gender and achievement - external factors Flashcards
feminism
a social movement that strives for equal rights for women in all areas of life
briefly explain the impact of feminism
(external factor impacting gender differences in achievement)
- since the 1960’s feminist movement has challenged the stereotype of a women’s role as a mother/housewife
- we haven’t yet reached full equality but the feminist movement has had considerable success in improving women’s opportunities through changes in the law that have raised women’s self esteem
briefly explain McRobbie’s study of girls magazines that showed the impact of feminism
found in the 1970s they emphasised the importance of getting married whereas now they contain assertive & independent women
briefly explain changes in the family since the 1979s that impacted gender differences in achievement
major changes: increased divorce rate, increase in cohabitation/decrease in marriage, increase in lone parent families
these have affected girls attitudes towards education: e.g. lone parent families means more women take on the role of being a breadwinner and creates a new role model for girls to work harder to gain good qualifications and become financially independent.
briefly explain changes over recent decades in women’s employment that have impacted gender differences in achievement
- 1970s equal pay act
- rise in proportion of women in employment (growth in service sector jobs gave more employment opportunities)
- women are breaking through the glass ceiling
these changes have led to girls seeing their future in paid work rather than as housewives.
greater career opportunities and successful female role models give girls an incentive to gain qualifications at school
briefly explain Sharpe’s research (1994) on how girls changing ambitions have impacted gender differences in achievement
she interviewed girls in the 70s&90s and found a major shift in the way they view their future
1974 girls had: low ambitions, saw educational success as unfeminine, deemed appearing ambitious as unattractive, priorities surrounded having a family/marriage
1990s girls ambitions had changed. they were more likely to see a future as an independent financially independent women with a career
briefly explain Archers study (2010) findings on how w/c feminine identities and educational success conflict with one another
by performing w/c feminine identities girls gained symbolic capital from peers but brought them into conflict with school due to negative labelling of this identity (e.g. having fake nails)
w/c/ girls spent time and effort in constructing hyper-heterosexual feminine identities which teachers saw their preoccupation with appearance as a distraction from their schooling
schools view the ideal female pupil as de-sexualised and m/c which therefore excludes many girls
give the stats from 2013 on girls on/not on FSM GCSE results that show not all girls are successful and there’s distinct social class differences in girls achievement
40.6% from w/c families/ eligible for FSM achieved 5 A-C GCSES
67.5% not on FSM achieved 5 A-C GCSES
briefly explain Evans (2009) study findings- on 21 w/c 6th form girls from a London comprehensive school
girls wanted to go to uni to increase their earning power to be able to give back to their families/their w/c communities
they often chose to live at home for uni which limited their choice of HE institutions and the market value of their degree
a preference for local is a key feature of w/c habitus and the girls wanted to remain in a caring role at home
briefly explain why it is argued boys and their literacy means they are falling behind at school
according to DFE (2007) gender gap is mainly the result of boys poor literacy and language skills
- may be due to parents spending less time reading with sons and boys leisure pursuits have little to do with language and communication skills
- which contrasts girls tending to have a bedroom culture which helps them achieve
briefly explain why it is argued globalisation and decline of traditional men’s jobs has meant they are falling behind at school
- include Mistos and Browne’s theory from this
since 1980s been a huge decline in heavy industries which is partly due to globalisation of the economy and many manufacturing industries relocating to developing countries to take advantage of cheap labour
Mistos and Browne think its lead to a male identity crisis (they’ve given up trying to achieve these qualifications but qualifications weren’t even needed for these manual jobs so there’s a gap in this explanation)
briefly explain why it is argued a moral panic about boys has caused them to be falling behind at school
- include Ringrose (2013) theory/explanation for this
Ringrose believed there’s a moral panic of ‘failing boys’ that reflects w/c boys will grow up unemployable and dangerous which threatens social stability
she argues the moral panic has caused a major shift in educational policy which is preoccupied with raising boys achievements which has 2 negative effects: focus on failing boys ignores disadvantaged w/c and ethnic minority pupils, ignores other gender based issues (e.g. sexual harassment)
