Education: Gender differences in education Flashcards
-explanation of gender differences in subject choices (7 cards)
How does Gender socialisation explain the gender differences in subject choice?
(process of learning behavior expected of males and females in society)
- Fiona Norman: from an early age, boys and girls dress differently, given different toys and encouraged to do different activities.
- Eileen Byrne shws that teachers encourage boys to be tough and girls to be helpful, clean and tidy.
- Patricia Murphy and Jannette Elwood show how books lead to different subject choices. Boys read hobby books and girls stories about people.
How does Gender domains explain the gender differences in subject choice?
- Naima Browne and carol ross argue that children’s beliefs on gender domains are shaped by early experiences and expectations of adults.
- children are more confident when engaging inn tasks they see as a part of their own gender domain, e.g same maths questions girls are more confident when presented as food and nutrition and boys mechanics/cars.
- Patricia Murphy found boys and girls pay attention to different details in the same task. Girls focus more on how people feel boys focus on how things work.
How does gender subject images explain the gender differences in subject choice?
- Kelly argues that science is seen as a boys subject due to the fact that most science teachers are males, examples in textbooks often draw ‘boys intrestes’ rather than girls intrestes. Boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the lab
- Anne colley notes computer studies is a ‘male’ subjects. It involves working with machines part of the male domain. way it is taught is more attractive to males formal and abstract tasks little group work
How does Single-sex schooling explain the gender differences in subject choice?
Pupils who attend single sex schools tend to hold less stereotyped subject imagesimages and make less traditional subject choices.
Diana Leonard: analysed data from 13,000 individuals found com[ared to mix schools girls in girls schools were more likley to take maths and science alevels (and boys english)
Institute of physics study, which found that girls in single sex state schools were 2.4 x more likely to take alevel physics. also externam lack of physicists on tv
How does Gender idenity and peer pressure explain the gender differences in subject choice?
- Carrie paechter found that pupils see sport as mainly within male gender domain, girls who are ‘sporty’ have to cope with an image that contradicts the conventional female sterotype.
- study of american college students by Alison Dewar found that male students would call girls lesbian or butch if they liked sport
- Institute of physics found “there is something about doing physics as a girl in a mixed setting that is particularly off putting” in mixed schools peers police one another’s subjects and gender identity.
- in all girls schools the absence pf boys may mean there is less presuure on girls to conform to restrictive sterotypes of what subjects they can study.
How does Gender career oppurtunities explain the gender differences in subject choice?
- employment is highly gendered and typed as womens or mens jobs. womens roles often involves similarity of housewives such as hcildcare and nursing.
- over half of womens employment falls into four categories clerical, secretarial, personal services and occupations such as cleanings.
- vocational courses tend to be more gender specific than academic
How does Gender, vocational choice and class explain the gender differences in subject choice?
- W/C pupils in particularmay make descions about vocational courses that are based on traditional gender identity.
- Most of W/C girls studied by carol fuller had ambitions to go into childcare and jair and beauty.
- These ambitions may rise from work experience placements which are often gendered. Fuller found that placements in feminine w/c jobs were overwhelmingly the norm for girls in her study suggesting the school was steering them in that direction
