Gender

Question 1

External factors

Answer 1

Improve achievement of girls

• Legislation changes
• Feminism
• Changes to the family
• Women’s aspirations
• Feminisation of the economy

Limit achievement of boys

• Decline in traditional male jobs
• Literacy

Question 2

Internal factors which effect the achievement of boys and girls

Answer 2

• Equal opportunity legislation
• Teacher role models
• introduction of coursework
• Challenges to stereotypes
• School selection policies
• Feminisation of education
• Subcultures

Question 3

Feminism (external)

Answer 3

• Equal rights and challenging the traditional view that a woman’s place is in the home
• Study conducted by McRobbie of aspirations of teenage girls in the 1970s and the 1990s
• Girls are growing up to believe they can be as successful as boys so motivates them to work harder

Question 4

Evaluation of feminism

Answer 4

• Fails to help us understand why girls outperform boys

- Not all women have benefitted from feminism eg many families are traditional

Question 5

Changes to family life (external)

Answer 5

• Nowadays 40% of marriages end in divorce this means that many women expect to be single and have to work for their money
• Women are more likely to be granted custardy and raise their children as single mothers
• Sex before marriage also has increased and there is less stigma attached to raising a child by themselves
• This sends a clear message to girls that they need too support themselves financially so need to work hard and achieve qualifications

Question 6

Evaluation of changes to family life

Answer 6

• Disruption in the family eg divorce can lead to a negative impact on eduction
• In some religions and cultures , women are not expected to work in the future

Question 7

Feminisation of the economy (external)

Answer 7

• No. of changes which have benefitted women eg the deindustrialization of Britain (decline in manual work and shift to care sector) accommodates women more
• Legal changes which give women better protections eg equal pay act
• Most jobs require GCSEs as a minimum and female dominated careers often require degrees eg teaching

Question 8

Evaluation of feminisation of the economy

Answer 8

• The glass ceiling still acts as a barrier to female success in employment
• Some women still pursue traditional roles

Question 9

Changing ambitions of girls (external)

Answer 9

• Sharpe : Study in 1974 looking at girls aspirations and they regarded educational success with masculinity and worried it would make it hard for them to find a husband
• 1994 : found a complete inversion of female priorities eg wanted to get a career and earn there own money - didn’t want to rush marriage and kids
• Girls had the same rights as boys to achieve so worked hard in order to do so

Question 10

Evaluation of changing ambitions of girls

Answer 10

• Some women still want to pursue traditional roles

- Class could have a larger impact eg fatalistic attitudes

Question 11

Poor literacy amongst boys (external)

Answer 11

• Boys engage in reading much less than girls do which impacts their education and ability to access resources
• Girls are taught to pursue bedroom culture in which they pursue activities like reading
• Boys are encouraged to pursuit outdoors activities sport which reduces the time they spend reading
• Mothers are more likely to read with their sons making it appear as a feminine activity
• For GCSEs a good literacy understanding is crucial

Question 12

Evaluation of poor literacy rate of boys

Answer 12

• When looking at employment, it is clear that literacy skills are not a barrier to boys eg lawyers

Question 13

Decline in traditional male jobs (external)

Answer 13

• Prior 1970s labour intensive jobs were on the decline due to Thatcher
• By the 1990s, the service sector expanded and provided more employment opportunities leading the crisis of masculinity eg lacked a role
• This created low self esteem and low ambition meaning a lack of motivation to do well in school

Question 14

Evaluation of decline in traditional male jobs

Answer 14

• Boys didn’t need qualifications to do the labour intensive jobs
• In the workplace men still have better prospects eg more male CEOs

Question 15

Equal opportunity legislation (internal)

Answer 15

• since the 1970s there has been an emphasis on equality of opportunity
• Polices to help girls achievement eg GIST and WISE
• raises ambitions
• 1989 introduction of a national curriculum means all students study the same subjects in which girls outperform boys
• Boys feel demotivated and perform less well

