Gender

Question 1

AO1- Poorer literacy skills (Boys-out of school)

Answer 1

Girls spend their free time in ways that complement their education but boys don’t. Mitsos and Browne-women are more likely to read to their children, teaching kids that men dont read. Girls are more likely to have same sex role models in education that inspire them to read (female primary school teachers). Kirby-communicative play through organised social games has been replaced with TV, and computer games. This means that boys do not develop communication and language skills but girls do because reading is the female gender domain leading to their underachievement.

Question 2

AO1-Globalisation (boys-out of school)

Answer 2

Globalisation has led to much of the manufacturing industry relocating to developing countries which has resulted in the decline of factory work like iron, steel, mining, and engineering-traditional Male jobs. Mitsos and Browne-this has led to a crisis in masculinity. Boys believe they have little chance of getting a proper job so now lack part of their masculine identity. This negativly impacts their self esteem and motivation meaning they give up trying in education.

Question 3

AO1-Unrealistic aspirations (boys-out of school)

Answer 3

Boys are often surprised when they fail exams and blame it on bad luck rather than lack of effort. Francis-boys are more likely to have career aspirations that’s are unrealistic and require few formal academic qualifications like professional footballers. This means that girls have a commitment to educational achievement as they know they need to put in the work to get qualifications but boys don’t.

Question 4

AO3-Poorer literacy skills (boys-out of school)

Answer 4

Schemes have been introduced by the government to tackle this problem. For example Fathers and sons reading campaign which encourages boys to read with incentives like sports packs

Question 5

AO3-Globalisation (boys-out of school)

Answer 5

The decline has mostly been in traditional manual working class jobs which are mainly unskilled and lacking the need for qualifications. This shows that even when factories did exist boys didn’t try as they didn’t have to for employment so the disappearance of these jobs is not the reason for their lack of motivation.

Question 6

AO3-Unrealistic aspirations (boys-out of school)

Answer 6

Girls today also have unrealistic aspirations like popstars and princesses so this is bot an accurate reason for boys underachievement.

Question 7

AO1-Feminisation of education (boys-in school)

Answer 7

Sewell-schools emphasise feminine traits such as methodical working (particular order) and attentiveness. Coursework benefits girls because they are neater, better at following deadlines, more organised, and they put in more time and effort making their work of a better standard than boys so they achieve better results. Coursework should be replaced with final exams and more time should be put into outdoor adventure in the curriculum so boys are less disadvantaged.

Question 8

AO1-Strech-Shortage of Male primary teachers (boys-in school)

Answer 8

Only 14% of primary school teachers are Male and according to YouGov 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with a Male teacher. However 42% of those boys said the presence of a Male teacher made them behave better and work harder. This shows that boys underachievement due to their lack of same sex role models in education to look up to and motivate them to work harder so they dont do aswell as girls who do have this.

Question 9

AO1-Laddish Subcultures (boys-in school)

Answer 9

Mac an Ghaill-similar to Willis’ anti-scool subculture there is a student subculture of ‘macho lads’ who are hostile to school authority and learning. Willus also argues that physical work is essential to boys’ masculine identity but by the mid 1980s much of this work was gone leading to a crisis in masculinity with many boys going on to unemployment. This has demotivated the boys of today resulting in their lack of effort and underachievement.

Question 10

AO1-Negative teacher interactions (boys-in school)

Answer 10

Sexist stereotypes has resulted in teachers negatively labelling boys which has undermined their confidence and motivation making their achievement low. Teachers tend to expect worse behaviour and lower standards of work from boys so they are more strict, failing to encourage boys to achieve their full potential which means they put in less effort and achieve worse grades compared to girls.

Question 11

AO3-Feminisation of education (boys-in school)

Answer 11

Action has been take to tackle this problem for example there has been a shift towards controlled assessment in place of coursework to reduce the advantage girls have in coursework based subjects.

Question 12

AO3-Negative teacher interactions (boys-in school)

Answer 12

Fuller’s study found that you can always self-negate the label so this is not a full explanations of boys underachievement.

Question 13

AO3-Laddish subcultures (boys-in school)

Answer 13

Willis’ study was small scale and nit representative. Also these subcultures always existed even when boys were outperforming girls so it doesnt explain the recent changes In Male underachievement.

Question 14

AO1-Impact if feminism (girls-out if school)

Answer 14

Since the 1960s feminism has been challenging the stereotypes of women’s role as a mother and housewife within a patriarchal society. Mc Robbie-magazines targeted at women from the 1970s stressed the importance of getting married whereas in the 19901 careers and independence was emphasised. These changes have been reflected in the media which has raised girls’ expectations of what they can do with their education making them more motivated to put in effort than boys and therefore they over achieve compared to boys.

Question 15

AO1-Changes in the family (girls-out of school)

Answer 15

In the last 30 years: divorce rate has increased, cohabitation has increased, and lone parent (mainly female lead) families has increased. Girls attitudes are no longer centred around marriage as having a female single mother who is the major income earner creates a new financially independent, career minded role model. Girls want to live up to this but also realise the importance of hard work to achieve the qualifications needed for them not to struggle like their mums, meaning they achieve better than boys.

