education - gender differences - interanl factors

Question 1

gender patterns in achievement

Answer 1

in the past boys out performed girls, but since the 1980s girls have improved more rapidly and now do better than boys at all levels in most subjects
•more girls than boys go into higher education
•at as and alevel girls are more likely to pass and to get higher grades
•in key stages 1 to 3 girl do consistently better than boys especially in english

Question 2

equal opportunities policies

Answer 2

feminist ideas are now widespread in the education system. in particular the basic belief that girls and boys are capable of achieving the same and should have the same opportunities.
this has led to policies aimed at giving boys and girls equal opportunities such as:
•the national curriculum- introduced in 1988, means that girls and boys study the same subjects. equalising opportunities.

as a result of such policies, education is now more meritocratic (based on the principle of equal opportunity)

Question 3

coursework

Answer 3

some sociologists argued that the education system favoured girls by brining in coursework. ken browne supported this idea, he argued that girls are more successful at coursework because they are more organised, as girls:
•spend more time on their work
•take more care with how its presented
•are better at meeting deadlines

Question 4

teacher attention

Answer 4

earlier studies found that teachers spent more time interacting with boys, but more recent studies found that girls may benefit more than boys:
•french and french - found that teachers paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons. but boys received the most attention because they attracted more punishments for misbehaviour
•francis found that although boys received more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers and that teachers had lower expectations of them

Question 5

working class girls underachieving

Answer 5

archer claims that working class girls underachieve because they face a choice of gaining symbolic capital from peers by conforming to a working class feminine identity, or gain educational capital by conforming to the schools middle class notions of the ideal female pupil
-hyper-heterosexual feminine identities - many girls construct ‘glamorous’ identities that earn symbolic capital from their female peers but cause conflict with school over appearance
-boyfriends- bringing symbolic capital but can get in the way of schoolwork and lower aspirations
-being loud - adopting outspoken, assertive identities. teachers see this as aggressive