Question 16

Evaluation of equal opportunity legislation

Answer 16

• Girls are still more likely to take more feminine subjects eg Food tech
• beyond school males still have better job prospects

Question 17

Teacher role models and treatment of pupils (internal)

Answer 17

• Female teacher make up over half the workforce and 40% of boys go through primary school without a male teacher
• Girls are surrounded by strong female role models
• absence of male role models (boys respond better to male discipline) mean boys perform poorly)

Question 18

Evaluation of teacher role models

Answer 18

• In schools, there are still more men in leadership roles eg headteachers
• The problem of discipline could occur outside of the school setting

Question 19

Introduction of coursework (internal)

Answer 19

• Mitsosis and Browne
• Coursework favours the methods of girls
• Girls mature faster and can deal better with independent work + are subject to bedroom culture so have more time to do it + are more concerned over presentation
• Boys are more likely to seek immediate gratification through playing outside and boys tend to have poorer literacy

Question 20

Evaluation of introduction of coursework

Answer 20

• In recent years coursework has been dropped so it fails to explain the achievement gap now

Question 21

Teacher labelling (internal)

Answer 21

• French and French : boys received less attention from teachers and only received it when they misbehaved
• Boys felt their teachers viewed them negatively which lead to a SFP where they lived up to those expectations
• The ways boys and girls communicate in lessons, impacts the treatment from teachers eg boys yell
• Girls receive praise and have a positive SFP leading to raised self esteem

Question 22

Teacher labelling evaluation

Answer 22

• Class and ethnicity could be overruling factors for labelling not gender

Question 23

Challenge to gender stereotypes (internal)

Answer 23

• Up to the 1980’s, textbooks contained gender stereotypical images eg boys in science books
• Gender stereotypes have largely been removed which has had a positive impact on girls eg can access STEM
• Little has been done to change the female stereotype of feminine subjects so there is no push to motivate boys
• Boys who are better equipped to study feminine subjects so may not do so and so end up studying courses that aren’t right for them

Question 24

Evaluation of challenges to gender stereotypes

Answer 24

• Just because girls are doing STEM subjects, doesn’t automatically mean boys perform less well
• Gender stereotypes still persist beyond and within school

Question 25

School selection policies (internal)

Answer 25

• Girls are closer to the ideal pupil
• Jackson - schools are under pressure to top league tables so want to fill their schools with the pupils most likely to get the best grades (girls)
• Girls have better chances of getting in to higher performing schools so have better resources and funding and more experienced teachers
• Opposite effect for boys where they end up attending worse performing schools

Question 26

Evaluation of school selection policies

Answer 26

• When schools are selective, class is a larger factor

Question 27

The feminisation off education (internal)

Answer 27

• Sewell : Contemporary education fails to nurture masculine traits such as competition
• Schools encourage traits such as hard work which suits girls eg cooperation
• Girls are better equipped to work independently and boys are loess equipped to do so

Question 28

Evaluation of the feminisation of education

Answer 28

• It can be criticised because school is competitive eg it is a competition tp receive the top GCSE grades

Question 29

Gender, class and achievement (3 issues)

Answer 29

• Archer
  1. More likely to conform to a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity (place a lot of value on appearance and being sexually attractive) + brings them in to symbolic violence with the school

2. WC more likely to be distracted by BFs than MC girls (Symbolic capital, status symbol + different aspirations for the future)
3. WC girls generally louder as they desire symbolic capital from their peers but seen as aggressive and challenging

Question 30

Gender and subject choice theories

Answer 30

1. Gender role socialisation
2. Subject images
3. peer pressure
4. Future career opportunities

Question 31

Gender role socialisation (subject choice)

Answer 31

• Gendered norms though primary socialisation which is reinforced through secondary socialisation agents eg media
• Girls and boy are given different toys to play with and encouraged to take different hobbies
• When it comes to school they have different subject interest
• Children also pick up on gender domains (areas of life that are dominated by men or women) eg mothers caring for people so more women study subjects that help them give a caregiver role later on whereas men do DIY

