Gender, class, and Girls achievement 8ED

Question 1

what did Archer et al research

Answer 1

• study about WC girls and education in 2010
• she argued that there is a conflict between working class feminine identities and the values and ethos of the school

Question 2

what does the term symbolic capitcal mean?
how did this apply to her research?

from archers study

Answer 2

• the status, recognition and sense of worth we are able to obtain from others
• found that by perfomring their WC feminine identities, girls gained symbolic capital from thier peers - bringing them into conflict with the school as it prevented them from gaining qualifications (educational capital) and good careers (economic capital)

Question 3

what 3 startegies did girls use to gain symbolic capital

Answer 3

• adopting a hyper heterosexual feminine identity
• having a boyfriend
• being ‘loud’

Question 4

how did adopting a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity help WC girls gain symbolic capital

Answer 4

• girls invested time, effort, and money into looking desirable and glamerous
• one girl spent her £40 a week babysitting wages on her appearance - provinging girls with status from thier peers and helped them avoid being ridiculed or being called names for wearing the wrong brand
• brought them into conflict with the school - being punished for wearing make up, jewellery, or the wrong clothing. teachers saw that girls’ preoccupation with appearance as a distraction that prevented them with engaging with education
• led to schools ‘othering’ the girls as one of ‘them’ and not one of ‘us’ - incappable of success and less worthy of respect (Bourdieu, symbolic violence)

Question 5

how did having a boyfriend help WC girls gain symbolic capital

Answer 5

• brought symbolic capital but got in the way of schoolwork and lowered girls’ aspirations
• inclueded lowering interest in uni, studying “masculine” subjects or gaining a career
• have a BF inspired girls to settle down, have children and work locally in a wc feminine jobs like childcare

Question 6

how did being loud help WC girls gain symbolic capital

Answer 6

• adopting a loud feminine identity led to them being outspoken, independent and assertive, for example questioning teachers authority
• this failed to conform t o schools ideal pupil identity as passive and brought conflict with teachers, who interpreted theri behaviour as aggressive rather than assertive

Question 7

what dillemma did archer say wc girls are faced with

Answer 7

• either gaining symbolic capital from peers by confomring to hyper-heterosexualised feminised identity
• or gaining educational capital by rejecting their wc identity and conforming to the schools mc notions of a respectable, ideal female pupil

Question 8

what girls did Evans’ research

Answer 8

successful working class girls

Question 9

Evans research summary

Answer 9

• investigated sixth form girls in south london comprehensive school, found they wanted to go to uni to increase their earning power
• often not for themselves but to help their families. reflects thier wc feminine identity as caring
• many girls said they wanted to go to a local uni and live at home, partly for cost, but also due to a ‘preference for the local’ defined by Archer as a key feautre of working class habitus. may result in self exclusion from eilite further a feild unis, limiting their success