EDUCATION - The Achievement Rate of Girls Flashcards
What are the 4 external factors that have contributed to the improvement in girls’ achievement in education?
- The impact of feminism
- Changes in the family
- Changes in women’s employment
- Girls changing ambitions
How has the impact of feminism contributed to the improvement in girls’ achievement? HINT: A change in how magazines portray women!
The feminist movement challenged stereotypes and improved women’s rights = McRobbie showed that girls’ magazines in the 1970s emphasise the importance of getting married and not being ‘left on the shelf’, whereas nowadays they contain images on independent women!
What is the effect of feminism contributed to the improvement in girls’ achievement?
It has led to raised expectations and self-esteem, which has lead to improvement in achievement for girls = The changes encouraged by feminism may affects girls’ self-image and ambitions, with regards to their future (education and family)!
How have changes in the family contributed to the improvement in girls’ achievement and what is the effect of this? HINT: Divorce rate and number of single-parents families; girls realise that they can depend on themselves, and they need qualifications for that!
An increase in the divorce rate, an increase in cohabitation and a decrease in the number of first marriages; there was also a increase in the number of lone-parent families and in the number of smaller families. These have changed girls’ attitudes towards education in a number of ways =
- The increase in the numbers of female-headed lone-parent families = Women are needed to take on the ‘breadwinner’ role, so they will need to stay in education, in order to get a good job and get paid well!
- The increase in the divorce rate = May suggest to girls that it is unwise to rely on their partner to be their provider of income - This encourages girls to look to themselves to make their own living.
How have changes in women’s employment contributed to the improvement in girls’ achievement? HINT: Legislation and ‘glass ceiling’
The 1970 Equal Pay Act = Illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value.
The proportion of women in employment = This has risen from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013!
Some women are now breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’ (this is the invisible barrier that keeps them out of high-level professional and managerial jobs).
What is the effect of changes in women’s employment on the improvement in girls’ achievement? HINT: Better pay, better opportunities + becoming a role model
These changes have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work, rather than free labour as housewives! Greater career opportunities and better pay for women (and the role models that successful career women offer to young girls) help to provide an incentive for girls to gain qualifications.
How have changes in girls changing ambitions contributed to the improvement in girls’ achievement? HINT: Sharpe’s interviews with girls + O’Conner’s study + Beck and Beck-Gernsheim’s study
Sue Sharpe’s interviews with girls in the 1970s and 1990s show a major shift in the way girls see their future.
1974 - Girls had low aspirations and believed that educational success would be considered unattractive - Their priorities were ordered ‘love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers, more or less in that order’.
1990s = Girls’ ambitions had changes and careers became more of a priority as women wanted to be able to support themselves. Sharpe found that girls were now more likely to see their future as an independent women with a career rather than being dependent on their husband and his income.
O’Conner’s study in 2006 = Found that 14-17 year olds saw marriage and children as not a major part of their life plans.
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (2001) = They link to the trend towards individualisation in modern society, where independence is valued much more strongly than it was in the past. A career has become part of a woman’s life project because it promises recognition and economic self-sufficiency.
What is the effect of girls changing ambitions on the improvement in girls’ achievement? HINT: Girls see the importance of education + Fueller’s study
In order to achieve independence and self-sufficiency, many girls recognise that they need a good education.
Carol Fuller’s study in 2011 - Some girls saw that educational success was a central aspect of their identity. They saw themselves as ‘creators of their own future’ and had an individualised notion of self. They believed in meritocracy (equal opportunity for every individual to achieve) - They aimed for a professional career that would enable them to support themselves = These aspirations require educational qualifications, whereas the aspirations of the 1970s girls did not.
What are the 6 internal factors that have impacted the achievement rate of girls?
- Equal opportunity policies
- Positive role models in school
- GCSE and Coursework
- Teacher attention
- Challenges in the stereotypes in the curriculum
- Selection and league tables
