Gender and achievment -Gender identities and subject choice Flashcards
List how gender identities are formed
Verbal abuse
Male peer groups
Female peer groups
Teachers and discipline
The male gaze
Double standards
List the factors affecting subject choice
Primary socialisation
Gendered subject images
Peer pressure
Gendered career opportunities
Explain Verbal Abuse
gender identities
Connell – boys use verbal abuse such as name calling to put girls down.
Paetcher – boys use name calling of girls and ‘effeminate’ boys (especially prone to suffering homophobic abuse) to maintain male power and reinforce gender norms.
Explain Male Peer Groups (Gender identities)
Epstein and Willis – boys in counter-school subcultures see high achieving boys as effeminate. Mac an Ghaill – working class boys’ understanding of masculinity is tied in with toughness and being macho. They bully any hard working boys. Middle class boys’ masculinity is tied in with effortless achievement and being a ‘real Englishman’. However, working class boys who go onto 6th Form change their identity from macho to real Englishman.
Explain teachers and discipline (Gender identities)
Haywood and Mac an Ghaill – male teachers tend to tease boys if they do less well in exams than girls. They tend not to discipline boys if they verbally abuse the girls.
Askew and Ross – male teachers have a protective attitude towards female teachers thus reinforcing the view that women are weak.
Explain the Male Gaze (Gender identities)
Is the way in which men look women up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and judging them on their appearance.
Male gaze at school reinforces the boys’ masculinity by devaluing femininity and helps keep girls ‘in their place’.
Explain Double Standards (Gender identities)
Lees – boys boast about and exaggerate their sexual prowess, while girls who are seen as dressing provocatively are labelled as ‘slags’.
So there is a double standard in expectations of boys and girls’ behaviour.
Explain Female Peer Groups (Gender identities)
Girls use shaming as a form of social control against each other thus regulating each other’s identities. Currie found that girls risk either being labelled as sluts and excluded from friendship groups is they seem too competitive over boys. Similarly, girls who do not complete for boys face frigid shaming.
Reay found that girls who want to do well at school project a boffin identity which is characterised by a lack of interest in boys or popular culture.
Explain Primary Socialisation - Subject choice
Norman – from an early age, boys and girls are dressed differently and given different toys. Parents tend to reward boys for being active and girls for being passive.
Byrne – this continues at school where teachers encourage boys to be active and tough, while girls are expected to be quiet and helpful.
Browne and Ross – gender domains – activities boys and girls see as appropriate to their sex, e.g. mending a car = boys’ domain.
This affects how they react to specific tasks, e.g. girls find Maths tasks easier if they are about calculating the price of food.
Explain Gendered subject images - Subject choice
Different subjects are seen as either boys or girls’ subjects.
Kelly – science = boys’ subject because – teachers tend to be men, textbooks use examples which appeal to masculine gender domains, boys monopolise the use of equipment.
Students in same sex schools tend to hold less stereotyped images of subjects so in an all girls school, students are more likely to pick sciences, ICT,…
Explain Peer Pressure - Subject Choice
Peer pressure can encourage or discourage students from taking certain subjects, e.g. boys tend not to choose Drama, Dance or Music for fear of a negative reaction from their peers. Similarly, girls tend not to choose Sport.
Explain Gendered Career Oppertunitites - Subject Choice
Most jobs are either seen as women’s or men’s.
Women’s jobs – those which involve caring and reflect the activities of housewives – childcare, nursing, secretarial,…
This can affect subject choice as it gives students ideas about which jobs are suitable and acceptable for which sex.