Question 16

AO1-Changes in women’s employment (girls-out of school)

Answer 16

The proportion of women in employment has risen from under 53% in 1971 to over 67% in 2013. Women are now breaking through the glass ceiling to high level professional jobs previously denied to them. For example we have had 3 female prime ministers. These greater opportunities provide an incentive giving girls motivation to take education seriously and work hard to achieve the top grades in order to get there.

Question 17

AO1-Changing ambitions (girls-out if school)

Answer 17

Sharpe-she found that in interviews from the 1970s girls had low aspirations and saw educational success as unfeminine, giving their priorities to love, marriage, husbands, and children rather than careers whereas in the 1990s girls saw their future as an independent woman with a career. O’connor-found that for 14-17 year olds marriage and children were not a major factor. This shows that girls ambitions have changed and they are now more career focused resulting in them putting in more effort and overachieving.

Question 18

AO1-Equal opportunities policies (girls-in school)

Answer 18

Policies are being introduced to give girls and boys the same chances if educational success. 1. GIST and WISE were created to encourage girls to persue careers in the traditionally Male subjects. 2. The national curriculum was also introduced in 1988 meaning that boys and girls have to study the same thing when before boys were pushed towards academic subjects and girls towards home economics. 3. Marketisation policies have created cream skimming and silt shifting in schools and girls are often more desirable to the tip performing schools meaning they tend to achieve better results than boys.

Question 19

A01-Positive role models (girls-in school)

Answer 19

In 1992 22% of head teachers were female and 49% of teachers were female whereas in 2011 this rose to 37% and 61%. Having women in positions of power and authority provide important role models for girls and shows them it is possible to be successful. This reinforces the importance of education meaning girls have the motivation to try hard in education to achieve these important positions resulting in their overachievment.

Question 20

AO1-GCSE and coursework (girls-in school)

Answer 20

Mitsos and Browne-girls are more successful in coursework because they are better organised and more conscientious than boys meaning they put more time and effort into their work. This means girls benefit from the introduction of coursework in GCSE, AS and A level subjects as their work will be of a better standard than the boys and they overachieve.

Question 21

AO1-Positive teacher interactions (girls-in school)

Answer 21

Teachers respond more positively to girls than boys due to them being labelled as cooperative while boys are labelled as more disruptive. These labels can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive labels raise girls’ self esteem and in turn their levels of achievements compared to boys. Abraham-teachers perceive boys as more badly behaved than girls and due to this expect less from them failing to push them to achieve more. For example teachers tend to give girls better grades than boys.

Question 22

AO1-Challenging stereotypes (girls-in school)

Answer 22

Gender stereotypes from textbooks, learning materials of toys in schools have been removed also removing a barrier to girls’ achievement. Weiner-since the 1980s teachers have been challenging stereotypes. These sexist images have been replaced with positive images of what girls’ are capable of which motivates them to aim for this resulting in them achieving better than boys. For example barbies now have careers.

Question 23

AO3-Impact of feminism (girls-out of school)

Answer 23

Although feminism has had some impact full equality has not yet been achieved as girls are getting better grades but are still less likely to get the top jobs due to the glass ceiling. Girls are still experiencing patriarchy in education eg the Male gaze and sexual double standards.

Question 24

AO3-Changes in the family (girls-out of school)

Answer 24

Research shows that most girls still aspire to a form of the traditional nuclear family and most of us have lived in one for at least part of their childhood. Thus undermines the importance of thus explanation.

Question 25

AO3-Changes in women’s employment (girls-out of school)

Answer 25

Most of the tip jobs are still dominated by men like MPs, and CEOs so women haven’t fully broken through the glass ceiling. The gender pay gap still exists. Even the BBC have admitted they are paying men more than women.

Question 26

AO3-Changing ambitions (girls-out of school)

Answer 26

Not all women have the same opportunities to have an independent career-CAGES.

Question 27

AO3-Equal opportunities policies (girls-in school)

Answer 27

These policies only have a limited effect as maths, sciences and technology are still Male dominated subjects.

Question 28

AO3-Positive role models (girls-in school)

Answer 28

When women do get leadership positions in schools it is often in feminine areas like safeguarding or special education needs. Male teachers are still more likely to become heads. This reinforces stereotypes rather than challenging them.

Question 29

AO3-GCSE and coursework (girls-in school)

Answer 29

Although coursework has had some impact on results Elwood notes that exams have more influence on final grades. A level courses are now linear and dont involve coursework so figures in the future will show more girls underachieving.

Question 30

AO3-Posituve teacher interactions (girls-in school)

Answer 30

Fuller’s study shows that student can reject this and self-negate teacher labels

Question 31

AO3-Challenging stereotypes (girls-in school)

Answer 31

Girls are now achieving more but radical feminists argue the education system is still patriarchal. Male gaze, sexual double standards, subject choice is still limited and secondary heads are still more likely to be men.