teachers impact boys achievement (internal)?
- Lack of positive male role models at school.
- A Yougov (2007) poll found 39% of 8-11 year old boys had no lessons with a male teacher & 42% said when they did they behaved better.
- Francis (2006) & Read (2008) challenges the claim that only male teachers can exert the male discipline that young boys need.
29
How do laddish subcultures impact boys achievement (internal)?
- The growth of laddish subcultures is a factor contributing to underachievement.
- Epstein (1998) found WC boys are more likely to be harassed & labelled with homophobic verbal abuse if they appear as swots.
- Francis (2001) argues being called a swot threatens masculinity.
30
What initiatives have been brought into place to encourage boys achievement?
- Getting rid of coursework in most subjects.
- The Raising Boys Achievement Project.
- The Dads & Son Campaign.
- the Reading Champions Scheme.
31
How do class & ethnicity explain the gender gap according to McVeigh (2001)?
- Observed that similarities in boys & girls achievement is far greater than the differences when compared with social class & ethnic differences.
32
How does social class explain the gender gap according to Francis & Skelton (2011)?
- Girls on FSM underperform in relation to girls & boys not on FSM.
- Girls from the highest social class were 44 points ahead of girls from the lowest social class.
- Gender does influence but the extent depends on the pupils class.
33
how does class, gender & ethnicity explain the gender gap according to Connolly (2006)?
- May be an interactions effect so certain combinations of gender, class & ethnicity have more effect than others.
- E.g. class differences have more effect in producing performance differences among white pupil than black.
- The main concern today is the educational underachievement of white WC boys.
- Any attempt to focus on raising boys achievement must take a sophisticated understanding of all complex patterns of inequality.