Question 32

Evaluation : Gender role socialisation

Answer 32

• The nature of gender role socialisation is changing and we are moving away from stereotypes

Question 33

Subject images (subject choice)

Answer 33

• Certain subjects have promoted the impression that they are designed for males or females
• Eg who teaches it, images and languages used in textbooks and activities in lessons
• Science and computing tends to be taught by men and lessons are more practical
• English tends to be taught by women + lessons involve tasks such as reading
• Behaviours also contribute eg boys are more likely to dominate science and take ownership of equipment (Puts girls off as they feel unwelcome)
• Barriers were largely removed in SS schools

Question 34

Evaluation : Subject images (subject choice)

Answer 34

• Policies like GIST and WISE have encouraged girls to take part in STEM

Question 35

Peer pressure (subject choice)

Answer 35

• Friends can influence the choices of young people
• Paechter : PE is regarded as masculine so boys are persuaded to take it by friends to compete with each other
• Girls feel uncomfortable to do so as they fear being labelled butch by peers
• Also discouraged from physics and maths as they are ‘for boys’
• Boys are likely to be mocked for health and social care
• This peer pressure is removed in SS schools

Question 36

Evaluation : Subject images (subject choice)

Answer 36

• It is more likely parental influences have a bigger sway

Question 37

Future career opportunities (Subject choice)

Answer 37

• When students make subject choices, they will be influenced by their future plans
• Girls are more likely to aspire to working in the care sector so peruse health and social
• Boys are more likely to want to pursue engineering so need STEM subjects
• Also a class element involved
• WC boys likely to pursue building and WC girls, hair and beauty
• MC choose gendered subject to get them to higher pathways eg girls do biology to do nursing degrees

Question 38

Evaluation : Future career opportunities (Subject choice)

Answer 38

• Few students at 14/16 know what career they want so just pick subjects they are interested in

Question 39

Education and gender identity (4 theories)

Answer 39

1. double standard of sexual behaviour and expectations
2. sexualised verbal abuse
3. Male gaze
4. male and female peer groups police behaviour

Question 40

Double standards of sexual behaviour and expectations

Answer 40

• Boys can boast about their sexual conquests yet gils are labelled as slags if they dress a certain way or have multiple boyfriends
• Teachers turn a blind eye to boys talking about relationships but raise concerns if girls are sexually active
• Men gain dominance from sexuality but women are shamed in to submission if the behave in the same way

Question 41

Sexualised verbal abuse

Answer 41

• It is common for girls to be labeled as slags if they are too sexually free
• Girls can also be called frigid if they are unwilling to pursue relationships with opposite
• Plays on young people’s securities and sexual identities

Question 42

Male gaze

Answer 42

• Female pupils are repeatedly objectified by male pupils and teachers
• Judged based on physical attraction
• Female pupils are subject to scrutiny over uniform and judged over things like lengths of skirt (girls feels their self worth comes from their appearance)

Question 43

Gendered language when disciplining

Answer 43

• Many teachers use phrases like ‘man up’ and ‘stop behaving like girls’ when discipling boys which reinforces the view that being feminine is inferior
• Male colleagues often assert dominance over female colleagues eg stepping in when disciplining as they presume female teachers need support

Question 44

Policing of female and male groups

Answer 44

• Boys are often under pressure to conform to laddish and hyper-masculine groups who show heterosexual dominance
• WC boys created macho subcultural groups who looked down on MC boys who called them dickhead achievers
• By sixth form MC dominated and created the impression of being able to achieve anything (showed their dominance over women)
• Girls peer pressure each other in to an idealised feminine identity (loyalty to girls) but also a sexualised identity where they compete for boys
• Have to balance

Question 45

Evaluation of gender and identity

Answer 45

• 2021 Everyone’s invited scandal has highlighted problems of sexual harassment
• Schools are more aware of the importance of appropriate relationships between pupils and staff